A Little History of the World

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ISBN: 9780300108835 | 0300108834
Cover: Hardcover
Copyright: 10/13/2005

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The international bestseller available in English for the first time: E. H. Gombrich's world history for the curious of all ages...

PREFACE

1 ONCE UPON A TIME

(4)

The past and memory – Before there were any people – Dragonlike creatures – Earth without life – Sun without earth – What is history?

2 THE GREATEST INVENTORS OF ALL TIME

(5)

The Heidelberg jaw – Neanderthal man – Prehistory – Fire –Tools – Cavemen – Language – Painting – Making magic – The Ice Age and the Early Stone Age – Pile dwellings – The Bronze Age – People like you and me

3 THE LAND BY THE NILE

(7)

King Menes – Egypt – A hymn to the Nile – Pharaohs – Pyramids –The religion of the ancient Egyptians – The Sphinx – Hieroglyphs –Papyrus – Revolution in the old kingdom – Akhenaton's reforms

4 SUNDAY, MONDAY

(7)

Mesopotamia today – The burial sites at Ur – Clay tablets and cuneiform script – Hamurabi's laws – Star worship – The origin of the days of the week – The Tower of Babel – Nebuchadnezzar

5 THE ONE AND ONLY GOD

(5)

Palestine – Abraham of Ur – The Flood – Moses' bondage in Egypt and the year of the departure from Egypt – Saul, David, Solomon – The division of the kingdom – The destruction of Israel – The prophets speak – The Babylonian Captivity–The Return – The Old Testament and faith in the Messiah

6 I C-A-N R-E-A-D

(2)

Writing with the alphabet – The Phoenicians and their trading posts

7 HEROES AND THEIR WEAPONS

(6)

The songs of Homer – Schliemann's excavations – Sea-raider kings – Crete and the labyrinth – The Dorian migration – The songs of the heroes – Greek tribes and their colonies

8 AN UNEQUAL STRUGGLE

(7)

The Persians and their faith – Cyrus conquers Babylon – Cambyses in Egypt – Darius's empire – The Ionian revolt – The first Punitive Expedition – The second Punitive Expedition and the Battle of Marathon – Xerxes' campaign – Thermopylae – The Battle of Salamis

9 TWO SMALL CITIES IN ONE SMALL LAND

(7)

The Olympic Games – The Delphic Oracle – Sparta and Spartan education – Athens – Draco and Solon – The People's Assembly and tyrants – The time of Pericles – Philosophy – Sculpture and painting – Architecture – Theatre

10 THE ENLIGHTENED ONE AND HIS LAND

(6)

India – Mohenjo-Daro, a city from the time of Ur – The Indian migrations – Indo-European languages – Castes – Brahma and the transmigration of souls – 'This is you' – Prince Gautama – The Enlightenment – Release from suffering – Nirvana – The followers of the Buddha

11 A GREAT TEACHER OF A GREAT PEOPLE

(5)

China in the time before Christ – The emperor of China and the princes – The meaning of Chinese writing – Confucius – The importance of practices and customs – The family – Ruler and subject – Lao-tzu – The Tao

12 THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL

(11)

The Peloponnesian War – The Delphic War – Philip of Macedon – The Battle of Chaeronea – The decline of the Persian empire – Alexander the Great – The destruction of Thebes – Aristotle and his knowledge – Diogenes – The conquest of Asia Minor – The Gordion Knot – The Battle of Issus – The conquest of Tyre and the conquest of Egypt – Alexandria – The Battle of Gaugamela – The Indian expedition – Porus – Alexander, ruler of the Orient – Alexander's death and his successors – Hellenism – The library of Alexandria

13 NEW WARS AND NEW WARRIORS

(7)

Italy – Rome and the myth of Rome's foundation – Class warfare – The twelve tablets of the law – The Roman character – Rome's capture by the Gauls – The conquest of Italy – Pyrrhus – Carthage – The First Punic War – Hannibal – Crossing the Alps – Quintus Fabius Maximus – Cannae – The last call to arms – Scipio's victory over Hannibal – The conquest of Greece – Cato – The destruction of Carthage

14 AN ENEMY OF HISTORY

(3)

The Emperor Shih Huang-ti of Ch'in – The burning of the books – The princes of Ch'in and the naming of China – The Great Wall of China – The Han ruling family – Learned officials

15 RULERS OF THE WESTERN WORLD

(9)

Roman provinces – Roads and aqueducts – Legions – The two Gracchi – Bread and circuses – Marius – The Cimbri and the Teutones – Sulla – Gladiators – Julius Caesar – The Gallic Wars – Victory in the civil war – Cleopatra – The reform of the calendar – Caesar's murder – Augustus and the empire – The arts

16 THE GOOD NEWS

(5)

