From Wikipedia: World History, Global History or Transnational history (not to be confused with Diplomatic or International History) is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective. It is not to be confused with comparative history, which like world history, deals with the history of multiple cultures and nations, but does not do so on a global scale. ~ World History looks for common patterns that emerge across all cultures. World historians use a thematic approach, with two major focal points: integration (how processes of world history have drawn people of the world together) and difference (how patterns of world history reveal the diversity of the human experience). ~ The study of world history is in some ways a product of the current period of accelerated globalization.