Ways of the world: a brief global history

Prologue: from cosmic history to human history -- The history of the universe -- The history of a planet -- The history of a human species -- Comparison, connection, and change: the three Cs of world history -- Snapshot: The history of the universe as a cosmic calendar -- pt. I. First things first: beginnings in history, to 500 B.C.E. -- Turning points in early world history -- The emergence of humankind -- The globalization of humankind -- The revolution of farming and herding -- The turning point of civilization -- 1. First peoples: populating the planet, to 10,000 B.C.E. -- Out of Africa to the ends of the earth: migrations -- Into Eurasia -- Into Australia -- Into the Americas -- Into the Pacific -- The ways we were -- The first human societies -- Economy and environment -- The realm of the spirit -- Settling down: "the great transition" -- Comparing Paleolithic societies -- The San of Southern Africa -- The Chumash of Southern California -- Reflections: the uses of the Paleolithic -- Snapshot: the long road to the global presence of humankind -- Snapshot: the Paleolithic Era in perspective -- 2. First farmers: the revolution of agriculture, 10,000 B.C.E.-3000 B.C.E. -- The agricultural revolution in world history -- Comparing agricultural beginnings -- Common patterns -- Variations -- The globalization of agriculture -- Triumph and resistance -- The culture of agriculture -- Social variation in the Age of Agriculture -- Pastoral societies -- Agricultural village societies -- Chiefdoms -- Reflections: the legacies of agriculture -- Snapshot: agricultural breakthroughs -- Snapshot: the history of maize/corn -- 3. First civilizations: cities, states, and unequal societies, 3500 B.C.E. - 500 B.C.E. -- Something new: the emergence of civilizations -- Introducing the first civilizations -- The question of origins -- An urban revolution -- The erosion of equality -- Hierarchies of class -- Hierarchies of gender -- Patriarchy in practice -- The rise of the state -- Coercion and consent -- Writing and accounting -- The grandeur of kings -- Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt -- Environment and culture -- Cities and states -- Interaction and exchange -- Reflections: "civilization": what's in a word? -- Snapshot: writing in ancient civilizations -- Snapshot: key moments in Mesopotamian history -- Snapshot: key moments in Nile Valley civilizations --

pt. II. The Classical Era in world history, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E. -- After the first civilizations: what changed and what didn't? -- Continuities in civilization -- changes in civilization -- Classical civilizations -- Landmarks of the Classical Era, 500 B.C.E.-500 C.E. -- Snapshot: world population during the Age of Agricultural Civilization -- 4. Eurasian Empires, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E. -- Empires and civilizations in collision: the Persians and the Greeks -- The Persian Empire -- The Greeks -- Collision: the Greco-Persian wars -- Collision: Alexander and the Hellenistic Era -- Comparing empires: Roman and Chinese -- Rome: from city-state to empire -- China: from warring states to empire -- Consolidating the Roman and Chinese empires -- The collapse of empires -- Intermittent empire: the case of India -- Reflections: Classical empires and the Twentieth Century -- Snapshot: key moments in Classical Greek history -- Snapshot: key moments in the history of the Roman Empire -- Snapshot: key moments in Classical Chinese history -- 5. Eurasian cultural traditions, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E. -- China and the search for order -- The Legalist answer -- The Confucian answer -- The Daoist answer -- Cultural traditions of Classical India -- South Asian religion: from ritual sacrifice to philosophical speculation -- The Buddhist challenge -- Hinduism as a religion of duty and devotion -- Moving toward monotheism: the search for God in the Middle East -- Zoroastrianism -- Judaism -- The cultural tradition of Classical Greece: the search for a rational order -- The Greek way of knowing -- The Greek legacy -- Comparing Jesus and the Buddha -- The lives of the founders -- Establishing new religions -- Creating institutions -- Reflections: religion and historians -- Snapshot: thinkers and philosophies of the Classical Era -- Snapshot: reflections on human love from Mediterranean Civilization -- 6. Eurasian social hierarchies, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E -- Society and the state in Classical China -- An elite of officials -- The landlord class -- Peasants -- Merchants -- Class and caste in India -- Caste as Varna -- Caste as Jati -- The functions of caste -- Slavery in the Classical Era: the case of the Roman Empire -- Slavery and civilization -- The making of a slave society: the case of Rome -- Resistance and rebellion -- Comparing patriarchies of the Classical Era -- A changing patriarchy: the case of China -- Contrasting patriarchies in Athens and Sparta -- Refections: arguing with Solomon and the Buddha -- Snapshot: social life and duty in Classical India -- Snapshot: comparing Greco-Roman and American slavery -- 7. Classical Era variations: Africa and the Americas, 500 B.C.E. - 1200 C.E. The African Northeast -- Meroë: continuing a Nile Valley civilization -- Axum: the making of a Christian kingdom -- Along the Niger River: cities without states -- South of the equator: the world of Bantu Africa -- Cultural encounters -- Society and religion -- Civilizations of Mesoamerica -- The Maya: writing and warfare -- Teotihuacán: America's greatest city -- Civilization of the Andes -- Chavín: a Pan-Andean religious movement -- Moche: a regional Andean civilization -- North America in the Classical Era: from Chaco to Cahokia -- Pit houses and great houses: the ancestral pueblo -- The mound builders of the Eastern Woodlands -- Reflections: deciding what's important: balance in world history -- Snapshot: continental population in the Classical Era --

