The ultimate reference for info-junkies, multiculture vultures, and trivia pursuers. Here's everything you need to know about the history, philosophy, art, literature, politics, and worldview of all the cultures of the world. United States citizens are becoming citizens of the world. Just look at the front page of any newspaper, the travel schedule of any corporate executive, college curricula, high school reading lists, the advertising and fashion spreads that fill our magazines, and our computer screens. The global village has arrived. We're all connected. World Access Is the first reference book guaranteed to fill in the gaps in anyone's incomplete education and provide a great time along the way. Packed with lists, brief biographies, statistics, and much more, this lively volume explores: the history of the world, from ancient Africa to modern China the philosophies of the world, plus what philosophy is, in case you wondered who's worshipping whom, from Jesus to Vishnu art and architecture from hieroglyphics to op art, from Angkor Wat to Chartres cathedral literature from its sparest (the Japanese haiku) to Its most expansive (the Greek epic poem, or would it be Ulysses?) how we act out, from Sophocles to Satyajit Ray to downtown performance art the music of our sphere, from Haydn's symphonies to reggae's beat the top ten languages of the world (not counting English) politics: You say you want a revolution? Or did you want peace in the Middle East? Cutting-edge and fun to read, rich with facts and art and charts and bite-size nuggets of all kinds, World Access takes us beyond our own borders to the world at large.