I started reading more than ever before this year and the more I read the more I realize how uninformed I am about the world. I'm looking for something to introduce me into studying history, Something that gives brief, but informative enough information from earliest civilizations to modern ones. After which, whenever particular subjects interest me more than others, I'll delve into them separately.
Consider that I know literally nothing about history and I want to chronologically study it. Is there a book that would fit the description? Is this a correct way to go about educating myself on history?
They're topic-based rather than global surveys, but have you considered having a look at the Very Short Introduction series? They're written by leading academics on their particular subject, published by Oxford University Press to an academic level, but are inexpensive, aimed at a general audience, and clock in at about 150-200 pages.
Also if you haven't had a look, our subreddit booklist may be of interest: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/books
I found the Columbia History of the World on my parent's bookshelves when I was a kid, and flipping through it sparked my initial interest in the study of history. Although it doesn't really have a unifying narrative to speak of (it's more of a reference work) it's really the only thing I would recommend that really tries to cover everything.
I'm not sure it would be possible to get all the important, must-know stuff in history into one book. I mean, I think you'd struggle to get a group of historians to even agree about what that stuff is to begin with, and then I think there would be just too much material to condense into a readable volume. When I was a teenager someone recommended I read The Penguin History of the World by J M Roberts but it was very dry and I'm still dragging it around mostly unread over 10 years and 5 house moves later (and having gained a Masters degree in medieval history on the way).
Having said that, if you're looking for a very general overview then a good historical atlas might be a non-intimidating place to start. I've got the DK World History Atlas, which I love, but there are plenty of others around. You can get a good idea from there of how civilisations have risen and changed and fallen if that's your bag, and I think it would be a useful framework to hang more detailed reading onto later on - for example if you decide you want to get stuck into early medieval Europe (which I highly recommend!) then some general knowledge about the Roman Empire is useful context.
I'd also recommend (perhaps controversially) Wikipedia. It's obviously not a citable source in academia, but you can get a good overview of some fairly obscure areas and quite often you'll get some book and article recommendations from the bibliography if you want to know more. Just remember to read critically and question anything that seems unlikely, especially if the issue you're reading about happens to feed into something that's politically relevant now (for example the current wave of Scottish nationalism has led to what I would consider to be dubious interpretations of some medieval events.)