A History of World Societies, Value Edition, Volume 1

Preface

The Earliest Human Societies

to 2500 b.c.e.

Understanding the Early Human Past • Hominin Evolution • Homo Sapiens, "Thinking Humans" • Migration and Differentiation

Foraging for Food • Family and Kinship Relationships • Cultural Creations and Spirituality

Plant Domestication and the Development of Horticulture • Animal Domestication and the Rise of Pastoralism • Plow Agriculture

Social Hierarchies and Slavery • Gender Hierarchies and Inheritance • Trade and Cross-Cultural Connections

Complex Societies in Southwest Asia and the Nile Valley

3800–500 b.c.e.

Written Sources and the Human Past • Cities and the Idea of Civilization • The Rise of States, Laws, and Social Hierarchies

Environmental Challenges, Irrigation, and Religion • Sumerian Politics and Society • Writing, Mathematics, and Poetry • Empires in Mesopotamia • Life Under Hammurabi

The Nile and the God-King • Egyptian Society and Work • Migrations, Revivals, and Collapse • Iron and the Emergence of New States

The Hebrew State • The Jewish Religion • Hebrew Family and Society

Assyria, the Military Monarchy • The Rise and Expansion of the Persian Empire • The Religion of Zoroaster

The Foundation of Indian Society

to 300 c.e.

Aryan Dominance in North India • Life in Early India • Brahmanism

Jainism • Siddhartha Gautama and Buddhism • Hinduism

Encounters with the West • Chandragupta and the Founding of the Mauryan Empire • The Reign of Ashoka, ca. 269–232 b.c.e.

China’s Classical Age

to 221 b.c.e.

The Impact of Geography • Early Agricultural Societies of the Neolithic Age

Shang Society • Bronze Metalworking • The Development of Writing

Zhou Politics • Life During the Zhou Dynasty

New Technologies for War • The Victorious States

Confucius • The Spread of Confucian Ideas

Daoism • Legalism • The Workings of Nature

The Greek Experience

3500–30 b.c.e.

The Minoans and Mycenaeans • The "Dark Age"

Organization of the Polis • Overseas Expansion and Trade • The Growth of Sparta • The Evolution of Athens

The Deadly Conflicts, 499–404 b.c.e. • Athenian Arts in the Age of Pericles • Social Hierarchies and Sexual Relations • Public and Personal Religion • The Development of Philosophy

From Polis to Monarchy, 404–200 b.c.e. • Building a Hellenized Society • The Hellenistic Economy

Religion in the Hellenistic World • Philosophy and Its Guidance for Life • Hellenistic Science and Medicine

The World of Rome

ca. 1000 b.c.e.–400 c.e.

The Etruscans • The Founding of Rome • The Roman Conquest of Italy • The Roman State • Social Conflict in Rome

Overseas Conquests and the Punic Wars, 264–133 b.c.e. • New Influences and Old Values in Roman Culture • The Late Republic and the Rise of Augustus, 133–27 b.c.e. • The Successes of Augustus

Political and Military Changes in the Empire • Life in Imperial Rome • Prosperity and Problems in the Roman Provinces • Eastward Expansion and Contacts Between Rome and China

Factors Behind the Rise of Christianity • The Life and Teachings of Jesus • The Spread of Christianity • The Growing Acceptance and Evolution of Christianity

Political Measures • Economic Issues • The Acceptance of Christianity

East Asia and the Spread of Buddhism

221 b.c.e.–845 c.e.

The Qin Unification, 221–206 b.c.e. • The Han Dynasty, 206 b.c.e.–220 c.e. • Han Intellectual and Cultural Life • Inner Asia and the Silk Road • Life in Han China • China and Rome • The Fall of the Han and the Age of Division

Buddhism’s Path Through Central Asia • The Appeal and Impact of Buddhism in China

The Sui Dynasty, 581–618 • The Tang Dynasty, 618–907 • Tang Culture

Vietnam • Korea • Japan

Continuity and Change in Europe and Western Asia

250–850

Sources of Byzantine Strength • The Sassanid Empire and Conflicts with Byzantium • Justinian’s Code of Law • Byzantine Learning and Science • Life in Constantinople

The Evolution of Church Leadership and Orthodoxy • The Western Church and the Eastern Church • Christian Monasticism

Christianity and Classical Culture • Saint Augustine on Sin, Grace, and Redemption • The Iconoclastic Controversy

Movement Patterns • Economic and Social Structures • Tribes, Warriors, and Laws

Missionaries’ Actions • The Process of Conversion

The Merovingians and Carolingians • The Warrior-Ruler Charlemagne

The Islamic World

600–1400

Society and Culture in the Arabian Peninsula • Muhammad’s Rise as a Religious and Political Leader • The Teachings of Islam

Islam’s Spread Beyond Arabia • The Shi’a/Sunni Split and the Umayyad Caliphate • The Abbasid Caliphate • The Environmental Impact of Islamic Expansion

Breakaway Territories and Shi’a Gains • The Ascendancy of the Turks • The Mongol Invasions

The Social Hierarchy • Slavery • Women in Islamic Society • Sexuality and Marriage

The Cultural Centers of Baghdad and Córdoba • Education • Cultural and Intellectual Life • The Mystical Tradition of Sufism

Trade and Commerce • Muslim-Christian Encounters

African Societies and Kingdoms

1000 b.c.e.–1500 c.e.

