Contents
My Story about History: A Note from the Author ix
Ancient Civilizations and Events
1. The Prehistoric Period 2
2. The Egyptian Civilization 5
3. The Chinese Civilization 8
4. The Indus Valley Civilization 11
5. The Assyrians 13
6. The Babylonian Empire 16
7. The Mayan Civilization 19
8. The Vedic Civilization 21
9. The Ancient Greek Civilization 23
10. The Classical Age 25
11. The Rise of Rome 27
12. The Unification of China 30
13. The Opening of the Silk Road 32
Modern Periods and Events
14. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire 36
15. The Dark or Middle Ages 39
16. The Hindu Golden Age 41
17. The Plague of Justinian 44
18. The Chinese Golden Age 46
19. The Islamic Golden Age 48
20. The Magna Carta 51
21. The Black Death 53
22. The Fall of Constantinople 55
23. The Renaissance 58
24. The Colonial Era 61
25. The Discovery of the New World 64
26. The Landing of Vasco da Gama 67
27. The Reformation 69
28. The Enlightenment 71
29. The Industrial Revolution 73
30. The Abolitionist Movement 75
31. The Declaration of Sentiments 77
32. The Spanish Flu 79
33. The Great Depression 81
Warriors, Generals, Dynasties and Rulers
34. Hammurabi 84
35. The Shang Dynasty 86
36. Amenhotep III 88
37. Ramses II 90
38. The Zhou Dynasty 92
39. Cyrus II 94
40. Darius I 96
41. Alexander of Macedonia 98
42. The Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empire 101
43. The Mauryan Empire 104
44. Ashoka 107
45. The Han Dynasty 109
46. Julius Caesar 111
47. Augustus Caesar 114
48. The Kushan Empire 116
49. Charlemagne 118
50. Genghis Khan 120
51. The Mamluk Dynasty 122
52. Timur 124
53. Babur 126
54. Akbar 128
54. Elizabeth I 130
56. Napoleon Bonaparte 132
57. Catherine II 134
58. Victoria 136
59. The Ming Dynasty 138
Revolutions and Wars
60. Greco-Persian Wars 142
61. The Wars of the Diadochi 144
62. The Roman-Greek Wars 147
63. The Battle of Milvian Bridge 149
64. The Norman Conquest 152
65. The Crusades 154
66. The Hundred Years' War 156
67. The American Revolution 159
68. The French Revolution 162
69. The Battle of Waterloo 165
70. The First World War 167
71. The Russian Revolution 170
72. The Second World War 172
73. The Indian Independence Movement 175
74. The Cold War 178
75. The Chinese Cultural Revolution 181
76. The Iranian Revolution 183
Peacemakers and Warmongers
77. Abraham Lincoln 186
78. Mahatma Gandhi 188
79. Joseph Stalin 191
80. Adolf Hitler 193
81. Benito Mussolini 195
82. Martin Luther King Jr 197
83. Nelson Mandela 199
Philosophers and Thinkers
84. Pythagoras 202
85. Socrates 204
86. Plato 206
87. Aristotle 208
88. Epicurus 210
89. Rene Descartes 212
90. Immanuel Kant 214
91. Georg Hegel 216
92. Friedrich Nietzsche 218
Economists, Sociologists and Political Scientists
93. Sun Tzu 222
94. Chanakya 224
95. Niccolo Machiavelli 226
96. John Locke 228
97. Jean-Jacques Rousseau 230
98. Adam Smith 232
99. Jeremy Bentham 234
100. Karl Marx 236
101. Max Weber 238
Selected Bibliography 240
Acknowledgements 243