Jesus Christ – The teachings of the Apostle Paul – The Cross – Paul preaching to the Corinthians – The cult of the emperor – Nero – Rome burns – The first Christian persecutions – The catacombs – Titus destroys Jerusalem – The dispersal of the Jews

17 LIFE IN THE EMPIRE AND AT ITS FRONTIERS

(7)

Tenements and villas – Therms – The Colosseum – The Germans – Arminius and the battle in Teutoburg forest – The Limes – Soldiers and their gods – Trajan's expeditions in Dacia – Marcus Aurelius's battles near Vienna – Warrior-emperors – The decline of Italy – The spread of Christianity – Diocletian's reforms – The last Christian persecution – Constantine – The founding of Constantinople – The division of the empire – Christianity becomes the religion of the state

18 THE STORM

104

(6)

The Huns – The Visigoths – The Migrations – Attila – Leo the Great – Romulus Augustulus – Odoacer and the end of antiquity – The Ostrogoths and Theodoric – Ravenna – Justinian – The Pandects of Justinian and the Agia Sophia – The end of the Goths – The Lombards

19 THE STARRY NIGHT BEGINS

110

(5)

'The Dark Ages'? – Belief and superstition – Stylites – Benedictines – Preserving the inheritance of antiquity – The importance of the northern monasteries – Clovis's baptism – The role of the clergy in the Merovingian kingdom – Boniface

20 THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH, AND MUHAMMAD IS HIS PROPHET

115

(8)

The Arabian desert – Mecca and the Kaaba – Muhammad's background and life – Persecution and flight – Medina – The battle with Mecca – The last sermon – The conquests of Palestine, Persia and Egypt – The burning of the Alexandrian library – The siege of Constantinople – The conquests of North Africa and Spain – The battles of Tours and Poitiers – Arab culture – Arabic numerals

21 A CONQUEROR WHO KNOWS HOW TO RULE

123

(7)

The Merovingians and their stewards – The kingdom of the Franks – Charlemagne's battles in Gaul, Italy and Spain – The Avars – Battles with the Saxons – The Heldenlieder – The crowning of the emperor – Harun al-Rashid's ambassadors – The division and decline of the Carolingian empire – Svatopluk – The Vikings – The kingdoms of the Normans

22 A STRUGGLE TO BECOME LORD OF CHRISTENDOM

130

(7)

East and West in Carolingian times – The blossoming of culture in China – The Magyar invasion – King Henry – Otto the Great – Austria and the Babenbergs – Feudalism and serfdom – Hugh Capet – The Danes in England – Religious appointments – The Investiture Controversy – Gregory VII and Henry IV – Canossa – Robert Guiscard and William the Conqueror

23 CHIVALROUS KNIGHTS

137

(7)

Horsemen and knights – Castles – Bondsmen – From noble youth to knight: page, squire, dubbing – A knight's duties – Minstrelsy – Tournaments – Chivalrous poetry – The Song of the Nibelungen – The First Crusade – Godfrey of Bouillon and the conquest of Jerusalem – The significance of the crusades

24 EMPERORS IN THE AGE OF CHIVALRY

144

(12)

Frederick Barbarossa – Barter and the money-based economy – Italian towns – The empire – The resistance and defeat of Milan – The dubbing feast at Mainz – The Third Crusade – Frederick II – Guelphs and Ghibellines – Innocent III – The Magna Carta – Sicily's rulers – The end of the Hohenstaufens – Ghengis Khan and the Mongol invasion – The lack of an emperor and 'fist-law – The Kyffhäuser legend – Rudolf of Habsburg – Victory over Otakar – The power of the House of Habsburg is established

25 CITIES AND CITIZENS

156

(7)

Markets and towns – Merchants and knights – Guilds – Building cathedrals – Mendicant friars and penitential priests – The persecution of Jews and heretics – The Babylonian Captivity of the popes – The Hundred Years War with England – Joan of Arc – Life at court – Universities – Charles IV and Rudolf the Founder

26 A NEW AGE

163

(9)

The burghers of Florence – Humanism – The rebirth of antiquity – The flowering of art – Leonardo da Vinci – The Medici - Renaissance popes – New ideas in Germany – The art of printing – Gunpowder – The downfall of Charles the Bold – Maximilian, the Last Knight – Mercenaries – Fighting in Italy – Maximilian and Diirer

27 A NEW WORLD

172

(8)

The compass – Spain and the conquest of Granada – Columbus and Isabella –The discovery of America – The modern era – Columbus's fate – The conquistadores – Hernando Cortez – Mexico – The fall of Montezuma – The Portuguese in India

28 A NEW FAITH

180

(7)

The building of the Church of St Peter – Luther's theses – Luther's forerunner, Hus – The burning of the papal bull – Charles V and his empire – The sack of Rome – The Diet of Worms – Luther at the Wartburg – The translation of the Bible – Zwingli – Calvin – Henry VIII – Turkish conquests – The division of the empire

