Volume 1: Chapters 1–11 

 

Table of Contents (with Story Lines) 

Chapter 1. Becoming Human (Pre-History and the Peopling of the Earth)

Chapter 2. Rivers, Cities, and First States, 3500–2000 bce (Comparing First Cities)

Chapter 3. Nomads, Territorial States, and Microsocieties, 2000–1200 bce (Comparing First States)

Chapter 4. First Empires and Common Cultures in Afro-Eurasia, 1250–325 bce (Comparing First Empires and Beginnings of Judiasm)

Chapter 5. Worlds Turned Inside Out, 1000–350 bce (The Axial Age) 

Chapter 6. Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World, 350 bce–250 ce (Building of the Silk Road and Beginnings of Buddhism)  

Chapter 7. Han Dynasty China and Imperial Rome, 300 bce–300 ce (Comparing Han and Roman Empires) 

Chapter 8. The Rise of Universalizing Religions, 300–600 ce (The Rise of Christianity, the Spread of Buddhism, and the Beginnings of Common Cultures) 

Chapter 9. New Empires and Common Cultures, 600–1000 ce (The Rise of Islam and Comparing the Relationships between Empires and Religions) 

Chapter 10. Becoming “The World,” 1000–1300 ce (The Emergence of the Worlds We Know Today)  

Chapter 11. Crises and Recovery in Afro-Eurasia, 1300–1500 (The Spread of the Black Death across Afro-Eurasia)