Peoples, nations and cultures an A-Z of the peoples of the world, past and present /
general editor, John M. MacKenzie.
- London [Eng.] : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005
- 1 online resource (2184 entries) : 119 images, digital files.
The Americas -- Africa -- Europe -- South and Central Asia and the Middle East -- East and Southeast Asia and Oceana.
Access restricted to authorized users and institutions.
Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures is a fascinating and informative guide to the myriad discrete ethnic and cultural groupings that have inhabited our planet over the past 6000 years. It presents - in a simple and easy-to-follow A to Z structure within five regionally based sections (The Americas, Africa, Europe, South and Central Asia and the Middle East, and East and Southeast Asia and Oceania) - clear, concise and readable histories of a significant number of peoples, nations and cultures: from the Assyrians of the ancient Middle East to the modern-day Armenians, from the Belgae of ancient Europe to the modern-day Basques. Modern political geography, reflected in the 200-odd states into which the contemporary world is divided, offers at best a simplification of the world's ethnic and cultural complexities. The nation-states that sit at today's United Nations represent but a fraction of the huge number of distinct and identifiable peoples, nations and cultures that have come into being, settled, migrated, flourished, declined, assimilated, and - in many cases - disappeared since the distant beginnings of recorded history.