pt. III. An age of accelerating connections, 500-1500 -- Defining a millennium -- Third-wave civilizations: something new, something old, something blended -- The ties that bind: transregional interaction in the Postclassical Era -- 8. Commerce and culture, 500-1500 -- Silk roads: exchange across Eurasia -- The growth of the silk roads -- Goods in transit -- Cultures in transit -- Disease in transit -- Sea roads: exchange across the Indian Ocean -- weaving the web of an Indian Ocean world -- Sea roads as a catalyst for change: Southeast Asia and Srivijaya -- Sea roads as a catalyst for change: East Africa and Swahili civilization -- Sand roads: exchange across the Sahara -- Commercial beginnings in West Africa -- Gold, salt, and slaves: trade and empire in West Africa -- An American network: commerce and connection in the Western Hemisphere -- Reflections: economic globalization--ancient and modern -- Snapshot: economic exchange along the silk roads -- Snapshot: economic exchange in the Indian Ocean Basin -- 9. China and the world: East Asian connections, 500-1300 -- The reemergence of a unified China -- A "golden age" of Chinese achievement -- Women in the Song Dynasty -- China and the northern nomads: a Chines world order in the making -- The tribute system in theory -- The tribute system in practice -- Cultural influence across an ecological frontier -- Coping with China: comparing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan -- Korea and China -- Vietnam and China -- Japan and China -- China and the Eurasian world economy -- Spillovers: China's impact on Eurasia -- On the receiving end: China as economic beneficiary -- China and Buddhism -- Making Buddhism Chinese -- Losing state support: the crisis of Chinese Buddhism -- Snapshot: key moments in the history of Postclassical China -- 10. The worlds of European Christendom: connected and divided, 500-1300 -- Eastern Christendom: building on the past -- The Byzantine state -- The Byzantine church and Christian divergence -- Byzantium and the world -- The conversion of Russia -- Western Christendom: constructing a hybrid civilization -- In the wake of Roman collapse: political life in Western Europe, 500-1000 -- Accelerating change in the West, 1000-1300 -- Europe outward bound: the Crusading tradition -- The West in comparative perspective -- Catching up -- Pluralism in politics -- Reason and faith -- Reflections: remembering and forgetting: continuity and surprise in the worlds of Christendom -- Snapshot: key moments in Byzantine history -- Snapshot: key moments in the evolution of Western Civilization -- 11. The worlds of Islam: Afro-Eurasian connections, 600-1500 -- The birth of a new religion -- The homeland of Islam -- The messenger and the message -- The transformation of Arabia -- The making of an Arab Empire -- War and conquest -- Conversion to Islam -- Divisions in the Islamic world -- Women and men in early Islam -- Islam and cultural encounter: a four-way comparison -- The case of India -- The case of Anatolia -- The case of West Africa -- The case of Spain -- The world of Islam as a new civilization -- Networks of faith -- Networks of exchange -- Snapshot: key moments in the early history of Islam -- Snapshot: key achievements in Islamic science and scholarship -- 12. Pastoral peoples on the global stage: the Mongol moment, 1200-1500 -- The long history of pastoral nomads -- The world of pastoral societies -- The Xiongnu: an early nomadic empire -- The Arabs and the Turks -- The Masai of East Africa -- Breakout: the Mongol Empire -- From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: the rise of the Mongol Empire -- Explaining the Mongol moment -- Encountering the Mongols: comparing three cases -- China and the Mongols -- Persia and the Mongols -- Russian and the Mongols -- The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian scale -- Cultural exchange in the Mongol realm -- the plague: a Eurasian pandemic -- Snapshot: varieties of pastoral societies -- Snapshot: key moments in Mongol history -- 13. The worlds of the Fifteenth Century -- The shapes of human communities -- Paleolithic persistence -- Agricultural village societies -- Herding peoples -- Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: comparing China and Europe -- Ming Dynasty China -- European comparisons: state building and cultural renewal -- European comparisons: maritime voyaging -- Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: the Islamic world -- In the Islamic heartland: the Ottoman and Safavid Empires -- On the frontiers of Islam: the Songhay and Mughal Empires -- Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: the Americas -- The Aztec Empire -- The Inca Empire -- Looking ahead to the Modern Era, 1500-2000 -- Snapshot: major developments around the world in the Fifteenth Century -- Snapshot: key moments in European maritime voyaging -- Snapshot: world population growth, 1000-2000 --

