From the first civilizations to the 21st century this wide-ranging, compulsively readable book encompasses all of world history: great ages and monumental events; the rise and fall of cultures; names, dates, and statistics, and stories galore.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• About This Book
• MILESTONES
• The Rise of Agriculture & Complex Societies
• The Evolution of Writing
• The Classical Tradition
• The Silk Road & the East-West Connection
• Plagues & Peoples
• Gutenberg & the Print Revolution
• Slave Trade & Colonialism
• The Rise of Democracy
• Technology Shrinks the World
• The Search for World Order
• MAJOR ERAS
• ANCIENT WORLD: Prehistory-500 BC
• Human Evolution & Early Migration Prehistory-3000 B.C.
• Mesopotamian Civilizations 3500-500 B.C.
• Sidebar: The Lessons of Judaism
• Egyptian Civilization 3000-500 B.C.
• Sidebar: The Divine Right of Queens
• Indian Civilization 2500-500 B.C.
• Sidebar: The Multiplicity of Hinduism
• Chinese Civilization 2200-500 B.C.
• Mediterranean Civilizations 2000-500 B.C.
• Olmec of Mesoamerica 1200-400 B.C.
• WORLD SURVEY: Prehistory-500 B.C.
• Classical World: 550 B.C.-A.D. 700
• Persia 550 B.C.-A.D. 651
• North American Cultures 500 B.C.-A.D. 400
• Mesoamerican Cultures 500 B.C.-A.D. 700
• South American Cultures 500 B.C.-A.D. 600
• The Roman Empire 509 B.C.-A.D. 476
• Sidebar: Hannibal of Carthage
• Sidebar: The Roman Army
• Greece 492-400 B.C.
• China's Qin & Han Dynasties 403 B.C.-A.D. 220
• Sidebar: Emperor Qin's Tomb
• Alexander the Great 336-323 B.C.
• India 327 B.C.-A.D. 550
• Rise of Christianity A.D. 27-392
• World Survey 550 B.C.-A.D. 700
• Age of Faith: 500-1150
• Maya: 500-1000
• Sidebar: Watching the Heavens
• Anglo-Saxon England 500-1066
• Byzantine Empire 527-1054
• Muhammad & Islam 570-1000
• Sidebar: The Koran
• China's Sui & Tang Dynasties 581-907
• Khmer Empire 600-1150
• Charlemagne 768-814
• Vikings 793-1042
• Feudalism 800-1000
• World Survey: 500-1150
• CRUSADES TO COLUMBUS: 960-1644
• China's Song Dynasty 960-1279
• Holy Roman Empire 962-1648
• Toltec & Aztec Empires 1000-1521
• Sidebar: Rituals of Aztec Warfare
• Peru's Chimu & Inca Empires 1000-1536
• Mississippians & Anasazi 1000-1540
• The High Middle Ages in Europe 1000-1453
• The Crusades 1095-1291
• Mongol Empire 1206-1368
• Sidebar: Marco Polo
• Ottoman Empire 1299-1571
• The Renaissance 1300-1600
• Sidebar: Machiavelli
• China's Ming Dynasty 1368-1644
• Sidebar: The Admiral of the Western Ocean
• World Survey 960-1644
• COLONIZING NEW WORLDS: 1455-1857
• England: 1455-1689
• Sidebar: The Great Fire of London
• Spain & Portugal 1469-1640
• Sidebar: The Spanish Inquisition
• Navigating the Globe 1492-1522
• Spanish-American Empire 1492-1800
• Sidebar: Spanish Mission System
• The Reformation 1517-1648
• Mogul India 1523-1857
• France's North American Colonies 1534-1763
• England's North American Colonies 1584-1775
• Sidebar: English Conquest of Canada
• Japan & the Shoguns 1588-1853
• The Rise of Russia 1613-1796
• The Age of Enlightenment 1700-1800
• Europe's Balance of Power 1702-1763
• British Exploration of the Pacific 1760-1840
• Sidebar: Australia's Aborigines
• American Revolution: 1775-1789
• Sidebar: Rebellions in Other American Colonies
• French Revolution 1789-1799
• Sidebar: Robespierre & the Reign of Terror
• World Survey: 1455-1857
• AGE OF IMPERIALISM: 1750-1917
• European Imperialism: 1750-1900
• Sidebar: Queen Victoria
• India Under the British 1757-1917
• Napoleon 1769-1821
• Europe's Industrial Revolution 1769-1900
• Sidebar: Urban Migration
• Sidebar: Ireland's Potato Famine
• Imperialism in the Pacific 1800-1900
• Sidebar: Maori of New Zealand
• Latin American Independence 1800-1830
• Sidebar: Bolivar: Liberator or Dictator?
• U.S. Expansion 1800-1860
• Sidebar: The California Gold Rush
• European Nationalism 1815-1871
• China Ends Its Isolation 1820-1900
• European Powers Colonize Africa 1830-1914
• Sidebar: Livingstone & Stanley
• Japan & the West 1853-1905
• U.S. Civil War & Reconstruction 1860-1877
• Sidebar: The Battle of Gettysburg
• The U.S. Becomes a Great Power 1876-1900
• Sidebar: Rough Riders in Cuba
• World Survey: 1750-1917
• GLOBAL CONFLICT: 1900-1945
• Revolution in Transit: 1900-1930
• Sidebar: Mass Production Comes of Age
• World War I 1914-1918
• Sidebar: The Russian Revolutions of 1917
• Boom & Bust 1920-1937
• Sidebar: Mass Communication
• Authoritarianism: 1920-1938
• World War II 1939-1945
• Sidebar: Development of the Atom Bomb
• World Survey: 1900-1945
• TOWARD A NEW MILLENNIUM: 1945-Present
• Postwar Settlement & Cold War: 1945-1991
• Sidebar: Arab-Israeli Conflicts
• Sidebar: Vietnam War
• Sidebar: Iran Revolution
• Development of a “Third World”: 1945-1991
• Sidebar: Gandhi: India's Peaceful Rebel
• Frontiers of Science and Exploration: 1945-Present
• Sidebar: Other Planets, Other Earths
• The Global Community 1991-Present
• Sidebar: The Death of Osama bin Laden
• World Survey: 1945-Present
• AT A GLANCE
• Major Wars
• Major Religions
• Periods & Movements
• Human Accomplishments
• Leaders
• Scientists, Inventors, & Philosophers
• Explorers
• Artists
• Appendix
• HIGHLIGHTS OF CHINESE HISTORY
• ROMAN RULERS
• RULERS OF ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN
• HISTORICAL PERIODS OF JAPAN
• RULERS OF FRANCE
• PRIME MINISTERS OF GREAT BRITAIN
• PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
• RULERS OF RUSSIA SINCE 1533