An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, "Maps of Time" is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings. Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies - all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of 'Big History.' "Maps of Time" opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history - and 'Big History' - true as never before to its name.

大衛·剋裏斯蒂安（David Christian，1946—　），曆史學傢，“大曆史”（Big History）學派創始人，國際大曆史學會（International Big History Association）主席。主要著作有《時間地圖: 大曆史，130億年前至今》（Maps of Time）、《極簡人類史》（This Fleeting World）、《大曆史：虛無與萬物之間》（Big History，與辛西婭·布朗、剋雷格·本傑明閤著）等。

與傳統世界史不同，剋裏斯蒂安倡導的“大曆史”不再局限於民族、地區、國傢的曆史，而是將人類史視為宇宙曆史的一個章節，重新定位人類在宇宙演化進程中的曆史坐標。“大曆史”深刻影響瞭大眾讀者對人類曆史的認知。比爾·蓋茨斥資韆萬美元，緻力於在全球範圍內推廣“大曆史教學項目”（Big History Project）。