Description
Book SynopsisNathan Schur has put together the most compact and complete history of mankind ever written in one volume. With sublime skill and a superbly accessible writing style he illuminates the turning points in
World History from Early Man to the Collapse of the Soviet Empire. Refreshing, fascinating and informative, this book is an essential read for the enquiring student or adult.
World History is both fascinating and important. There is no other way to understand who we are and how we came to be where we are now.
Table of ContentsPart 1 Beginnings: Mother Earth; early man; the agricultural and urban revolution. Part 2 The ancient Middle East: Sumer and Akkad; early Egypt; Syrian, Canaan, and alphabetical writing. Part 3 The diffusion of civilization: the Indus civilization and the coming of the Aryans; Minoans and Mycenaeans; beginnings in China. Part 4 Early empires: the Hittites; Egypt - the new kingdom; the Assyrian Empire; the Persian Empire. Part 5 The age of new beliefs and thought - the First millennium BC: Zoroastrianism; the 'Hundred Schools of Thoughts' in China; Buddhism; Israel; classical Greece. Part 6 Hellenism and Rome: Alexander the Great; the Hellenistic civilization; Rome; Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. Part 7 Asian empires of the First Millennium AD: the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties of China; pre-Islamic India; Parthians and Sassanians in Iran. Part 8 The early middle ages: Byzantium; the dark ages in Europe; the rise of Islam; the beginning of western civilization; the Crusades. Part 9 Beginnings in America and Africa: the early civilizations of Mexico; the Maya; the early civilization of Peru; beginnings in sub-Saharan Africa. Part 10 Civilizations link-up: the sea peoples; the Phoenicians and their voyages of exploration; the Graeco-Roman reach into central Asia; the Vikings; the Mongols; expansion of Islam into India and Indonesia; the European age discovery. Part 11 The later empires of Asia: from the Ming dynasty to Mao Zedong; Japan; the Moghul Empire in India; the Safawid Empire in Persia; the Ottoman Empire. Part 12 The great age of European civilization: the early national states; the Renaissance; Reformation and Counter Reformation; the European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries; the scientific revolution; the industrial revolution. Part 13 European imperialism: the Portuguese Empire; the Spanish Empire; the Netherlands and their empire; the French Empire; the British Empire - the largest of them all; the Russian Empire. Part 14 The great revolutions: the English Revolution; the Enlightment; the American Revolution; the French Revolution; Napoleon; the liberation of Latin America; classicism and romanticism; the revolutions of 1830-1848; the creation of national states - Italy and Germany; realism, impressionism, socialism; the American dream; the Russian Revolution. Part 15 The break-up of empires: the road to self-destruction; WWI; the years between the wars; WWII; the collapse o European colonialism; the Cold War; the western powers since WWI; the advent of women power; the revival of Islamic fundamentalism and fanaticism; the rise of the states of the Pacific Rim; the collapse of the Soviet Empire.
