Table of Contents
Introduction: How to Use the Alexandria Plan vii
Era 1 From First Fire to First Community: Humanity Evolves (ca. 200,000 bce to 3000 bce) 1
Text Study: Discovery in the Cave by Mark Dubowski and Bryn Barnard
Era 2 Civilizations Emerge: The Power of Words and of Bronze (ca. 3500 bce to ca. 1000 bce) 7
Text Study: Tut’s Mummy: Lost . . . and Found by Judy Donnelly
Era 3 From Iron to Ideas: Religion and Freedom Take Shape (ca. 1700 bce to 400 bce) 15
Text Study: Ancient Greece and the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
Era 4 The Classical Era: Hellenistic Greece and Rome Flourish (400 bce to 476 ce) 23
Text Study: Pompeii . . . Buried Alive! by Edith Kunhardt
Era 5 Religion and War: Driving Change in Asian Empires (1750 bce to ca. 1650 ce) 29
Text Study: Hidden Army: Clay Soldiers of Ancient China by Jane O’Connor
Era 6 The Rise of Islam: Religion Travels on a Road of Silk (ca. 610 ce to 1500s) 37
Text Study: We’re Riding on a Caravan: An Adventure on the Silk Road by Laurie Krebs
Era 7 Europe after Rome Fell: The Middle Ages Descend (400s to 1350) 43
Text Study: A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Era 8 The Renaissance: Thought Reborn and Made Beautiful (ca. 1300 to 1648) 51
Text Study: Mario’s Angels: A Story about the Artist Giotto by Mary Arrigan
Era 9 Americas North and South: The “New” World (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1500 ce) 57
Text Study: Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu by Ted Lewin
Era 10 Europe’s Global Expansion (1492 to ca. 1700) 63
Text Study: Pirates by Kate Riggs
Text Study: “Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea” (National Geographic)
Era 11 The Revolutionary Roots: The Modern West (ca. 1600 to 1800) 69
Text Study: Peter the Great by Diane Stanley
Era 12 The Industrial Revolution: Nationalism Unites (1790s to 1880s) 77
Text Study: Louis Pasteur by Kremena Spengler
Era 13 Modern Imperialism: A Race of Conquest and Supremacy (ca. 1790s to 1900) 83
Text Study: Samurai by Kate Riggs
Era 14 National Rivalries: The Eruption of Global Conflict (1880s to 1918) 89
Text Study: The Donkey of Gallipoli: A True Story of Courage in World War I by Mark Greenwood
Era 15 Depression after Versailles: The Rise of Totalitarian Powers (1919 to 1930s) 95
Text Study: On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
Era 16 Global Calamity: Appeasement Fails and Global Conflict Returns (mid-1930s to 1945) 101
Text Study: Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II by Marisabina Russo
Era 17 Post-War World: An Iron Curtain Divides the Globe (1945 to 1960s) 109
Text Study: Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-li Jiang
Era 18 The Cold War Thaws: Uneasy Cooperation between Nations (1960s to Present) 115
Text Study: Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter
Era Summaries 123
Era 1 From First Fire to First Community: Humanity Evolves (ca. 200,000 bce to 3000 bce) 125
Human Origins and Migration • Paleolithic Societies and the Emergence of
Human Culture • The Agricultural Revolution • Technology, Trade, and the Rise of Settled Communities
Era 2 Civilizations Emerge: The Power of Words and of Bronze (ca. 3500 bce to ca. 1000 bce) 128
The First Cities: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China • States of the Early Bronze Age • The Invention and Impact of Writing • The Later Bronze Age in West Asia and the Mediterranean
Era 3 From Iron to Ideas: Religion and Freedom Take Shape (ca. 1700 bce to 400 bce) 132
Bronze Age Collapse and the New Peoples of the Iron Age • Ancient Israel and the Roots of Eura Ancient Israel and the Roots of Eurasian Monotheism • The Revival of Greek Culture and the Expansion of Greek Influence • The Brief Glories of Classical Athens
Era 4 The Classical Era: Hellenistic Greece and Rome Flourish (400 bce to 476 ce) 137
