World Civilizations examines all the world's civilizations, including those in the Western tradition but also those civilizations sometimes neglected in world history texts. The primary goal of the Fourth Edition of World Civilizations is to present a truly global history-one that both discusses the development of the world's leading civilizations and also emphasizes the major stages in the interactions among different peoples and societies and maintains a focus on social history explores gender, class, economic, and intellectual issues, while examining patterns of inequality and human agency throughout world history.