William H. McNeill talks about the study of history and how he came to write the Rise of the West

The eminent historian William H. McNeill explains how he came to be a world historian (and, as the author of many well-known books, the grandfather of modern world history and global education.) He talks about reading Arnold Toynbee and grasping that history was not simply the story of western cultures and civilization. Recorded by Berkshire Publishing Group after the publication of the Encyclopedia of World History. McNeill was the senior editor of that work, and his son J.R. McNeill (who is briefly seen in this extract from a much longer interview with both men) was also an editor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXkR6AyQRqM