With over 4000 entries, arranged in a clear A-Z format, this encyclopaedia provides in-depth information on events, figures, and concepts from prehistory up to the present day. A network of cross-references allows quick access to historical knowledge across a wide spectrum of global cultures. The book aims to present coverage of every significant historical event and location from the megaliths and menhirs at Carnac and the mound-builders of the Mississippi to the conflict in East Timor and the Downing Street Declaration. Biographies of key figures in world history are also presented. Alongside the major rulers, commanders, and politicians, many biographies are included for those whose ideas, inventions, and discoveries have shaped world history, including: Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism; Robert Oppenheimer, designer of the first A-bomb; and the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama. Outlines of the major historical and social movements and ideologies are included, which explain the ideas and phenomena which have "made" history, including capitalism, fascism, human evolution, war, women's suffrage, and urbanization. Entries on each of the world's nation states offer an analysis of each country's history, and includes details of its physical location and economic development, as well as a checklist of statistical data. The background to contemporary world events is discussed, and present-day leaders and organizations have been included for the light they shed on a particular area of conflict, or a certain country's history, or on modern international relations. These include Binyamin Netanyahu's stance on Israeli security, the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the background to Kofi Annan's election as UN Secretary-General, and why G7 will (and now has) become G8. A collection of maps illustrate historical events from the Peloponnesian war to the Western Front in World War I.