Between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, in a few favored areas of the world, humankind mastered the formulas that released it from the Stone Age. For the first time in history, people became civilized.This globe- and time-trotting book vividly describes how a number of major civilizations - the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Khmers, the Etruscans, and more - emerged, thrived, faded, but left a mark on our collective imagination and culture. Memories of some...