The New Penguin History of the World

by Roberts, J. M. (Author)

• ISBN13: 9780141007236
• ISBN10: 0141007230
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

One of the most extraordinary history bestsellers on the Penguin list, John Roberts' book has now been completely updated to the end of the last century and revised throughout to make sure it keeps its amazing appeal to a new generation of readers. The entire text has been overhauled to take account of the great range of discoveries that have changed our views on early civilizations and to bring it fully up-to-date. The book has also been completely redesigned and reset. The result is a book that is both an essential work of reference for anyone with the slightest historical interest and a great reading experience.

Author Biography

J. M. Roberts (1928-û2003) was warden of Merton College, Oxford, and one of our greatest contemporary historians.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	viii
Preface to Fourth Edition	xi
BOOK ONE BEFORE HISTORY -- BEGINNINGS
Introduction	1	(2)
The Foundations	3	(15)
Homo Sapiens	18	(11)
The Possibility of Civilization	29	(12)
BOOK TWO THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS
Introduction	39	(2)
Early Civilized Life	41	(8)
Ancient Mesopotamia	49	(17)
Ancient Egypt	66	(22)
Intruders and Invaders: The Dark Ages of the Ancient Near East	88	(31)
The Beginnings of Civilization in Eastern Asia	119	(29)
The Other Worlds of the Ancient Past	148	(11)
The End of the Old World	159	(8)
BOOK THREE THE CLASSICAL MEDITERRANEAN
Introduction	165	(2)
The Roots of One World	167	(4)
The Greeks	171	(17)
Greek Civilization	188	(24)
The Hellenistic World	212	(15)
Rome	227	(18)
The Roman Achievement	245	(15)
Jewry and the Coming of Christianity	260	(16)
The Waning of the Classical West	276	(25)
The Elements of a Future	301	(16)
BOOK FOUR THE AGE OF DIVERGING TRADITIONS
Introduction	315	(2)
Islam and the Remaking of the Near East	317	(16)
The Arab Empires	333	(12)
Byzantium and Its Sphere	345	(27)
The Disputed Legacies of the Near East	372	(21)
The Making of Europe	393	(29)
India	422	(22)
Imperial China	444	(22)
Japan	466	(11)
Worlds Apart	477	(12)
Europe: the First Revolution	489	(35)
New Limits, New Horizons	524	(25)
BOOK FIVE THE MAKING OF THE EUROPEAN AGE
Introduction	547	(2)
A New Kind of Society: Early Modern Europe	549	(21)
Authority and Its Challengers	570	(28)
The New World of Great Powers	598	(32)
Europe's Assault on the World	630	(27)
World History's New Shape	657	(17)
Ideas Old and New	674	(25)
BOOK SIX THE GREAT ACCELERATION
Introduction	697	(2)
Long-term Change	699	(21)
Political Change in an Age of Revolution	720	(25)
Political Change: A New Europe	745	(23)
Political Change: The Anglo-Saxon World	768	(21)
The European World Hegemony	789	(24)
European Imperialism and Imperial Rule	813	(18)
Asia's Response to a Europeanizing World	831	(32)
BOOK SEVEN THE END OF THE EUROPEANS' WORLD
Introduction	861	(2)
Strains in the System	863	(20)
The Era of the First World War	883	(32)
A New Asia in the Making	915	(17)
The Ottoman Heritage and the Western Islamic Lands	932	(14)
The Second World War	946	(23)
The Shaping of a New World	969	(26)
BOOK EIGHT THE LATEST AGE
Introduction	991	(4)
Perspectives	995	(44)
A New World Order	1039	(52)
Crumbling Certainties	1091	(33)
The Closing of an Era	1124	(24)
Openings and Closures	1148	(37)
Index	1185