Volume IV deals with the period commonly known as 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 Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire, as well as the Crusades and the development of trans-Saharan and maritime routes around Africa to the Indian Ocean. This multiplied exchanges between the peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia and Europe.

Also available:
Volume I: Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilization
Volume II: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century B.C.
Volume III: From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Seventh Century A.D.
Volume V: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century
Volume VI: The Nineteenth Century
Volume VII: The Twentieth Century

KEYWORDS · African history · Arab history · Asian history · Civilization · Cultural history · European history · History · History of science · Islam · Latin American history · Medieval history · Modern history · North American history