World History For Dummies

Now updated! Your personal tour guide to the history of the
world

Want to know more about global history? This concise guide
explains in clear detail all the major players and events that have
made the world what it is today. Covering the entirety of human
history, this comprehensive resource highlights important
developments in everything from religion and science to art and war
-- giving you an understanding of how the 21st-century world
came to be.

• Begin to connect with the past -- label the eras as you
  meet the Neanderthals, home in on Homer, raise Atlantis, and
  preserve Pharaohs

• Find strength in numbers -- trace the growth from ancient
  civilizations to today's global community and discover what makes
  societies succeed or fail

• Discover the impact of thought -- explore the rise of
  religion, the roots of philosophy, and the advance of science
  -- and how our feelings and beliefs continually redefined
  us

• Know the global consequences of war -- ride with the Greeks
  and the Romans, arm yourself with the cavalry, dig the trenches,
  and follow the paths humans took to wage modern war

• Meet the movers and shakers -- from great leaders and
  courageous revolutionaries to ruthless tyrants and unsung
  heroes

• Examine significant events of the 21st century -- from 9/11
  and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to climate change, Hurricane
  Katrina, and the economic rise of China, India, and Brazil

Open the book and find:

• A detailed overview of history

• The development of the world's religions

• Reviews of essential historical documents, from the Bible to the
  Bill of Rights

• The invention of writing and art

• Scientific developments that revolutionized the world

• Capsule biographies of people who changed history -- and a
  few who were changed by it

• Ten unforgettable dates in world history

Auteur
Peter Haugen is a prolific history writer. In addition to authoring and contributing to several books, his work has appeared in publications including History Magazine, mental_floss, and Psychology Today. Haugen has served on the staffs of such newspapers as the St. Petersburg Times and the Sacramento Bee.

Résumé
Now updated! Your personal tour guide to the history of the world Want to know more about global history? This concise guide explains in clear detail all the major players and events that have made the world what it is today. Covering the entirety of human history, this comprehensive resource highlights important developments in everything from religion and science to art and war giving you an understanding of how the 21st-century world came to be.

• Begin to connect with the past label the eras as you meet the Neanderthals, home in on Homer, raise Atlantis, and preserve Pharaohs

• Find strength in numbers trace the growth from ancient civilizations to today's global community and discover what makes societies succeed or fail

• Discover the impact of thought explore the rise of religion, the roots of philosophy, and the advance of science and how our feelings and beliefs continually redefined us

• Know the global consequences of war ride with the Greeks and the Romans, arm yourself with the cavalry, dig the trenches, and follow the paths humans took to wage modern war

• Meet the movers and shakers from great leaders and courageous revolutionaries to ruthless tyrants and unsung heroes

• Examine significant events of the 21st century from 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to climate change, Hurricane Katrina, and the economic rise of China, India, and Brazil

Open the book and find:

• A detailed overview of history

• The development of the world's religions

• Reviews of essential historical documents, from the Bible to the Bill of Rights

• The invention of writing and art

• Scientific developments that revolutionized the world

• Capsule biographies of people who changed history and a few who were changed by it

• Ten unforgettable dates in world history

Contenu

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

What do I mean by history? 2

Positively post-historic 2

Making sense of AD, BC, CE, and BCE 3

Pardon my French, I mean Latin 4

Perceiving and avoiding biases 4

What You're Not to Read 5

Foolish Assumptions 5

How This Book is Organized 6

Part I: Getting into History 6

Part II: Finding Strength in Numbers 6

Part III: Seeking Answers 7

Part IV: Fighting, Fighting, Fighting 7

Part V: Meeting the Movers and Shakers 7

Part VI: The Part of Tens 7

Icons Used in this Book 7

Where to Go from Here 8

Part I: Getting into History 9

Chapter 1: Tracing a Path to the Present 11

Firing Up the WABAC Machine 12

From Footpath to Freeway: Humanity Built on Humble Beginnings 13

War! What is It Good For? Material for History Books, That's What 15

Appreciating History's Tapestry 16

Threading backward 17

Crossing threads 18

Weaving home 18

Making the Connections 19

Tracking the Centuries 21

Chapter 2: Digging Up Reality 23

Homing In on Homer 23

The Troy story 24

Inspired archaeological finds 24

Raising Atlantis 25

Reading the Body Language of the Dead 26

Frozen in the Alps 26

Salted away in Asia 27

Bogged down in northern Europe 28

Dried and well preserved in the Andes 28

Preserved pharaohs in Egypt 28

Tracking the Centuries 29

Chapter 3: Putting History into Perspective 31

Being Human Beings 32

Nearing the Neanderthal 33

Talking point 33

Dividing Time into Eras and Giving Them Names 34

Sorting ancient from modern 35

Classical schmassical 35

Bowing to the queens 36

The Noteworthy and the Notorious Are Often the Same 37

A study in contradictions 37

It depends on the way you look at them 38

Verifying virtue 39

Tracking the Centuries 39

Part II: Finding Strength in Numbers 41

Chapter 4: Getting Civilized 43

Building Jericho's Walls for Mutual Defense 44

Planting Cities along Rivers 44

Settling between the Tigris and Euphrates 45

Getting agricultural in Africa 45

Assembling Egypt 46

Going up the river into Kush 47

Giving way as new civilizations rise 47

Heading east to the Indus and Yellow Rivers 49

Coming of Age in the Americas 51

Keeping Records on the Way to Writing and Reading 51

Planning pyramids 51

Laying down laws and love songs 52

Shaping the World Ever After 53

Building the Persian Empire 53

Growing toward Greekness 53

Making Alexander great 55

Rounding Out the World 58

Tracking the Centuries 58

Chapter 5: The Rise and Fall of Many Empires 61

Rome's Rise and Demise 61

Forming the Roman Republic 62

Earning citizenship 62

Expanding the empire 63

Crossing the Rubicon 64

Empowering the emperor 66

Roaming eastward 66

Western empire fades into history 68

Rome and the Roman Catholic Church 68

Building Empires around the World 70

Ruling Persia and Parthia 70

India's empires 71

Uniting China: Seven into Qin 72

Flourishing civilizations in the Americas 74

Rounding Out the Rest of the World 75

Tracking the Centuries 76

Chapter 6: History's Mid-Life Crisis: The Middle Ages 77

Building (And Maintaining) the Byzantine Empire 78 Sharing and Impo...