Alexander’s Empire and the Hellenistic Legacy • Rome Rises • Imperial Rome and Its Breaking Point • Christianity, Constantine, and the Decline of the Western Empire
Era 5 Religion and War: Driving Change in Asian Empires (1750 bce to ca. 1650 bce) 142
India: From the Vedas to the Guptas—Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Wider World • Imperial China Emerges • China from Tang to Qing • Lands beyond China: Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia
Era 6 The Rise of Islam: Religion Travels on a Road of Silk (ca. 610 ce to 1500s) 148
Islam’s Origins and Rapid Conquests • Political Division and Cultural Achievement • Amid Chaos, Continued Expansion • Later Islamic Empires
Era 7 Europe after Rome Fell: The Middle Ages Descend (400s to 1350) 153
Europe Rebuilds in the Wake of Rome’s Fall • The Carolingian Empire and Its Successors • The Feudal States of Western Europe • European Commerce and Culture: The Medieval Revival
Era 8 The Renaissance: Thought Reborn and Made Beautiful (ca. 1300 to 1648) 159
The Changing World of Late Medieval Europe • Classical Revival, the Expansion of Learning, and the Rise of the Renaissance • Exploration and the Roots of European Expansion • The Reformation and Its Consequences
Era 9 Americas North and South: The “New” World (ca. 20,000 bce to ca. 1500 ce) 166
Early Human Settlement of the Americas • The Native Peoples of North America • The Native Peoples of Mesoamerica • The Native Peoples of South America
Era 10 Europe’s Global Expansion (1492 to ca. 1700) 170
Spain Takes On the New World • Other European Powers Enter the Americas • The African Slave Trade Intensifies • Europe Expands into Asia and Eastern Colonialism Begins
Era 11 The Revolutionary Roots: The Modern West (ca. 1600 to 1800) 175
Uneven Growth and Economic Modernization • Freedom versus Power: England and France in the Seventeenth Century • New Ideas Emerge in a Rapidly Modernizing Europe • America and France Enter the Age of Revolution
Era 12 The Industrial Revolution: Nationalism Unites (1790s to 1880s) 183
Napoleon’s Europe • Industrialization, Technology, Science—and Turmoil • Napoleon’s Wake: Rising Threats to Europe’s Old Regimes • Nationalists, Conservatives, and the Unification of Italy and Germany
Era 13 Modern Imperialism: A Race of Conquest and Supremacy (ca. 1790s to 1900) 191
European Empires Face Decline in the Americas • Britain Takes Over India as Europe Edges into Africa • The West’s Heavy Hand in the Pacific • Late-Century Climax: The Disintegration of China and the Scramble for Africa
Era 14 National Rivalries: The Eruption of Global Conflict (1880s to 1918) 199
Empires in Collision • Europe’s Tinderbox • Europe’s Tensions Erupt into World War • A New World of Science, Technology, War, and Culture
Era 15 Depression after Versailles: The Rise of Totalitarian Powers (1919 to 1930s) 207
The Versailles Settlement and Its Discontents • Totalitarians Rising • The Global Depression and the Entrenchment of the Nazis • Science Advances in a World of Growing Danger
Era 16 Global Calamity: Appeasement Fails and Global Conflict Returns (mid-1930s to 1945) 215
Fascist Aggression Intensifies • As Appeasement Fails, Europe Slides toward War • Hitler Sweeps across Europe • Global Conflict and the Devastation of Total War
Era 17 Post-War World: An Iron Curtain Divides the Globe (1945 to 1960s) 223
The Emerging Cold War • Deterrence and the Uneasy Balance of the Superpowers • The End of the Colonial Empires and the Rise of New Nations: South Asia and the Pacific • Africa and the Middle East
Era 18 The Cold War Thaws: Uneasy Cooperation between Nations (1960s to Present) 229
Global Conflict and Diplomacy: Détente, China, and the Middle East • The Cold War Ends and European Communism Falls • The Changing Post–Cold War World • Recent Trends: Global Ties and Conflicts
Who Is Common Core 237
Acknowledgments 239
Index 241
