William H. McNeill (historian)

William Hardy McNeill (October 31, 1917 – July 8, 2016) was a Canadian-American world historian and author, particularly noted for his writings on Western civilization. He was Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago where he had taught since 1947. He was also the father of historian J. R. McNeill with whom he co-authored The Human Web: A Bird's-eye View of World History.

Early life, education, and military service
William McNeill was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the son of theologian and educator John T. McNeill. He was educated at the University of Chicago, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1938 and Master of Arts (M.A.) in 1939. In 1941, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in World War II in the European theater. After the war, he obtained his PhD at Cornell University, in 1947.

Career
In 1947, McNeill began teaching at the University of Chicago, which became his home throughout his professional career.

McNeill's most popular work, completed early in his career, is The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (1963). The book explored world history in terms of the effect of different old world civilizations on one another, and especially the dramatic effect of Western civilization on others in the past 500 years. It had a major impact on historical theory, especially its emphasis on cultural fusions, in contrast to Oswald Spengler's view of discrete, independent civilizations.

McNeill's Rise of the West won the 1964 U.S. National Book Award in History and Biography. His Plagues and Peoples (1976), was an important early contribution to the impact of disease on human history and contributed to the emergence of environmental history as a discipline.

McNeill was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama on February 25, 2010. The citation recognizes "his exceptional talent as a teacher and scholar at the University of Chicago and as an author of more than 20 books, including The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (1963), which traces civilizations through 5,000 years of recorded history."

Personal life
McNeill was married to Elizabeth Darbishire until her death in 2006.

Death
McNeill died in July 2016, at the age of 98.

Works

 * (1947). The Greek Dilemma War And Aftermath J. B. Lippincott Company, London: Victor Gollancz
 * (1949). History of Western Civilization: A Handbook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 6th edition, 1986.  ISBN 978-0-226-56159-2.
 * (1954)  Past and Future.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.
 * "The Introduction of the Potato into Ireland," The Journal of Modern History Vol. 21, No. 3, September 1949
 * (1963). The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Revised edition, 1991.  ISBN 978-0-226-56141-7.
 * (1973). "The Ecumene: Story of Humanity". Harper & Row. 0065520424
 * (1974). The Shape of European History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-501807-3
 * (1974). Venice: The Hinge of Europe, 1081-1797. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-56149-3.
 * (1976). Plagues and Peoples. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12122-9.
 * (1979).
 * (1980). The Human Condition: An Ecological and Historical View. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05317-0
 * (1982). The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  ISBN 0-226-56157-7
 * (1989). Arnold J. Toynbee: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506335-X
 * (1991). Hutchins' University. A Memoir of the University of Chicago. 1929-1950.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-56170-4
 * (1992). The Global Condition: Conquerors, Catastrophes, & Community. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
 * (1995). Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
 * (1998). A World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 4th edition. (First published 1967). ISBN 0-19-511616-X
 * (2003). The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History (with J. R. McNeill). New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-92568-4
 * (2005). Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (with Jerry H. Bentley, David Christian et al., editors). 5 volumes. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 9780974309101.
 * (2005). The Pursuit of Truth: A Historian's Memoir. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
 * (2009). Summers Long Ago: On Grandfather's Farm and in Grandmother's Kitchen. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 9781933782713.
 * (2011). Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History, 2nd Edition (with Jerry H. Bentley, David Christian et al., editors). 6 volumes. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 9781933782652.