Thanks for the history ping
IMO, the best overview history texts were written pre-WWI when the western culture was trying to understand where they came from, who they were, where they were going plus understanding the cultures they conquered and why they had to conquer them.
Today, we are trying to grasp why we are given the responsibility of reforming Islam. Today, there are 100,000 books on the subject. Fifty years from now, ONE history books will obscure the facts to fit Iraqi War into one paragraph, no doubt fitting a certain agenda.
I think you'll find we know where we came from, and where we are going in our book.