The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

By Susan Wise Bauer

Book Overview

This is the first volume in a bold series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history.

Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This old-fashioned narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath"--literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts--to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039305974X
• ISBN13: 9780393059748
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 896 Pages
• Weight: 2.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

An incredible undertaking which is magnificently executed

Bauer undertakes to summarize all of world history from its beginning until modernity, a near impossible task. Yet she is able to succinctly bring together major concepts and critical events across numerous global cultures in an engaging way. No single book (or trilogy of books in this case) could possible cover every detail and society in full detail, but Bauer manages to give the reader a good enough understanding that metanarrative themes come into view and provide a critical context for further reading on topics which are introduced or covered briefly here. This book does not set out to cover ever detail, rather it offers a high level view which helps the reader to see broader movements and patterns than they could see by on overly granular study.