The first comprehensive history of the world, The Outline of History is a vibrant synthesis of real history, told in a sweeping, panoramic style, as if it were fiction. H. G. Wells removes nationalism from the equation, creating the premier worldview of history, told from a global rather than a local point of view.

With The Outline of History Wells started a craze that lasted throughout the 1920s for copycat "outlines" on every conceivable subject. Coming right after the carnage of World War I, the Outline was neither unduly pessimistic and cynical about the human condition nor Pollyannaish about humanity's future. Instead, it offered an account of the development of the world's civilizations up to the present, showing its readers that an enlightened future depended on a clear, unprejudiced view of the past.