Explores ancient civilizations and cultures from the dawn of humankind up to and including the Middle Ages.

A masterful narrative of the Middle Ages, when religion became a weapon for kings all over the world. In her earlier work, The History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer wrote of the rise of kingship based on might. But in the years between the fourth and twelfth centuries, rulers had to find new justification for their power, and they turned to divine truth or grace to justify political and military action. Right began to replace might as the engine of empire. Not just Christianity and Islam but also the religions of the Persians, the Germans, and the Mayas were pressed into the service of the state. Even Buddhism and Confucianism became tools for nation building. This phenomenon—stretching from the Americas all the way to Japan—changed religion, but it also changed the state. The History of the Medieval World is a true world history, linking the great conflicts of Europe to the titanic struggles for power in India and Asia. In its pages, El Cid and Guanggaeto, Julian the Apostate and the Brilliant Emperor, Charles the Hammer and Krum the Bulgarian stand side by side. From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the Song Dynasty, from the mission of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, from the sacred wars of India to the establishment of the Knights Templar, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.

This social history of war from the third millennium BCE to the 10th-century CE in the Mediterranean, the Near East and Europe (Egypt, Achamenid Persia, Greece, the Hellenistic World, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the early Islamic World and early Medieval Europe) with parallel studies of Mesoamerica (the Maya and Aztecs) and East Asia (ancient China, medieval Japan). The volume offers a broadly based, comparative examination of war and military organization in their complex interactions with social, economic and political structures, as well as cultural practices.

A lively and engaging narrative history showing the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own. This is the first volume in a bold series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This old-fashioned narrative history employs the methods of “history from beneath”—literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts—to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.

This lavishly illustrated full-color set is organized by the time frames that mirror the National Standards for world history for grades 6-12. An ideal supplement to all the major textbooks, it offers appealing and comprehensive biographies of history's most influential figures - both famous and infamous."Lifelines in World History" features biographies of figures from Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Southwest Asia, and covers the most significant events and trends in world history. Each volume includes 15-20 biographies, and in addition to biographical information, each entry includes engaging sidebars that feature key dates, more people to know, words from their time, and cultural connections. The set also includes numerous full-color maps.

Dates form the backbone of written history. But where do these dates come from? Many different calendars were used in the ancient world. Some of these calendars were based upon observations or calculations of regular astronomical phenomena, such as the first sighting of the new moon crescent that defined the beginning of the month in many calendars, while others incorporated schematic simplifications of these phenomena, such as the 360-day year used in early Mesopotamian administrative practices in order to simplify accounting procedures. Historians frequently use handbooks and tables for converting dates in ancient calendars into the familiar BC/AD calendar that we use today. But very few historians understand how these tables have come about, or what assumptions have been made in their construction. The seven papers in this volume provide an answer to the question what do we know about the operation of calendars in the ancient world, and just as importantly how do we know it? Topics covered include the ancient and modern history of the Egyptian 365-day calendar, astronomical and administrative calendars in ancient Mesopotamia, and the development of astronomical calendars in ancient Greece. This book will be of interest to ancient historians, historians of science, astronomers who use early astronomical records, and anyone with an interest in calendars and their development.

A student-friendly textbook covering the fundamentals of social formations and cultural patterns of the ancient and medieval world. Ancient and Medieval World provides an accessible overview of the period ranging from the evolution of human beings to the end of the Middle Ages in Europe. The book intricately weaves in the research findings of the last decade, which brought about new dimensions on social, economic, political, religious and several other themes of the ancient and medieval world. It presents a comprehensive and well-balanced assessment of the various developments, discoveries and debates in human history that paved the way for the modern world. The use of various maps, images, tables and other robust pedagogical features will motivate readers to read more and help them to connect better with the topic. This book is an ideal companion for students of history, UGC NET and UPSC aspirants as well as general readers. Key Features: • Closely integrates recent research and studies on the subject that have appeared over the last decade. • Introduction of topics and themes such as Nomadic Groups in Central and West Asia and Religion and Culture in Medieval Europe along with new sub-themes. • Provides maps, images, keywords, review questions and extensive bibliography for clearer understanding of themes and issues. • Extensive summary at the end of each chapter to help the reader recapitulate better.

This ambitious and wide-ranging study of the European Middle Ages respects the complexity and richness of its subject; always accessible, it is never merely superficial or over-simplistic. Stressing the long-term factors of continuity, evolution and change throughout, David Nicholas discusses the social and economic aspects of medieval civilization, and examines their links with political, institutional and cultural development. Designed for students and non-specialists, his book triumphantly meets the need for a comprehensive survey of the medieval world within the covers of a single authoritative volume.

Accessible, informative, and suitable for the home or school, this book presents detailed information on ancient and medieval history in a fun, playful way, with colour photographs and illustrations throughout.