29 THE CHURCH AT WAR

187

(6)

Ignatius of Loyola – The Council of Trent – The Counter-Reformation – The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre – Philip of Spain – The Battle of Lepanto – The revolt of the Low Countries – Elizabeth of England – Mary Stuart – The sinking of the Armada – English trading posts in America – The East India Companies – The beginnings of the British empire

30 TERRIBLE TIMES

193

(7)

The Defenestration of Prague – The Thirty Years War – Gustavus Adolphus – Wallenstein – The Peace of Westphalia – The devastation of Germany – The persecution of witches – The birth of a scientific understanding of the world – Nature's laws – Galileo and his trial

31 AN UNLUCKY KING AND A LUCKY KING

200

(6)

The Stuart king, Charles I – Cromwell and the Puritans – The rise of England – The year of the Glorious Revolution – France's prosperity – Richelieu's policies – Mazarin – Louis XIV – A king's lever – Versailles – Sources of the government's wealth – The peasants' misery – Predatory wars

32 MEANWHILE, LOOKING EASTWARDS...

206

(7)

Turkish conquests – Insurrection in Hungary – The siege of Vienna – Jan Sobieski and the relief of Vienna – Prince Eugene – Ivan the Terrible – Peter the Great – The founding of St Petersburg – Charles XII of Sweden – The race to Stralsund – The expansion of Russian might

33 A TRULY NEW AGE

213

(7)

The Enlightenment – Tolerance, reason and humanity – Critique of the Enlightenment – The rise of Prussia – Frederick the Great – Maria Theresa – The Prussian army – The Grand Coalition – The Seven Years War – Joseph II – The abolition of serfdom – Overhasty reforms – The American War of Independence – Benjamin Franklin – Human rights and negro slaves

34 A VERY VIOLENT REVOLUTION

220

(7)

Catherine the Great – Louis XV and Louis XVI – Life at court – Justice and the landowning nobility – The Rococo – Marie Antoinette – The convocation of the Estates-General – The storming of the Bastille – The sovereignty of the people – The National Assembly – The Jacobins – The guillotine and the Revolutionary Tribunal – Danton – Robespierre – The Reign of Terror – The sentencing of the king – The foreigners defeated – Reason – The Directory – Neighbouring republics

35 THE LAST CONQUEROR

227

(13)

Napoleon in Corsica – To Paris – The siege of Toulon – The conquest of Italy – The Egyptian expedition – The coup d'état – The consulate and the Code Napoléon – Emperor of the French – Victory at Austerlitz – The end of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation – Francis I – The Continental System – Victory over Russia – Spain and the War of Spanish Resistance – Aspern and Wagram – The German uprising – The Grande Armée – The retreat from Moscow – The Battle of Leipzig – The Congress of Vienna – Napoleon's return from Elba – Waterloo – St Helena

36 MEN AND MACHINES

240

(8)

The Biedermeier era – Steam engines, steamships, locomotives, the telegraph – Spinning machines and mechanical looms – Coal and iron – Luddites – Socialist ideas – Marx and his theory of class war – Liberalism – The revolutions of 1830 and 1848

37 ACROSS THE SEAS

248

(7)

China before 1800 – The Opium war – The Taiping Rebellion – China's submission – Japan in 1850 – Revolution in support of the Mikado – Japan's modernisation with foreign assistance – America after 1776 – The slave states – The North – Abraham Lincoln – The Civil War

38 TWO NEW STATES IN EUROPE

255

(9)

Europe after 1848 – The Emperor Franz Josef and Austria – The German Confederation – France under Napoleon III – Russia – Spain's decline – The liberation of the peoples of the Balkans – The fight for Constantinople – The kingdom of Sardinia – Cavour – Garibaldi – Bismarck – The reform of the army in defiance of the constitution – The Battle of Königgrätz – Sedan – The founding of the German empire – The Paris Commune – Bismarck's social reforms – Dismissal of the Iron Chancellor

39 DIVIDING UP THE WORLD

264

(9)

Industry – Markets and sources of raw materials – Britain and France – The Russo-Japanese War – Italy and Germany – The race to mobilize – Austria and the East – The outbreak of the First World War – New weapons – Revolution in Russia – The American intervention – The terms of peace – Scientific advance – End

40 THE SMALL PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD WHICH I HAVE LIVED THROUGH MYSELF: LOOKING BACK

273

The growth of the world's population – The defeat of the central-European powers during the First World War – The incitement of the masses – The disappearance of tolerance from political life in Germany, Italy, Japan and Soviet Russia – Economic crisis and the outbreak of the Second World War – Propaganda and reality – The murder of the Jews – The atomic bomb – The blessings of science – The collapse of the Communist system – International aid efforts as a reason for hope

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A Little History of the World

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Table of Contents

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