Editing Historiography (section)

====World history====
{{Main|World history (field)}}

[[World history (field)|World history]], as a distinct field of historical study, emerged as an independent academic field in the 1980s. It focused on the examination of history from a global perspective and looked for common patterns that emerged across all cultures. The basic thematic approach of this field was to analyse two major focal points: [[syncretism|integration]]—how processes of world history have drawn people of the world together, and difference—how patterns of world history reveal the diversity of the human experience.

[[Arnold J. Toynbee]]'s ten-volume ''[[A Study of History]]'', took an approach that was widely discussed in the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1960s his work was virtually ignored by scholars and the general public. He compared 26 independent civilizations and argued that they displayed striking parallels in their origin, growth, and decay. He proposed a universal model to each of these civilizations, detailing the stages through which they all pass: genesis, growth, time of troubles, universal state, and disintegration. The later volumes gave too much emphasis on spirituality to satisfy critics.<ref>William H. McNeill, ''Arnold J. Toynbee a Life'' (1989)</ref>

Chicago historian [[William Hardy McNeill|William H. McNeill]] wrote ''[[The Rise of the West]]'' (1965) to show how the separate civilizations of Eurasia interacted from the very beginning of their history, borrowing critical skills from one another, and thus precipitating still further change as adjustment between traditional old and borrowed new knowledge and practice became necessary. He then discusses the dramatic effect of [[Western culture|Western civilization]] on others in the past 500 years of history. McNeill took a broad approach organized around the interactions of peoples across the globe. Such interactions have become both more numerous and more continual and substantial in recent times. Before about 1500, the network of communication between cultures was that of Eurasia. The term for these areas of interaction differ from one world historian to another and include ''world-system'' and ''ecumene''. His emphasis on cultural fusions influenced historical theory significantly.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McNeill |first1=William H. |year=1995 |title=The Changing Shape of World History |journal=History and Theory |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=8–26 |doi=10.2307/2505432 |jstor=2505432 }}</ref>