Atlas of Empires: The World's Great Powers from Ancient Times to Today

by Peter Davidson

Overview

Atlas of Empires tells the story of how and why the great empires of history came into being, operated, and ultimately declined, and it discusses the future of the empire in today's globalized world. This book features 60 beautiful and detailed maps of the empires' territories at different stages of their existence, and it organizes them thematically to reflect the different driving forces behind empires throughout history (such as faith, nomadic culture, nationhood, and capitalism). Each section discusses the rise and fall of the empires that existed in a region: *Government and society *Wealth and technology *War and military force *Religious beliefs *And more! From the earliest empires of the Sumerians and the Pharaohs to the modern empires of the USSR and the European Union, this is a story that reveals how empires are created and organized, how later empires resolve the problems of governance faced by earlier empires, and how the political and cultural legacies of ancient empires are still felt today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620082874
Publisher:	Fox Chapel Publishing
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Peter Davidson is a freelance writer and has been, among other things, a restorer of antiquities from around the world, a writer and director of documentaries on World War II and related subjects for the History Channel, and a tutor on the Politics, Philosophy and History degree at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the co-author of Milestones of Civilization.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 War and Peace 12

Sumer and Akkad 14

Egypt 19

Assyria and Babylonia 24

Persia 30

2 Empires of the Classical World 36

Athens 38

Rome 43

Alexander 52

Iran 57

India 62

China 68

3 Empires of Faith 74

The Byzantine Empire 76

The Holy Roman Empire 82

The Abbasid Caliphate 89

4 Empires of the Horse 96

The Mongols 98

Chinese Empires 105

Muslim India 112

The Ottoman Empire 119

5 Empires of Isolation 126

The Empire of Mali 128

The Aztec Empire 133

The Inca Empire 138

6 The First Global Empires 142

The Empires of Spain and Portugal 144

The Dutch 151

Britain and France in America 157

7 Empires and Nations 164

Napoleon 166

Russia 173

The Austrian Habsburgs 181

8 Empires of Industrial Capitalism 188

The British Empire 190

The High Age of Imperialism 196

The Empire of Japan 203

9 Empires and Utopias 208

The United States of America 210

The Soviet Union 218

The European Union 224

Afterword 230

Further Reading 232

Index 235

Acknowledgements 240

Editorial Reviews

Davidson does a good job of defining and describing key cultural characteristics of each empire and the inherent challenges their leaders faced. He also astutely defines the strengths and weaknesses of each and how these either helped it to achieve greatness or resulted in its ultimate decline and destruction.

Roman Times

I have recently tucked into my travel-slash-history book library the 240-page "Atlas of Empires: The World's Civilizations from Ancient Times to Today" and have already referred to it regarding upcoming trips. Author Peter Davidson has credentials that include directing documentaries for the History Channel and teaching history at the University of London. He also is a restorer of antiquities from around the world. "Atlas of Empires" (Fox Chapel Publishing, Mount Joy, Lancaster County) addresses the rise and fall of empires from the Pharaohs and Sumerians to the USSR and the European Union. The text is compelling, but the more than 60 colorful and detailed maps clearly depict the geographic, political, economic and religious impacts on civilizations and communities. 

Reading Eagle Newspaper - Charles J. Adams

My degree is in history – European History – but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a deep and abiding love of that which came before. Researching the rise, and fall of the Great Empires through time has a lot to teach us if we would only bother to learn. This book is not the type of book you just sit down and read as you would a novel or biography. At least I didn’t. I just kept it on my reading table and I’d pick it up, choose an era and get myself lost in the history. It is richly illustrated and just deep enough to stir the interest for deeper reading if an empire should intrigue. As it is a book that covers so much you can’t expect a deep dive on each period in history but the book offers the most import aspects of the Empire’s timeline. It provides what you need to know so that if you want to learn more you now have a grounding and an excellent starting point for moving forward. I truly found it to be very well written and I’m glad to have it. RATING: 5

Broken Teepee History Blog

Essentially covering 4,000 years of world history, this new work by History Channel writer Davidson takes a textbook-like approach, using gorgeous and detailed maps and clearly written text to tell the story of the great empires of world history. Thematically, rather than chronologically, organized, each chapter focuses on the rise and fall of a particular empire by examining the motives for expansion (economic, martial, or evangelical), the resistance or collaboration of the colonized, and the overall international situation at the time. Also discussed are the ways in which the legacy of collapsed empires affects the establishment and governance of subsequent empires, resonating up to the present day. Recommended for all types of libraries.

Michael Tosko

Booklist: Essentially covering 4,000 years of world history, this new work by History Channel writer Davidson takes a textbook-like approach, using gorgeous and detailed maps and clearly written text to tell the story of the great empires of world history. Thematically, rather than chronologically, organized, each chapter focuses on the rise and fall of a particular empire by examining the motives for expansion (economic, martial, or evangelical), the resistance or collaboration of the colonized, and the overall international situation at the time. Also discussed are the ways in which the legacy of collapsed empires affects the establishment and governance of subsequent empires, resonating up to the present day. Recommended for all types of libraries. —Michael Tosko

From the Publisher