A Short History of the World is a general history non-fiction book written by Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey. First published in 2000 by Penguin Books, it describes over 4 million years of history, from before the first people left Africa, through to the current day. In 2007 Blainey released an abridged (492 pages) paperback version of the book titled A Very Short History of the World. He also released a double audio CD set of the same name. Source: Wikipedia (en)