pt. IV. The early modern world, 1450-1750 -- Debating the character of an era -- An early Modern Era? -- A late Agrarian Era? -- Landmarks in the early Modern Era, 1450-1750 -- 14. Empires and encounters, 1450-1750 -- European empires in the Americas -- The European advantage -- The Great Dying -- The Columbian exchange -- Comparing colonial societies in the Americas -- In the lands of the Aztecs and the Incas -- Colonies of sugar -- Settler colonies in North America -- The Steppes and Siberia: the making of a Russian Empire -- Experiencing the Russian Empire -- Russians and empire -- Asian empires -- Making China an empire -- Muslims and Hindus in the Mughal Empire -- Muslims, Christians, and the Ottoman Empire -- Snapshot: ethnic composition in colonial societies in Latin America -- Snapshot: demographics of the Russian Empire -- 15. Global commerce, 1450-1750 -- Europeans and Asian commerce -- A Portuguese empire of commerce -- Spain and the Philippines -- The East India companies -- Asian commerce -- Silver and global commerce -- the "world hunt": fur in global commerce -- Commerce in people: the Atlantic slave trade -- The slave trade -- Comparing consequences: the impact of the slave trade in Africa -- Reflections: economic globalization--then and now -- Snapshot: key moments in the European encounter with Asia -- Snapshot: the slave trade in numbers -- 16. Religion and science, 1450-1750 -- The globalization of Christianity -- Western Christendom fragmented: the Protestant Reformation -- Christianity outward bound -- Conversion and adaptation in Spanish America -- An Asian comparison: China and the Jesuits -- Persistence and change in Afro-Asian cultural traditions -- Expansion and renewal in the Islamic world -- China: new directions in an old tradition -- India: bridging the Hindu-Muslim divide -- A new way of thinking: the birth of modern science -- The question of origins: why Europe? -- Science as cultural revolution -- Science and enlightenment -- Science in the Nineteenth Century -- European science beyond the West -- Reflections: cultural borrowing and its hazards -- Snapshot: Catholic/Protestant differences in the Sixteenth Century -- Snapshot: major thinkers and achievements of the Scientific Revolution --

