The period covered is marked by several turning-points, such as the spread of iron technology, the introduction of innovative irrigation systems and the development of new forms of urbanization. In China, India and the Mediterranean, in Central America and in parts of South America, the so-called 'Classical cultures' rose. For the first time, science attempted to develop independently of myth and religion, as a new method to explain nature and human destiny. But this period also witnessed the rise of universal religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and, in the seventh century, Islam.

The second volume covers the first two and a half thousand years of recorded history, from the start of the Bronze Age 5,000 years ago to the beginnings of the Iron Age. Written by a team of over sixty specialists, this volume includes a comprehensive bibliography and a detailed index.

Volume IV deals with the 'Middle Ages'. It starts with the expansion of Islam and closes with the discovery of the New World. Various events during this period led to a significant expansion in communications: the rapid spread of Islam and of Gengis Khan's Mongol Empire, as well as the Crusades and the development of trans-Saharan and maritime routes around Africa to the Indian Ocean, leading to multiplied exchanges between the peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia and Europe.

The fourth volume of the History of Humanity examines historical events and cultural, social and political structures which were introduced between the seventh and sixteenth centuries.