World Civilizations: The Global Experience, Single Volume Edition

by Stearns, Peter; Adas, Michael; Schwartz, Stuart; Gilbert, Marc Jason

• ISBN13: 9780321164254
• ISBN10: 0321164253
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

Examines all the world's civilizations, including those in the Western tradition but also those civilizations sometimes neglected in world history texts. Maintaining a focus on social history explores gender, class, economic, and intellectual issues, while examining patterns of inequality and human agency throughout world history. Instructors of World Civilization surveys that prefer a global account of history.

Table of Contents

Single Volume Contents

Volume I includes Chapters 1-22 and Volume II includes Chapters 21-40 Each chapter begins with an introduction

I

The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization?

Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers

Document: Tales of the Hunt: Paleolithic Cave Paintings as History

Agriculture and the Origins of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution

Visualizing the Past: Representations of Women in Early Art

In Depth: The Idea of Civilization in World Historical Perspective

The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization

Global Connections: The Neolithic Revolution as a Basis for World History

The Rise of Civilization in the Middle East and Africa

Setting the Scene: The Middle East by 4000 B.C.E

Civilization in Mesopotamia

Visualizing the Past: Mesopotamia in Maps

Document: Hammurabi's Law Code

Ancient Egypt

Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared

In Depth: Women in Patriarchal Societies

Civilization Centers in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean

The End of the Early Civilization Period

Global Connections: The Early Civilizations and the World

Asia's First Civilizations: India and China

The Indus Valley and the Birth of South Asian Civilization

Aryan Incursions and Early Aryan Society in India

Document: Aryan Poetry in Praise of a War-Horse

A Bend in the River and the Beginnings of China

Visualizing the Past: Mapping the Rise of Civilizations

The Decline of the Shang and the Era of Zhou Dominance

In Depth: The Legacy of Asia's First Civilizations

Global Connections: Contrasting Legacies: Harappan and Early Chinese Civilizations

The Classical Period In World History

Unification and the Consolidation of Civilization in China?

Philosophical Remedies for the Prolonged Crisis of the Later Zhou

Document: Teachings of the Rival Chinese Schools

The Triumph of the Qin and Imperial Unity

In Depth: Sunzi and the Shift from Ritual Combat to "Real" War

The Han Dynasty and the Foundations of China's Classical Age

Visualizing the Past: Capital Designs and Patterns of Political Power

Global Connections: Classical China an d the World and Affluence

Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World

The Persian Empire: Parallel Power in the Middle East

The Political Character of Classical Greece

The Hellenistic Period

Creativity in Greek and Hellenistic Culture

Document: The Power of Greek Drama

In Depth: Defining Social History

Patterns of Greek and Hellenistic Society

Visualizing the Past: Commerce and Society

Global Connections: Greece and the World

Religious Rivalries and India's Golden Age

The Age of Brahman Dominance

In Depth: Inequality as the Social Norm

Religious Ferment and the Rise of Buddhism

Visualizing the Past: The Pattern of Trade in the Ancient Eurasian World

Brahmanical Recovery and the Splendors of the Gupta Age

Document: A Guardian's Farewell Speech to a Young Woman About to Be Married

Global Connections: India and the Wider World

Rome and Its Empire

A Foundation Story

The Development of Rome's Republic

Document: Rome and a Values Crisis

Roman Culture

The Institutions of Empire

The Evolution of Rome's Economic and Social Structure

Visualizing the Past: Religions in Rome

In Depth: The Classical Mediterranean in Comparative Perspective

The Origins of Christianity

The Decline of Rome

Global Connections: Rome and the World

The Peoples and Civilizations of the Americas?

Origins of American Societies

Spread of Civilization in Mesoamerica

Document: Deciphering the Maya Glyphs

The Peoples to the North

In Depth: Different Times for Different Peoples

The Andean World?

Global Connctions: American Civilizations and the World

The Spread of Civilizations and the Movement of Peoples?

The Spread of Civilization in Africa

Document: Myths of Origin

In Depth: Language as a Historical Source

Noma

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