My favorite at the moment is Why the West Rules--For Now by Ian Morris. Trust me, it's better than it sounds. He lays out his book as dual histories of the eastern and western hemispheres focusing on the greatest civilization in each at any given time. He compares each by making a chart measuring energy capture, organizational capacity, military capabilities, and intellectual technologies. He then uses a little chart to frame his narrative. For example, the use of coal in Song Dynasty China causes a big spike in their energy capture at the same time that Crusaders and Turkic invasions were disrupting the growth of the Abbasid Caliphate. So the little chart shows the East gaining ground on the West.

The idea of the little chart and the four factors is ultimately a little silly, but it is used to frame the narrative, not define it. Morris is a good story teller but his specialty is archaic Greece so the further he gets away from it, the more simplistic his narrative becomes. He is an archeologist by training so his chapters on prehistoric periods are quite good even if they are outside of his wheelhouse.

Despite some flaws I recommend this book highly to people. You do need patience to read it as the chapters are often quite long and the book is about 500 pages. It's not a brief primer, it's more like a textbook with an argument.