We live in a shrinking world where civilisations are colliding and people from all over the world are encountering former strangers as neighbours. So we need to understand each other's history and culture. To help with this deeper appreciation of the huge variety of humankind, here is a simple description of the basic features of five of the greatest current world civilisations - the Sino-sphere, Japano-sphere, Islamo-sphere, Euro-sphere and Anglo-sphere. Alan Macfarlane, F.B.A., is an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Cambridge University and a Life Fellow of King's College. His website is alanmacfarlane.com