Now updated–the one–stop guide to significant events in world history
Written for students and lifelong learners, this detailed overview of human history takes readers from the discovery of fire to the birth of the Internet. It features new coverage of significant events that have reshaped our world view: the events of September 11, 2001; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; recent responses climate change; the rise of China, India, and Brazil as world economic powers; and the natural disasters of Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It also explores the current trends in historical research and how researchers are re–examining everything from the writings of Marco Polo to the arrival of humans in the Americas.
Chapter 1. Tracing a Path to the Present
Chapter 3. Putting History into Perspective
Chapter 5. The Rise and Fall of Many Empires
Chapter 6. History’s Mid-Life Crisis: The Middle Ages
Chapter 7. The Struggle for World Domination
Chapter 9. Clashing All Around the World
Chapter 10. Religion through the Ages
Chapter 11. Loving Wisdom: The Rise and Reach of Philosophy
Chapter 12. Being Christian, Thinking Greek
Chapter 13. Awakening to the Renaissance
Chapter 14. Making a Break: The Reformation
Chapter 15. Opening Up to Science and Enlightenment
Chapter 16. Sticks and Stones: Waging War the Old-Fashioned Way
Chapter 17. The War Machine Gets Some Upgrades
Chapter 19. Starting Something Legendary
Chapter 20. Battling Toward Immortality
Chapter 21. Explorers and Discoverers: Places to Go, People to See
Chapter 22. Turning Tables: Rebels and Revolutionaries
Chapter 23. Ten Unforgettable Dates in History
Chapter 24. Ten Essential Historical Documents