Agriculture and Its Impact • Bantu Migrations • Life in the Kingdoms of the Western Sudan, ca. 1000 b.c.e.–800 c.e.

The Berbers of North Africa • Effects of Trade on West African Society • The Spread of Islam in Africa

The Kingdom of Ghana, ca. 900–1100 • The Kingdom of Mali, ca. 1200–1450 • Ethiopia: The Christian Kingdom of Aksum • The East African City-States • Southern Africa and Great Zimbabwe

The Americas

To 1500 c.e.

Trade and Technology • Settlement and Environment

Olmec Agriculture, Technology, and Religion • Hohokam, Hopewell, and Mississippian Societies • Climate Change and North American Societies • Kinship and Ancestors in the Andes

The Inca Model of Empire • Inca Imperial Expansion • Imperial Needs and Obligations

Maya Agriculture and Trade • Maya Science and Religion • Teotihuacan and the Toltecs

The Mexica: From Vassals to Rulers • Life in the Aztec Empire • The Limits of the Aztec Empire

The Last Day of the Aztecs • The Fall of the Incas

States and Cultures in East Asia

800–1400

The Song Dynasty and its Northern Rivals • The Scholar-Officials and Neo-Confucianism • Women’s Lives in Song Times • Environmental Crises

Fujiwara Rule • Aristocratic Culture

Military Rule • Cultural and Economic Trends

Cultural Exchange in Central and Southern Asia

300–1400

Nomadic Society • The Turks • The Mongols

Chinggis Khan • Chinggis’s Successors • The Mongols as Rulers

The Movement of Peoples • The Spread of Disease, Goods, and Ideas

The Gupta Empire, ca. 320–480 • India’s Medieval Age and the First Encounter with Islam • The Delhi Sultanate • Life in Medieval India

State Formation and Indian Influences • The Srivijayan Maritime Trade Empire • The Spread of Indian Culture in Comparative Perspective • The Settlement of the Pacific Islands

Europe and Western Asia in the Middle Ages

800–1450

Invasions and Migrations • "Feudalism" and Serfdom • The Restoration of Order • Law and Justice

Papal Reforms • Monastic Life • Popular Religion • The Expansion of Western and Eastern Christianity

Background and Motives • The Course of the Crusades • Consequences of the Crusades

The Life and Work of Peasants • The Life and Work of Nobles • Towns, Cities, and the Growth of Commercial Interests • The Expansion of Trade and the Commercial Revolution

Universities and Scholasticism • Cathedrals and a New Architectural Style • Vernacular Literature and Drama

The Little Ice Age and the Black Death • The Hundred Years’ War • Challenges to the Christian Church • Peasant and Urban Revolts

Europe in the Renaissance and Reformation

1350–1600

Wealth and Power in Renaissance Italy • The Rise of Humanism • Christian Humanism • Printing and Its Social Impact • Art and the Artist

Race and Slavery • Wealth and the Nobility • Gender Roles

Warfare, Money, and Mining • France • England • Spain • The Habsburgs

Criticism of the Church • Martin Luther • Protestant Thought and Its Appeal • The Radical Reformation and the German Peasants’ War • Marriage and Women’s Roles • The Reformation and German Politics • England’s Shift Toward Protestantism • Calvinism and Its Moral Standards

Papal Reforms and the Council of Trent • New Religious Orders

French Religious Wars • Civil Wars in the Netherlands • The Great European Witch-Hunt

The Acceleration of Global Contact

1450–1600

The Trade World of the Indian Ocean • Peoples and Cultures of Southeast Asia • Muslim Influences and African Trade • Genoese and Venetian Middlemen

Causes of European Expansion • Technology and the Rise of Exploration • The Portuguese in Africa and Asia • Spain’s Voyages to the Americas • Spain "Discovers" the Pacific • Early Exploration by Northern European Powers

Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires • Portuguese Brazil • Colonial Administration • Economic Exploitation of the Indigenous Population • Patterns of Settlement

Population Loss and the Ecological Impacts of Contact • Sugar and Early Transatlantic Slavery • Spanish Silver and Its Economic Effects • The Birth of the Global Economy

Religious Conversion • European Debates About Indigenous Peoples • New Ideas About Race