The story of man / Cyril Aydon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Aydon, Cyril.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization--History.

Civilization.

History.

Human beings--History.

Human beings.

Physical Description:

xii, 452 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First Carroll and Graf edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2007.

Summary:

Not just a history of the world, this is also a history for the world. Packed full of fascinating information, it is written in the same lively and accessible style that charmed the readers of Cyril Aydon's previous books Charles Darwin and A Book of Scientific Curiosities. It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the human race, from the time when our ancestors took their first tentative steps out of Africa, to the day when human beings set foot on the moon; from the domestication of thefirst donkey to the cloning of Dolly the sheep; and from the building of the pyramids to the designing of the World Wide Web. Informed by the most recent historical and archaeological research, the book focuses not on the conventional small change of kings and queens, battles, and political maneuvers, but on developments that have really shaped the lives of human beings around the globe: the Neolithic revolution in agriculture, the invention of writing, the rise and fall of empires, the birth of great religions, the industrial revolution. This book asks whether we have really changed, or are we just stone-age people living in a space age we have made but cannot control.

Contents:

List of Maps and Diagrams vii

1 African Origins 1

2 The Peopling of the Earth 12

3 Putting Down Roots 24

4 The World in 4000 BC 38

5 The Invention of the State 49

6 Empires of Bronze 60

7 The World in 1000 BC 71

8 The World of the Greeks 79

9 The Rise and Fall of Rome 88

10 The Birth of India 97

11 The Making of China 107

12 The World in 500 119

13 The Triumph of Islam 131

14 Europe after Rome 140

15 The World in 1095 149

16 Riding the Roller-Coaster: The European Experience 159

17 The Scourge of Asia 174

18 Riding the Roller-Coaster: The Asian Experience 182

19 The World in 1455 192

20 The Bridging of the Atlantic 202

21 The Remaking of North America 211

22 Wealth Real and Imaginary 220

23 Europe's Discovery of Art and Science 230

24 Empires of East and South Asia 239

25 The World in 1763 248

26 The Age of Revolution 257

27 Napoleon and After 267

28 A New Way of Working 275

29 The Coming of the Machine 281

30 Iron Horses and Iron Ships 289

31 The Changing Balance of Power 299

32 A Message of Hope 312

33 The Pursuit of Empire 319

34 A World Transformed 326

35 The World in 1913 331

36 Global War: Act One 337

37 An Unquiet Interlude 346

38 Global War: Act Two 358

39 Making the Post-War World 366

40 Peace and Prosperity - For Some 377

41 Miracles and Magic Wands 385

42 An Empire Overturned 390

43 A New China 395

44 America Walks Tall 401

45 The World Today 406

46 A Backward Look 415

Timeline of World History 426.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 435-442) and index.

ISBN:

0786720859

9780786720859

OCLC:

170956408