Atlas of the Year 1000

by Man, John

• ISBN13: 9780674541870
• ISBN10: 0674541871
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-15
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

This dazzling book takes us on a voyage of discovery around the world at the turn of the last millennium, when for the first time the world was in essence a unity. Islam bridged Eurasia, western Europe, and North Africa. Vikings, with links to Scandinavia and Russia, had just arrived in North America. These and other peoples reached out to create links and put isolated cultures unwittingly in touch. John Man vividly captures these epochal events, and depicts the colorful peoples that defined the world's mix of stability and change, of isolation and contact. In an immensely learned portrayal, he traces enduring cultural strands that became part of the world as we know it today.In text, maps, and pictures, most in color, and drawing on the expertise of two dozen consultants, John Man has created a concise compendium of all the major cultures of the lost millennial world of 1000. In some cultures--Europe, Islam, China, and Japan--written records contain a vast range of materials, often revealing sharply focused details of life and personality. Here lie startling contrasts with today's world, and even foreshadowing of the future that are equally astonishing in their familiarity. For nonliterate cultures--in the United States, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, Africa--this book draws on a wealth of archeological research, some of it made available to nonspecialists for the first time.

Table of Contents

Introduction
One World in the Making	8	(4)
The Americas
Isolated Cultures Brought to Light by Archaeology	12	(20)
The Enigma of Tiahuanaco	16	(2)
The Toltecs' Brief Heyday	18	(2)
Cahokia: Capital of the Eastern Woodlands	20	(2)
The South-West: A Cultural Bloom in a Harsh Land	22	(2)
Bison Hunters and Farmers of the Prairies	24	(2)
A Tapestry of Cultures on the West Coast	26	(2)
The Far North: The Coming of the Thule People	28	(2)
The Vikings in Vinland	30	(2)
Europe
A Benighted Continent on the Brink of a New Dawn	32	(76)
The Reach of Rome	36	(2)
The Viking Heartland	38	(2)
New-found Lands in Iceland and Greenland	40	(2)
England: A Nation on Its Knees	42	(2)
The Celtic World	44	(4)
France: Powerful Dukes, an Embattled King	48	(4)
Viking + Greek = Russian Orthodox	52	(2)
Otto III's Teenage Dreams of Imperial Grandeur	54	(4)
The Coming of the Ashkenazim	58	(2)
The Emergence of Hungary	60	(2)
Byzantium: Fighting to Preserve the Glory	62	(46)
Africa
Early States and Proto-Empires	108
Islam's Peaceful Trade with Realms of Gold	112	(4)
The Rich Land of the Great Lakes	116	(2)
Ethiopia: A World Apart	118	(2)
The South: The Golden Meadows of Zimbabwe's First Capital	120
The World of Islam
A Political Patchwork, a Cultural Unity	66	(18)
Baghdad: The Heart of Islam	70	(2)
The Slaves of Islam	72	(2)
The Fatimids: Ambition, Power and Madness	74	(2)
Islamic Spain: Glory and Egomania	76	(2)
Central Asia: The Coming of the Turks	78	(2)
Mahmud, Scourge of Northern India	80	(2)
Judaism: A Faith Toughened by Trials	82	(2)
Asia
Two Suns and Their Planets	84	(38)
China: The Success of the Sung	88	(4)
Tibet's Dark Age	92	(2)
The Liao: A Challenge from the North	94	(2)
Hsi-hsia: `The Great State of White and High'	96	(2)
Korea: Struggle for Unity, Wealth and Independence	98	(2)
Japan: The Rise and Rise of Michinaga	100	(2)
The Khmers: The First of Angkor's Wonders	102	(2)
India: Fleeting Power, Enduring Glory	104	(2)
Indonesia: Two Empires Built on Spices	106	(16)
Oceania
Remote Worlds Linked by Polynesian Voyages	122	(13)
The Moth-Eaters of the Australian Alps	128	(2)
Colonists of the `Long White Cloud'	130	(2)
Easter Island: The Message of the Statues	132	(3)
Appendix A Millennial Gazetteer	135	(2)
Bibliography	137	(1)
Acknowledgments	138	(1)
Index	139