Although the organizing principle of virtually every world history text presently available is "development", Hughes maintains that this traditional approach fails to address the issue of sustain ability. By adopting the ecological process as their major theme, the authors show how the process of human interaction with the natural environment unfolded in the past, & offer perspective on the ecological crises in our world at the beginning of the 21st century. Topics range from broad regional studies that examine important aspects of the global environment that affect nations, to a study of the widespread influence of one important individual on his nation & beyond. The authors (among them John McNair, Diane Jones, Martin Melosi, Helen Wheatky, Calvin Martin, & Valery Cholakov) take different approaches, but all share a conviction that world history must take ecological process seriously, & they all recognize the ways in which the living & non-living systems of the earth have influenced the course of human affairs.