This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country.
Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history.
Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs the methods of “history from beneath”—literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts—to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.
Chapter One - The Origin of Kingship
Chapter Two - The Earliest Story
Chapter Three - The Rise of Aristocracy
Chapter Four - The Creation of Empire
Chapter Five - The Age of Iron
Chapter Six - The Philosopher King
Chapter Seven - The First Written Records
Chapter Eight - The First War Chronicles
Chapter Nine - The First Civil War
Chapter Ten - The First Epic Hero
Chapter Eleven - The First Victory over Death
Chapter Twelve - The First Reformer
Chapter Thirteen - The First Military Dictator
Chapter Fourteen - The First Planned Cities
Chapter Fifteen - The First Collapse of Empire
Chapter Sixteen - The First Barbarian Invasions
Chapter Seventeen - The First Monotheist
Chapter Eighteen - The First Environmental Disaster
Chapter Nineteen - The Battle for Reunification
Chapter Twenty - The Mesopotamian Mixing Bowl
Chapter Twenty-One - The Overthrow of the Xia
Chapter Twenty-Two - Hammurabi’s Empire
Chapter Twenty-Three - The Hyksos Seize Egypt
Chapter Twenty-Four - King Minos of Crete
Chapter Twenty-Five - The Harappan Disintegration
Chapter Twenty-Six - The Rise of the Hittites
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Ahmose Expels the Hyksos
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Usurpation and Revenge
Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Three-Way Contest
Chapter Thirty - The Shifting Capitals of the Shang
Chapter Thirty-One - The Mycenaeans of Greece
Chapter Thirty-Two - Struggle of the Gods
Chapter Thirty-Three - Wars and Marriages
Chapter Thirty-Four - The Greatest Battle in Very Ancient Times
Chapter Thirty-Five - The Battle for Troy
Chapter Thirty-Six - The First Historical King of China
Chapter Thirty-Seven - The Rig Veda
Chapter Thirty-Eight - The Wheel Turns Again
Chapter Thirty-Nine - The End of the New Kingdom
Chapter Forty - The Dark Age of Greece
Chapter Forty-One - The Dark Age of Mesopotamia
Chapter Forty-Two - The Fall of the Shang
Chapter Forty-Three - The Mandate of Heaven
Chapter Forty-Four - The Bharata War
Chapter Forty-Five - The Son of David
Chapter Forty-Six - From Western to Eastern Zhou
Chapter Forty-Seven - The Assyrian Renaissance
Chapter Forty-Eight - New Peoples
Chapter Forty-Nine - Trading Posts and Colonies
Chapter Fifty-One - Kings of Assyria and Babylon
Chapter Fifty-Two - Spectacular Defeat
Chapter Fifty-Three - The Decline of the King
Chapter Fifty-Four - The Assyrians in Egypt
Chapter Fifty-Five - Medes and Persians
Chapter Fifty-Six - Conquest and Tyranny
Chapter Fifty-Seven - The Beginnings and End of Empire
Chapter Fifty-Eight - A Brief Empire
Chapter Fifty-Nine - Cyrus the Great
Chapter Sixty - The Republic of Rome
Chapter Sixty-One - Kingdoms and Reformers
Chapter Sixty-Two - The Power of Duty and the Art of War
Chapter Sixty-Three - The Spreading Persian Empire
Chapter Sixty-Four - The Persian Wars
Chapter Sixty-Five - The Peloponnesian Wars
Chapter Sixty-Six - The First Sack of Rome
Chapter Sixty-Seven - The Rise of the Ch’in
Chapter Sixty-Eight - The Macedonian Conquerors
Chapter Sixty-Nine - Rome Tightens Its Grasp
Chapter Seventy - Alexander and the Wars of the Successors
Chapter Seventy-One - The Mauryan Epiphany
Chapter Seventy-Two - First Emperor, Second Dynasty
Chapter Seventy-Three - The Wars of the Sons
Chapter Seventy-Four - Roman Liberators and Seleucid Conquerors
Chapter Seventy-Five - Between East and West
Chapter Seventy-Six - Breaking the System
Chapter Seventy-Seven - The Problems of Prosperity
Chapter Seventy-Eight - New Men
Chapter Eighty - Eclipse and Restoration
Chapter Eighty-One - The Problem of Succession
Chapter Eighty-Two - The Edges of the Roman World
Chapter Eighty-Three - Children on the Throne
Chapter Eighty-Four - The Mistake of Inherited Power
Chapter Eighty-Five - Savior of the Empire