Maps of Time

This book attempts the seemingly impossible: to tell the Big Story from the very beginning, not just of our proto-species but of the universe itself, to the present, all in one volume, and have it not only make sense but actually have explanatory value.

One of the cover blurbs calls it “history at an unprecedented scale,” which is no exaggeration. It is a bravura act of synthesis and a page-turner, too.

Few thinkers have done more to advance and popularize the discipline of Big History in recent years than David Christian. He coined the term and has worked with Bill Gates to deliver Big History teaching to high school students around the world. The book I’ve picked out here is a little more academic and detailed than the others, and provides a really solid overview of this approach to integrating large-scale history from the Big Bang to the present.