NEW YORK (AP) - William H. McNeill, an award-winning world historian and author, has died.
McNeill died Friday in Torrington, Connecticut, at age 98. His death was confirmed by Steve Koppes, associate news director at the University of Chicago, where McNeill was a professor emeritus.
McNeill's "The Rise of the West" was among the most acclaimed works of the 20th century as it wove the history of civilizations worldwide into a single narrative. His "Plagues and People" helped invent the history of disease and epidemics. He wrote more than a dozen books and taught for 40 years at the University of Chicago.