Ancient history : from the first civilizations to the Renaissance / J.M. Roberts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roberts, J. M. (John Morris), 1928-2003.

Standardized Title:

New Penguin history of the world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World history.

Physical Description:

911 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 28 cm

Edition:

Fourth revised edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.

Summary:

In Ancient History J.M. Roberts traces the full story of humankind's history from the origins of Home sapiens to the development of societies in India. Imperial China and Japan, and the establishment of a new Europe looking confidently outward to the world beyond the continent -- a narrative of drama, innovation, empire, faith and turmoil. This book, from J.M Roberts' completely revised masterpiece History of the World, is the first major episode in the story of ourselves, and of the successes and failures we have experienced in our attempts to assert our values, create a civilized world and control our destiny. Authoritative, brilliantly written, and superbly illustrated, this outstanding work of popularizing scholarship makes early history, from prehistoric times to the Renaissance, vivid and accessible as never before. J.M. Roberts' History of the World was first published in 1976 to massive critical and popular acclaim, and was completely revised by the author in 2002. It offers the finest, most readable world history survey available today.

Contents:

Part 1 Before History 10

The Foundations 12

Homo sapiens 36

The Possibility of Civilization 52

Part 2 The First Civilizations 66

Early Civilized Life 68

Ancient Mesopotamia 78

Ancient Egypt 102

Intruders and Invaders: the Dark Ages of the Ancient Near East 134

Part 3 The Beginnings of Civilization in Eastern Asia 182

Ancient India 184

Ancient China 206

The Other Worlds of the Ancient Past 232

The End of the Old World 248

Part 4 The Classical Mediterranean: Greece 258

The Roots of One World 260

The Greeks 266

Greek Civilization 294

The Hellenistic World 332

Part 5 Rome and the Classical West 356

Rome 358

The Roman Achievement 388

Jewry and the Coming of Christianity 422

The Waning of the Classical West 450

The Elements of a Future 500

Part 6 The Age of Diverging Traditions 530

Islam and the Re-making of the Near East 532

The Arab Empires 552

Byzantium and its Sphere 572

The Disputed Legacies of the Near East 620

The Making of Europe 654

Part 7 The Far East and a New Europe 704

India 706

Imperial China 736

Japan 766

Worlds Apart 782

Europe: the First Revolution 798

New Limits, New Horizons 848.

Notes:

Originally published: The new Penguin history of the world. 4th rev. ed. London : Allen Lane, 2002.

Includes index.

ISBN:

0195221486

OCLC:

54817509