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Here is a terrific four chapter story about Spanish Galleons and their role in a trade with China that would change the world. Published by the South Morning Post and written by Adolfo Arranz and Marco Hernandez,  the four stories are a multimedia presentation with huge maps and gifs. How Silver Changed the World is the best story. It explains how silver coins, minted in the Americas, become the common currency throughout Asia, the Americas, and much of Europe.  Manila becomes a central hub and the Spanish galleon becomes the commercial trade ship of choice. The first three chapters explain how the Spanish Galleon is made, noting that Manila wood is much stronger than wood in Europe, largely impervious to weathering and fungal infections. 15 Minute History also has an excellent podcas t called "The Trans Pacific Silver Trade and Early-Modern Globalization."

Here's a great review of the Ayssruian Empire from Marian Feldman for TedEd . The Assyrians developed the first true empire long before the Mongols or the British and developed innovations like efficient administrartion, constant innovation, and excellent infrstructure that continue to live on. They conquered a territory that included much of the Middle East and were known as militry innovators and merciless conquerors. They used siege tactis and cruel punishments.   Edleman suggests that the growth of the Assyrian Empire was partly due to their strategy of deporting local populations amd moving them around to fullfill specific needs.

If you are interested in recent scholarship about World History, you might enjoy this new book club on Goodreads started by some AP World History teachers in March. The Trouble with Empire,  by Antoinette Burton, was the first book the club read. Now, we are reading Odd Arne Westad's 700 page book about the Cold War. If you are interested in joining the group, you can use this link. It’s a private group, so you have to request to join the discussion. You can buy the Westad book at Amazon. I found some interesting applications for the book in the introduction where Westad establishes both context and sysnthesis for the Cold War. He reminds us, for example, that bipolarity existed in ancient Greece when Sparta and Athens faced each other and again  in the 17th century when Spain and England faced each other. And he noted that the Cold War did not happen in a vacuum. Profound changes in the international system like the development of nation states and nationalism provided cont