A Concise History of World Population

Explores the forces that have shaped global population growth over millennia

Understanding the mechanisms that govern the size and trajectory of the human population is essential to navigating today's most pressing global challenges. A Concise History of World Population, offers a sweeping overview of the key demographic patterns that have defined human history and influenced the world's population structure. Drawing on disciplines as diverse as ecology, history, economics, and epidemiology, this new edition provides students and scholars with an interdisciplinary guide to the major forces—both natural and human-made—that have determined demographic growth, stagnation, or decline across civilizations.

Acclaimed demographer Massimo Livi-Bacci addresses enduring questions about the balance between people, resources, and environment through careful analysis of catastrophic disruptions, technological revolutions, and slowly evolving reproductive behaviors. Reader-friendly chapters provide the intellectual tools needed to understand the shifting dynamics of global population—paying special attention to emerging demographic trends and the sustainability challenges they pose in the twenty-first century. The result is not just a concise history, but a rich framework for thinking critically about the demographic future.

An essential resource for anyone seeking to understand how population and society co-evolve—and the delicate equilibrium they must maintain—A Concise History of World Population:

• Offers a clear and accessible narrative of global population history from pre-agricultural societies to the present
• Highlights demographic mechanisms often overlooked in traditional population studies
• Includes in-depth analysis of catastrophic events and their demographic impact, including pandemics and climate shocks
• Addresses sustainability and future population trends in the context of limited global resources
• Engages with long-term patterns and short-term fluctuations in population-resource equilibrium

Employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates history, anthropology, ecology, economics, and political science, A Concise History of World Population, Seventh Edition, is perfect for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Population Studies, Demographic History, Global History, and Political Demography within degree programs in Sociology, Political Science, History, and Development Studies.

Preface

1) The Space and Strategy of Demographic Growth

2) Demographic Growth: Between Choice and Constraint

3) Land, Labor, and Population

4) Toward Order and Efficiency: The Recent Demography

of Europe and the Developed World

5) The Populations of Poor Countries

6) Microbes, Food and Space and Sustainability of Population Change

7) The Future

MASSIMO LIVI-BACCI is Emeritus Professor of Demography at the University of Florence. He is a former President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and served as a Senator of the Italian Republic. Livi-Bacci is widely recognized for his work on historical demography and migration, with notable publications including The Population of Europe: A History, Conquest: The Destruction of the American Indios, and A Short History of Migration. He is also the founder and editor of Neodemos, a platform for the discussion of population and social issues.