pt. V. The European moment in world history, 1750-1914 -- European centrality and the problem of Eurocentrism -- Landmarks of the European moment in world history -- 17. Atlantic revolutions and their echoes, 1750-1914 -- The North American Revolution, 1775-1787 -- The French Revolution, 1789-1815 -- The Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804 -- Spanish American revolutions, 1810-1825 -- Echoes of revolution -- The abolition of slavery -- Nations and nationalism -- Feminist beginnings -- Snapshot: key moments in the history of Atlantic revolutions -- Snapshot: key moments in the growth of nationalism -- 18. Revolutions of industrialization, 1750-1914 -- Explaining the Industrial Revolution -- Why Europe? -- Why Britain? -- The first industrial society -- The British aristocracy -- The middle classes -- the laboring classes -- Social protest among the laboring classes -- Comparing industrialization in the United States and Russia - The United States: industrialization without socialism -- Russia: industrialization and revolution -- The Industrial Revolution and Latin America in the Nineteenth Century -- After independence in Latin America -- Facing the world economy -- Becoming like Europe? -- Reflections: history and horse races -- Snapshot: measuring the Industrial Revolution -- Snapshot: the Industrial Revolution and the global divide -- 19. Internal troubles, external threats: China, the Ottoman Empire, and Japan, 1800-1914 -- European industry and empire -- Reversal of fortune: China's century of crisis -- The crisis within -- Western pressures -- The failure of conservative modernization -- The Ottoman Empire and the West in the Nineteenth Century -- "The sick man of Europe" -- Reform -- Identity -- Outcomes: comparing China and the Ottoman Empire -- The Japanese difference: the rise of a new East Asian power -- The Tokugawa background -- American intrusion and the Meiji Restoration -- Modernization Japanese style -- Japan and the world -- Snapshot: Chinese/ British trade at Canton, 1835-1836 -- Snapshot: key moments in the rise of Japan in the Nineteenth Century and beyond -- 20. Colonial encounters, 1750-1914 -- A second wave of European conquests -- Under European rule -- Ways of working: comparing colonial economies -- Economies of coercion: forced labor and the power of the state -- Economies of cash-crop agriculture: the pull of the market -- Economies of wage labor: working for Europeans -- Women and the colonial economy: an African case study -- Assessing colonial development -- Identity and cultural change in the Colonial Era -- Education -- Religion -- "Race" and "tribe" -- Snapshot: long-distance migration in an Age of Empire, 1846-1940 --

pt. VI. The most recent century, 1914-2008

The Twentieth Century: a new period in world history?

Old and new in the Twentieth Century

Three regions

one world

Landmarks of the most recent century, 1914-2008

21. The collapse and recovery of Europe, 1914-1970s

The first World War: European civilization in crisis, 1914-1918

Capitalism unraveling: the Great Depression

Democracy denied: comparing Italy, Germany, and Japan

The Fascist alternative in Europe

Hitler and the Nazis

Japanese authoritarianism

A second World War

The road to war in Asia

The road to war in Europe

World War II: the outcomes of global conflict

The recovery of Europe

Reflections: war and remembrance: learning from history

Snapshot: comparing the impact of Depression

Snapshot: key moments in the history of World War II

22. The rise and fall of world Communism, 1917-present

Global Communism

Comparing revolutions as a path to Communism

Russia: revolution in a single year

China: a prolonged revolutionary struggle

Building socialism in two countries

Communist feminism

Socialism in the countryside

Communism and industrial development

The search for enemies

East versus West: a global divide and a Cold War

Military conflict and the Cold War

Nuclear standoff and Third World rivalry

The United States: superpower of the West, 1945-1975

The Communist world, 1950s-1970s

Snapshot: China under Mao, 1949-1976

23. Independence and development in the global South, 1914-present

Toward freedom: struggles for independence

The end of empire in world history

Explaining African and Asian independence

Comparing freedom struggles

The case of India: ending British rule

The case of South Africa: ending apartheid

Experiments in freedom

Experiments in political order: comparing African nations and India

Experiments in economic development: changing priorities, varying outcomes

Experiments with culture: the role of Islam in Turkey and Iran

Snapshot: key moments in South African history

Snapshot: economic development in the Global South by the early Twenty-first Century

24. Accelerating global interaction, since 1945

Global interaction and the transformation of the world economy

Reglobalization

Disparities and resistance

Globalization and an American Empire

The globalization of liberation: comparing feminist movements

Feminism in the West

Feminism in the Global South

International Feminism

Religion and global modernity

Fundamentalism on a global scale

Creating Islamic societies: resistance and renewal in the world of Islam

Religious alternatives to Fundamentalism

The world's environment and the globalization of environmentalism

The global environment transformed

Green and global

Snapshot: indicators of reglobalization

Snapshot: world population growth, 1950-2005.

v. 1. To 1500

v. 2. Since 1500.