The Human Record is a leading collection of primary sources for world history courses. Unlike many world history texts that center on the West, The Human Record provides balanced coverage of the global past. The book features both written and artifactual sources placed in their full historical contexts through introductory essays, footnotes, and focus questions. Each volume in the Fifth Edition begins with a prologue, "Primary Sources and How to Read Them", that introduces students to the proper methods for reading and interpreting primary source material; the authors also walk students through sample visual and textual sources to help them master this skill.