There is an increasing realisation that our knowledge of world history – and how it all fits together – is far from perfect. A Short History of the World aims to fill the big gaps in our historical knowledge with a book that is easy to read and assumes little prior knowledge of past events.
The book does not aim to come up with groundbreaking new theories on why things occurred, but rather gives a broad overview of the generally accepted version of events so that non-historians will feel less ignorant when discussing the past.
While the book covers world history from the Big Bang to the present day, it principally covers key people, events and empires since the dawn of the first civilisations in around 3500 BC. To help readers put events, places and empires into context, the book includes 36 specially commissioned maps to accompany the text.
The result is a book that is reassuringly epic in scope but refreshingly short in length. An excellent place to start to bring your historical knowledge up to scratch!
The Birth of Man and the Exploration of the Earth
From Hunter-gathering to Farming
Ancient Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs (3100 BC)
The Hittites: Early Ironmongers (1400–1200 BC)
The Olmecs of Central America (1400–400 BC)
The Invasion of the Sea Peoples (1200 BC)
The Phoenicians Explore the Mediterranean (1000–500 BC)
The Empire of Ancient Persia (550–330 BC)
Ancient Greece and the Greek City States (1000–330 BC)
Alexander the Great (356–323 BC)
The Indian Mauryan Empire (321–185 BC)
Alexander’s Successor Kingdoms
The Unification of China (221 BC)
The Roman Republic (509–27 BC)
Hannibal and the Punic Wars (264–146 BC)
Octavian, Mark Antony and Cleopatra
The Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 476/1453)
Jesus: The Birth of Christianity
The End of the Roman Empire in the West (AD 476)
The Mayan Civilisation of Central America (AD 300–900)
Muhammad: The Last Prophet (AD 570–632)
The Fall of the Umayyad Dynasty (AD 750)
The Islamic Golden Age (8th–11th Centuries)
Viking and Norman Invasions (AD 793–1066)
Europe’s Religious Schism (AD 1054)
The Mamluks: Kingdom of Slaves (AD 1250–1517)
The Mongols and Genghis Khan (13th – 15th centuries)
The Hundred Years War in Europe (AD 1337–1453)
The Rise of the Ottomans (AD 1301)
The Fall of Constantinople (AD 1453)
The Renaissance (early 15th – late 16th Centuries)
The Age of Exploration (1450-1600)
Christopher Columbus (AD 1451–1506)
The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
The European Reformation (1517-1598)
The Habsburgs take over Europe
The Aztecs and the Incas meet the Iron Age (1200–1520/1531)
The Catholic Counter-Reformation (1545)
The English Reformation (1517–1558)
Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen (1533–1603)
The Thirty Years War and the Peace of Westphalia (1618-1648)
The Colonisation of North America (17th Century)
Jamestown and the Settlement of North America (1607)
Sugar and the Slave Trade (15th–19th Centuries)
…while Spain and Portugal Decline
France Gains Dominance Under Louis XIV
England: The Beginnings of an Empire
Japan Closes its Doors to the World (17th Century)
China Expands under the Manchus
The Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1871)
The Seven Years War (1756–1763)
The American War of Independence (1775-1783)
The French Revolution (1789–1799)
Napoleon Bonaparte: Emperor of the French (1799–1815)
The Industrial Revolution (1780s–1900)
Rule Britannia: Great Britain Leads the World (1815–1900)
The Growth of Socialism (19th Century)
The Independence of South America (1808–1826)
The Rise of Nationalism and Liberalism (19th Century)
The Great Game in Central Asia (19th Century)
How King Cotton led to Civil War in America (1861-1865)
The Expansion of America (1783–1867)
New Nations: Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Germany (1867–1871)
The Scramble for Africa (1880–1914)
Rebellion in China and the End of the Qing (1900–1911)
Oil and the Internal Combustion Engine
The First World War or ‘Great War’ (1914–1918)
The Russian Civil War (1917-1921)
The Rise of Fascism and Totalitarianism
The Great Depression (1929–1932)
The Second World War (1939–1945)
De-Stalinisation and the Space Race
The Great Leap Forward in China (1958–1962)
The Communist Holocaust (1917–1991)
The Microchip and the Digital Revolution
Decolonisation: The End of Overseas Empires
The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)
The Pendulum Turns: Europe Loses its Dominance