Contents

Contents : the ancient world (ancient times, out of africa, the ice age, cave art, the first farmers, megaliths, the first cities, the origins of writing, land of the pharoahs, the bronze age, ancient americas, ancient greece, the persian empire, alexander the great, china’s great wall, rome and hannibal, the roman empire, bible stories, pacific settlers, ancient wonders, ancient inventions) -- The medieval world (medieval times, the silk road, the vikings, china’s golden age, castles, the crusades, the age of the mongols, the black death, the chinese, treasure fleet, great african kingdoms, 15th-century americas, medieval inventions) -- the modern world (modern times, the age of exploration, conquistadors, the great food exchange, the reformation, caribbean pirates, Colonial America, slavery, the american war of independence, exiled to australia, the french revolution, Napoleon, free south america, Darwin’s voyage, the Industrial revolution, a year of revolutions, the american frontier, gold rushes, the US civil war, Japan faces the future, the age of steam, Europe’s empires, modern inventions) -- The 20th and 21st centuries (beyond 1900, the race to the south pole, world war I, the russian revolution, the story of flight, the great depression, China’s long march, world war II, the eastern front, D-Day, Gandhi and Indian independence, the cold war, the space age, moon landings, the internet, the rise of china) -- index -- acknowledgements.