The Ancient World: Foundations to Know
Ancient history for NHBB centers on the civilizations that appear most frequently in pyramidal questions: Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, and the Neo-Babylonian empire), ancient Egypt (dynasties, pharaohs, the New Kingdom, and the Ptolemaic period), classical Greece (city-states, the Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian War, Alexander the Great), and Rome (the Republic and the Principate through the fall of the Western Empire in 476 CE). The key rulers, major battles, governmental structures, and cultural achievements of each civilization are all fair game. Questions about the ancient world often lead with archaeological or literary sources — the Epic of Gilgamesh, Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy — so knowing these primary sources by name and content helps with early clues.
Medieval and Byzantine History
The medieval period is consistently tested and often underprpared by NHBB newcomers. Core topics include the Byzantine Empire (Justinian I, the Code of Justinian, the Hagia Sophia, the Crusades' impact on Byzantium, and the fall of Constantinople in 1453), the Islamic Golden Age (the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad as an intellectual center, figures like Al-Khwarizmi and Ibn Rushd), the Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan, the Pax Mongolica, the conquests of Central Asia and China), and medieval Europe (feudalism, the Crusades, the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, and the Holy Roman Empire). Chinese dynastic history — particularly the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties — also appears with enough regularity to warrant dedicated study.
Early Modern: Renaissance Through Enlightenment
The early modern period (roughly 1400–1789) covers a dense cluster of testable events. The Italian Renaissance (Medici patronage, Machiavelli, the major artists and humanists), the Age of Exploration (Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, the Columbian Exchange and its consequences), the Protestant Reformation (Luther's 95 Theses, Calvin in Geneva, the English Reformation under Henry VIII), the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia, the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and the Scientific Revolution (Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton) are all heavily tested. The Enlightenment — particularly Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu — is important both in its own right and as the intellectual backdrop for the American and French Revolutions.
Modern World History: Revolutions to Cold War
Modern history for NHBB spans the French Revolution through the late 20th century. The French Revolution and Napoleonic era (causes, major phases, key figures, and the Congress of Vienna) is among the most frequently tested world history sequences. The 19th century brings nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism — the unification of Germany and Italy, the scramble for Africa, the Meiji Restoration in Japan, and the Opium Wars in China. The World Wars (causes, theaters, key leaders, turning points, and outcomes) are indispensable. The Cold War requires thorough knowledge of both superpowers, proxy conflicts (Korea, Vietnam, Angola, Afghanistan), and the major crises (Berlin Blockade, Cuban Missile Crisis, Prague Spring). Decolonization movements across Africa and Asia round out the post-WWII picture.
How to Study World History the Way NHBB Rewards It
The biggest mistake NHBB newcomers make is studying history the way a textbook teaches it: memorizing dates and outcomes without understanding causality or context. NHBB's pyramidal questions test why things happened as much as what happened. For each major event, practice answering: What were the long-term causes? Who were the key actors and what were their motivations? What were the consequences — intended and unintended? A useful textbook is Robert Strayer's Ways of the World, which explicitly emphasizes causality and comparison across civilizations. Khan Academy's AP World History content is also strong. Supplement reading with NHBB's own practice packets, available through the organization's website, and focus your review on the questions you answered incorrectly rather than the ones you already knew.