Essentials, Links, and Influences: Timeless Readings from World Civilizations to 1500 examines the ideas, customs, and institutions that define a civilization, as well as the links between civilizations and the influence each brings to bear on others.

The book enables students to reconstruct the past by asking questions and then searching for answers by studying diverse sources from every part of the world. It gives much needed attention to the civilizations of Asia and Africa and provides historical documents with a global perspective.

The second edition features new translations, speeches, and primary sources on conquistadors and the first new world pandemic, the Mongols in Europe, early kingdoms of Sumatra and Java, the life of Charlemagne, speeches given during the First Crusade, folktales of Old Korea, and Japan in ancient times.

In Essentials, Links, and Influences, students learn that while every civilization has features that set it apart from others, no civilization truly stands alone. The book is designed for lower division courses in early world civilizations and early world history.