The spoils of time : a world history from the dawn of civilization through the early Renaissance / C.V. Wedgwood.

Includes bibliographies and index.

From the beginnings to circa 1500 B.C. The evolution of man -- The beginnings of civilization, cave paintings, from hunting to agriculture, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, India, North China, Africa, the early cultures of the Americas -- Sumeria, Malta, Egypt, the Indus valley -- Sargon the Great, early codes of law -- Egypt: the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom -- The Hittite empire, the eighteenth dynasty, exodus -- Crete and Mycenae, the Phoenicians, the Jews -- Circa 1500-500 B.C. China: origins, the Shang, the Chou, spring and autumn, the warring states -- Aryan invasion of India, Aryan culture and beliefs, early literature: Mahabharata, Bhagavadgita, the Hindu pantheon -- The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Jews -- Greece: Dorian invasions, Homer, Delphi and Olympia, Hesiod, Greek colonies, the Phoenicians, Greek civilization, the Etruscans, origins of Rome, Persia: Cyrus the Great -- The great religions and ethical codes: Zoroaster, Ezra and the Temple of Solomon, Buddha, Mahavira, Confucius, Lao-tzu, Chinese philosophy -- Circa 500-300 B.C. The Persian empire, the Greek city-states, the Persian War (490-479), Athens under Pericles, the Peloponnesian War, Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno -- Alexander the Great -- India: Chandragupta Maurya, Asoka -- China: Shih Huang Ti, the Han, Wu Ti, Ssu ma Chi'en, Chang Chi'en, Bactria and the silk road -- Circa 300 B.C.-A.D. 70. Rome and Carthage, slavery in Roman society, patricians and plebeians, the Gracchi, slave revolts, Marius and Sulla, Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar, and the fall of the republic, the reign of Augustus -- The Hasmonean dynasty and the troubles of Judea, Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus, the early Christians, Philo of Alexandria, the siege and fall of Jerusalem, rabbinic tradition -- Circa A.D. 50-500. China: the Later Han, the Three Kingdoms and the Six Dynasties, the Chin dynasty, religion, science, Japan and Korea -- India: the Kushan, further development of Buddhism, trade and industry, Fa-Hsien, the Guptas -- The Roman empire in the second century -- Persia, the rise of the Sassanids, decline of Roman power, Mithraism and Christianity, Diocletian and Constantine -- The fall of the Roman empire in the West -- The Byzantine empire, Justinian, monasticism -- Circa 500-1000. Persia: the end of the Sassanids, Muhammad, the caliphate: Baghdad, Cordova, Cairo -- China: the Sui, the T'ang, Southeast Asia: the Khmer -- Japan: Prince Shotoku, rise of the Fujiwara, the Nara epoch -- Britain, Byzantium and western Europe: Charlemagne -- The Byzantine empire, further invasions of the West: the Vikings, Alfred the Great, Viking influence, growth of the feudal system, Otto the Great, resurgence of the Byzantine empire, Holy Russia -- The Americas: Woodland culture, the Chavin culture, the Olmec, the Mochica, the Maya, Teotihuacan, Africa.

Circa 900-1200. North India from the Guptas to the Slave Kings: Harsha of Thanesar, Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad of Ghur, Marco Polo in south India, revival of Hinduism, Vishnu and Shiva, cave temples, Tantric Buddhism -- Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, China under the Sung: culture, economy, administration, the Southern Sung -- Japan: the Fujiwara, court life and culture, Shinto and Buddhism, the Kamakura age, the Samurai, Bushido -- Fall of the Abbasid caliphate, Persia under the Seljuks, the Shiite caliphate of Cairo, the Assassins, Muslim expansion in Africa, Christians and Moors in Spain, El Cid -- The Normans: in Normandy, in Italy and Sicily, in England -- Church and state, cooperation and rivalry -- The Byzantine empire and the Crusades -- Circa 1200-1450. The Mongols: Genghis Khan, China under Kublai Khan, Hulagu in Persia, Persian literature, the Golden Horde in Russia, Alexander Nevski -- Church and state in Europe, economic revival, Frederick Barbarossa, Henry II and Becket, Innocent III, Frederick II, Boniface Virgin IslandsII, the papacy at Avignon, Franciscans and Dominicans -- Growth of nation-states and their rulers: Louis IX of France, Charles of Anjou, Alfonso the Learned of Castile, Diniz of Portugal, England: Henry II, King John, Magna Carta, Henry III, Edward I, Wales, Ireland, Scotland: Malcolm Canmore, David I, Robert Bruce, Rudolf of Habsburg, Charles IV of Bohemia, Casimir III, the Hundred Years' War, the black death -- Growth of cities in western Europe the Hanseatic league, Rome, the Italian cities, the early Renaissance, the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc, French literature and the arts, English literature, early religious reformers -- Western travelers in China, Marco Polo, ibn-Batuta in Africa, India, and China, fall of the Yuan and rise of the Ming -- Circa 1350-1550. The decay of Byzantium, Hungary, Tamerlaine, the fall of Byzantium, Florence in flower, the spread of learning, the invention of printing -- Chinese naval expeditions, Portuguese explorers: Gil Eanes, Nuno Tristao, Cadamosto, Diogo Cao, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America, Magellan -- The Spaniards in the West Indies, the Aztecs in Mexico, the Inca in Peru, Cortes, Pizarro, New Spain and old Spain, the Habsburg succession and its consequences -- Renaissance and Reformation, Charles V and Luther, origins of the Reformation, town and country, conflict in Switzerland, the printing press, peasant revolts in Germany and Hungary, Luther and the Peasants' War, the Reformation spreads in Germany and Europe, multiplication of sects, translations of the Bible -- The Ottoman Turks, Charles V and the Turks, Charles V and the French, sack of Rome, reform of the Catholic Church, the divine right of kings.

A history from "the first appearance of man and moves on to the eary civilizations of the Middle East, through the Indus Valley, to the Mediterranean, the Far East, Greece and Rome, the time of Christ, the Dark Ages, and on to the highest flowering of the Renaissance."

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