Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 1

The Combined Volume includes all chapters.
Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-12.
Volume 2 includes Chapters 12-23.

NOTE: Achieve for Ways of the World 5e includes additional activities and assessments for the book content. Along with the interactive e-books for the comprehensive edition with special features and primary and secondary sources and the companion source reader, Achieve provides quizzes for the source features in the book and the documents in the companion reader, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, study and writing skills tutorials, and a variety of autograded exercises that help students develop their historical thinking skills. Many of these resources are set up for quick use in the pre-built courses in Achieve, which can be customized easily, and Achieve also allows instructors to create quiz questions and upload their own documents. The table of contents here reflects only what appears in the Value Edition.

 

Preface
Versions and Supplements
Working with Primary Sources
Prologue: From Cosmic History to Human History

 

PART 1 First Things First: Beginnings in History, to 600 b.c.e.

THE BIG PICTURE 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

Time and World History

 

1. FIRST PEOPLES; FIRST FARMERS: MOST OF HISTORY IN A SINGLE CHAPTER, to 3500 B.C.E.

Out of Africa: First Migrations

Into Eurasia

Into Australia

Into the Americas

Into the Pacific

Paleolithic Lifeways

The First Human Societies

Economy and the Environment

The Realm of the Spirit

Settling Down: The Great Transition

Breakthroughs to Agriculture

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

Conclusions and Reflections: History before Civilization

Revisiting Chapter 1

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

2. FIRST CIVILIZATIONS: CITIES, STATES, AND UNEQUAL SOCIETIES, 3500 B.C.E.–600 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

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering "Civilization"

Revisiting Chapter 2

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

PART 2 Continuity and Change in the Second-Wave Era, 600 b.c.e.–600 c.e.

THE BIG PICTURE The Globalization of Civilization

 

3. STATE AND EMPIRE IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 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

Conclusions and Reflections: Enduring Legacies of Second-Wave Empires

Revisiting Chapter 3

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

4. CULTURE AND RELIGION IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 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

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

The Birth of Christianity . . . with Buddhist Comparisons

The Lives of the Founders

The Spread of New Religions

Institutions, Controversies, and Divisions

Conclusions and Reflections: Religion and Historians

Revisiting Chapter 4

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

5. SOCIETY AND INEQUALITY IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 C.E.

Society and the State in 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: The Case of the Roman Empire

Slavery and Civilization

The Making of Roman Slavery

Comparing Patriarchies

A Changing Patriarchy: The Case of China

Contrasting Patriarchies: Athens and Sparta

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering Inequality

Revisiting Chapter 5

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

6. COMMONALITIES AND VARIATIONS: AFRICA, THE AMERICAS, AND PACIFIC OCEANIA, 600 B.C.E.–1200 C.E.

Continental Comparisons

Civilizations of Africa

Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization

Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom

Along the Niger River: Cities without States

Civilizations of Mesoamerica

The Maya: Writing and Warfare

Teotihuacán: The Americas’ Greatest City

Civilizations of the Andes

Chavín: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement

Moche: A Civilization of the Coast

Wari and Tiwanaku: Empires of the Interior

Alternatives to Civilization

Bantu Africa: Cultural Encounters and Social Variation

North America: Ancestral Pueblo and Mound Builders

Pacific Oceania: Peoples of the Sea

Conclusions and Reflections: One History...or Many?

Revisiting Chapter 6

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 3 Civilizations and Encounters during the Third-Wave Era, 600–1450

THE BIG PICTURE Patterns and Processes of the Third-Wave Era

Third-Wave Civilizations

The Ties That Bind: Transregional Interaction in the Third-Wave Era

 

7. COMMERCE AND CULTURE, 600–1450

Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia

The Growth of the Silk Roads

Goods in Transit

Cultures in Transit

Diseases 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

Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa

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

Conclusions and Reflections: Globalization — Ancient and Modern

Revisiting Chapter 4

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

8. CHINA AND THE WORLD: EAST ASIAN CONNECTIONS, 600–1300

Together Again: The Reemergence of a Unified China

A Golden Age of Chinese Achievement

Women in the Song Dynasty

China and the Northern Nomads: A Chinese World Order in the Making

The Tribute System in Theory

The Tribute System in Practice

Cultural Influence across an Ecological Frontier

Interacting 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

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering Change in China

Revisiting Chapter 8

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

9. THE WORLDS OF ISLAM: AFRO-EURASIAN CONNECTIONS, 600–1450

The Birth of a New Religion

The Homeland of Islam

The Messenger and the Message

The Transformation of Arabia

The Making of an Arab Muslim Empire

War, Conquest, and Tolerance

Conversion

Divisions and Controversies

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

Conclusions and Reflections: The Islamic World and the Uses of History

Revisiting Chapter 9

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

10. THE WORLDS OF CHRISTENDOM: CONTRACTION, EXPANSION, AND DIVISION, 600–1450

Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

Asian Christianity

African Christianity

Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past

The Byzantine State

The Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence

Byzantium and the World

The Conversion of Russia

Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse

Political Life in Western Europe

Society and the Church

Accelerating Change in the West

Europe Outward Bound: The Crusading Tradition

The West in Comparative Perspective

Catching Up

Pluralism in Politics

Reason and Faith

Conclusions and Reflections: Remembering and Forgetting

Revisiting Chapter 10

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

11. PASTORAL PEOPLES ON THE GLOBAL STAGE: THE MONGOL MOMENT, 1200–1450

The Long History of Pastoral Peoples

The World of Pastoral Societies

Before the Mongols: Pastoralists in History

Breakout: The Mongol Empire

From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire

Explaining the Mongol Moment

Encountering the Mongols in China, Persia, and Russia

China and the Mongols

Persia and the Mongols

Russia and the Mongols

The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network

Toward a World Economy

Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale

Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm

The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic

Conclusions and Reflections: Historians, Bias, and the Mongols

Revisiting Chapter 11

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

12. THE WORLDS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Societies and Cultures of the Fifteenth Century

Paleolithic Persistence: Australia and North America

Agricultural Village Societies: The Igbo and the Iroquois

Pastoral Peoples: Central Asia and West Africa

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

Webs of Connection

After 1500: Looking Ahead to the Modern Era

Conclusions and Reflections: Perspectives on Turning Points

Revisiting Chapter 12

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

 

For Further Study

Glossary