This book is a history of firearms across the world from the 1100s up to the 1700s, from the time of their invention in China to the time when European firearms had become clearly superior. It asks why it was the Europeans who perfected firearms when it was the Chinese who had invented them, but it answers this question by looking at how firearms were used throughout the world.
Bringing more than 50 years of combined teaching experience and expertise into WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, Philip J. Adler and Randall L. Pouwels present an accessible, comprehensive, and balanced global overview of the world's major civilizations from the ancient world to modern times. Well more than half of the content focuses on the world outside of Europe. As one of the most graphic and pedagogically driven books in the market, the text appeals to students and professors alike. Hundreds of illustrations, maps, and documents, overviews, self-tests, and additional rich pedagogical features make the history of world civilizations easier for students to study and understand. Volume 1 includes thirty concise chapters make content manageable for students while giving instructors the flexibility to present the material in any way they choose. Available in the following split options: WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, FOURTH EDITION (Chapters 1-56), ISBN: 0534599338; WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, VOLUME I: TO 1700, FOURTH EDITION (Chapters 1-30), ISBN: 0534599346; WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, VOLUME II: SINCE 1500, FOURTH EDITION (Chapters 23-56), ISBN: 0534599354.
For an accessible, comprehensive global survey of the world's major civilizations, Adler and Pouwels's WORLD CIVILIZATIONS VOLUME II offers a great balance between detail and brevity. This unique student-oriented text offers 32 short chapters accompanied by strong pedagogy and critical thinking tools, giving instructors the flexibility to assign a wide range of major topics in world history in a variety of different ways, plus making learning more manageable for students. Built on the authors' nearly sixty years of combined teaching experience, the Sixth Edition features increased coverage of Asia and Africa, strengthening the global backbone of the text significantly. The focused treatment of topics throughout history covers every major epoch and follows broad patterns and processes, while illuminating history through specific examples and a particular emphasis on social and cultural topics. Available in the following split options: WORLD CIVILIZATIONS, Sixth Edition (Chapters 1-54), ISBN: 978-0-495-91300-9; Volume I: To 1700 (Chapters 1-28), ISBN: 978-0-495-91301-6. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
A bold reassessment of what caused the Late Bronze Age collapse In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen? In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries. A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age—and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.
It used to be said that the sun never set on the empire of the King of Spain. It was therefore appropriate that Emperor Charles V should have commissioned from Battista Agnese in 1543 a world map as a birthday present for his sixteen-year-old son, the future Philip II. This was the world as Charles V and his successors of the House of Austria knew it, a world crossed by the golden path of the treasure fleets that linked Spain to the riches of the Indies. It is this world, with Spain at its center, that forms the subject of this book. J.H. Elliott, the pre-eminent historian of early modern Spain and its world, originally published these essays in a variety of books and journals. They have here been grouped into four sections, each with an introduction outlining the circumstances in which they were written and offering additional reflections. The first section, on the American world, explores the links between Spain and its American possessions. The second section, "The European World," extends beyond the Castilian center of the Iberian peninsula and its Catalan periphery to embrace sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe as a whole. In "The World of the Court," the author looks at the character of the court of the Spanish Habsburgs and the perennially uneasy relationship between the world of political power and the world of arts and letters. The final section is devoted to the great historical question of the decline of Spain, a question that continues to resonate in the Anglo-American world of today.
Short chapters, great stories, and tons of study tools! Adler and Pouwels’s WORLD CIVILIZATIONS VOLUME I, International Edition is a vibrant introduction to world history structured to meet the demands of your study schedule. It’s clearly written, packed with charts and illustrations, and loaded with review features so you’ll be up to date in class and ready for the test. And, because WORLD CIVILIZATIONS VOLUME I offers extensive coverage of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, you’ll have timely historical insights into the issues that make today’s news. Get WORLD CIVILIZATIONS VOLUME I and discover how having all the information you need to know for the test really does equal a better grade.
The primary goal of World Civilizations is to present a truly global historysince the development of agriculture and herding to the present. Overview of World History. Readers interested in the history and development of civilization worldwide.
This work covers topics such as gender, religion, war, ecology, and nationalism, creating both thematic narratives and the strands of a larger chronological account. It explores major historical turning points, and reveals the dynamic of increasing global interactions.
