Universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit. It is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. A universal chronicle or world chronicle traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to the present (contemporary time). As understood by historians, universal history embraces the events of all times and nations with the only limitation being that they should be ascertained as to make a scientific treatment of them possible.
Universal history is the representation of general facts both of entire nations and of individuals. Its uses are manifold. It teaches human nature and the experience of all centuries. Universal history is commonly divided into three parts, viz. ancient, medieval, and modern time.
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Famous quotes containing the words universal and/or history:
“If only nature is real and if, in nature, only desire and destruction are legitimate, then, in that all humanity does not suffice to assuage the thirst for blood, the path of destruction must lead to universal annihilation.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)