Table of Contents
Introduction: What is History? 1
1 About History 2
2 What Is a Historian's Job? 6
3 Why Does History Hatter? 10
4 Packing Up (or… How to Use This Book) 12
Chapter 1 Ancient Civilizations 19
1 Early Humans and the Agricultural Revolution 20
2 Geography and the Development of Civilization 31
3 Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent 35
4 Egypt and the Nile River 39
5 The Hebrews and Judaism 53
6 Mesoamerica 57
Chapter 2 Classical Civilizations 69
1 Ancient Greece 72
2 Ancient Rome 92
3 Ancient China 106
4 Ancient and Classical India 120
Chapter 3 Post-Classical History 135
1 The Growth of Christianity 136
2 The Rise of Islam 144
3 The Byzantine Empire 152
4 Early African Civilizations 160
5 Imperial China and Its Dynasties 169
6 The European Middle Ages 176
Chapter 4 Early Modern History 195
1 Renaissance Europe 196
2 The Age of Exploration and the Dawn of Colonialism 205
3 The Protestant Reformation 215
4 The Scientific Revolution 220
5 The Age of Enlightenment 230
Chapter 5 Late Modern History I 239
1 Revolutions 240
2 The Slave Trade and Its Impact 255
3 The Age of Imperialism 262
4 Japan and the Meiji Era 271
5 Democracy and the Beginnings of Modern Social Change 276
Chapter 6 Late Modern History II 289
1 The Gilded and Machine Ages 290
2 Nationalism and World War I 299
3 The Interwar Period 306
4 World War II 318
5 The Holocaust 335
Chapter 7 The Postwar World 343
l The Cold War 344
2 Postwar Europe 352
3 Postwar Middle East 353
4 Postwar Asia 357
5 Postwar Latin America 366
6 The 1960s 368
Chapter 8 Challenges Today 383
l The Digital Age 385
2 Climate Change 389
3 Global Trade 393
4 Disease 396
5 Refugees 400
6 Income Inequality 402
7 Racism 405
8 Gender Discrimination 408
9 International Relations 412
Chapter 9 How to Think Like a Historian 419
1 Important Things to Know and Emulate about Historians 421
2 Case Studies on Sources 424
3 Detecting Bias 431
4 Evaluating Internet Sources 438
5 Fake News 446
6 You Are a Future Historian 453
Additional Reading 458
Text Credits 465
