Roshen Dalal - The Puffin History of the World: Volume 2

T his book begins in the year 1500, and is a continuation of The Puffin History of the World: Volume 1. In that book we saw that history is the story of the past, but that everything of the past cannot be included. We also saw that there are different approaches to history, that is, there are different ways of looking at the past, and that we know about the past both through material remains, and through various types of records.

After 1500, both material remains and records are far more numerous. There are buildings, monuments, art, sculptures, coins and records of all types. Records include letters, descriptions of events, accounts of expenditure, administrative records, travellers descriptions, and much more. Based on all these sources, histories too were written. New historical studies continue to be written every year.

Yet it is interesting that no two countries write the history of the same events in the same way. After many rounds of discussion, historians of Germany and France published a history text together. But even in this, they included parallel versions of their analysis of the past.

Ways of looking at the past are constantly changing. In one example, the manner of writing the history of countries in Africa has changed considerably over the last fifty years. Earlier, the oral traditions of these countries were ignored, and Europeans wrote Africas history based on their own sources. They could not believe that there had been any great achievements in the interiors of the African continent. It is only after African countries became independent that their histories were written in a more authentic way.

Sometimes, newly independent nations, or those undergoing political changes, deliberately rewrite their history, in order to put forward a glorified view of their past, or of their present. For instance, when Stalin was prominent in the USSR, histories written in that country praised him. Later, there were many critiques of him.

Such problems, along with new approaches to history, exist all over the world. In fact, even in the same country, no two people write history in the same way.

In this book we have tried to present a balanced view of the past, taking into account different viewpoints and approaches. So much has happened in the world, that everything cannot be included here. This book includes the main events and developments that have taken place, along with some interesting aspects of the past.

Though this volume can be read separately, it is best read along with the Puffin History of the World: Volume 1.

Both volumes are for young people, but can be read by people of any age.

BCE and CE are the abbreviations used in these two volumes for dates. BCE stands for Before Common Era and CE for Common Era. The Common Era is the calendar we generally use. These abbreviations are now increasingly used in all parts of the world instead of BC and AD . In this volume, the terms BCE and CE are used rarely, as the book begins in CE 1500, and all dates, unless otherwise mentioned are CE .

Even though we are dealing with a later time period than in Volume 1, some dates remain uncertain. In this book, different sources have been consulted to choose the most likely date.

There are many different languages in the world, and some of their sounds have no English equivalent. In this book, we have provided the English equivalents of names in European languages, and in general, have used the most accepted and authentic spellings.