FOREWORD/前言 1
1 THE SETTING OF THE STAGE/舞台布景 5
2 OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS/我们最早的祖先 10
3 PREHISTORIC MAN/史前人类 13
4 HIEROGLYPHICS/象形文字 16
5 THE NILE VALLEY/尼罗河谷 21
6 THE STORY OF EGYPT/埃及的故事 25
7 MESOPOTAMIA/两河流域 27
8 THE SUMERIANS/苏美尔人 29
9 MOSES/摩西 33
10 THE PHOENICIANS/腓尼基人 36
11 THE INDO-EUROPEANS/印欧人 38
12 THE GEAN SEA/爱琴海 40
13 THE GREEKS/希腊人 44
14 THE GREEK CITIES/古希腊城市 46
15 GREEK SELF-GOVERNMENT/古希腊自治 49
16 GREEK LIFE/古希腊生活 52
17 THE GREEK THEATRE/古希腊戏剧 56
18 THE PERSIAN WARS/波斯战争 59
19 ATHENS vs. SPARTA/雅典与斯巴达的对峙 64
20 ALEXANDER THE GREAT/亚历山大大帝 66
21 A SUMMARY/小结 68
22 ROME AND CARTHAGE/罗马和迦太基 71
23 THE RISE OF ROME/罗马的崛起 83
24 THE ROMAN EMPIRE/罗马帝国 86
25 JOSHUA OF NAZARETH/拿撒勒的约书亚 95
26 THE FALL OF ROME/罗马的衰亡 100
27 RISE OF THE CHURCH/教会的崛起 105
28 MOHAMMED/穆罕默德 112
29 CHARLEMAGNE/查理大帝 118
30 THE NORSEMEN/北欧人 123
31 FEUDALISM/封建社会 126
32 CHIVALRY/骑士制度 130
33 POPE vs. EMPEROR/教皇和皇帝的对峙 133
34 THE CRUSADES/十字军东征 139
35 THE MEDIVAL CITY/中世纪的城市 144
36 MEDIVAL SELF-GOVERNMENT/中世纪的自治 154
37 THE MEDIVAL WORLD/中世纪的世界 159
38 MEDIVAL TRADE/中世纪的贸易 167
39 THE RENAISSANCE/文艺复兴 174
40 THE AGE OF EXPRESSION/表现的时代 187
41 THE GREAT DISCOVERIES/伟大的发现 193
42 BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS/佛陀与孔子 207
43 THE REFORMATION/宗教改革 217
44 RELIGIOUS WARFARE/宗教战争 228
45 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION/英国革命 244
46 THE BALANCE OF POWER/力量均衡 259
47 THE RISE OF RUSSIA/俄国的兴起 264
48 RUSSIA vs. SWEDEN/俄国对瑞典 271
49 THE RISE OF PRUSSIA/普鲁士的崛起 275
50 THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM/重商主义 279
51 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION/美国革命 283
52 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION/法国革命 291
53 NAPOLEON/拿破仑 305
54 THE HOLY ALLIANCE/神圣同盟 316
55 THE GREAT REACTION/大复辟 328
56 NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE/民族独立 336
57 THE AGE OF THE ENGINE/机器时代 356
58 THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION/社会革命 366
59 EMANCIPATION/解放 371
60 THE AGE OF SCIENCE/科学时代 378
61 ART/艺术 384
62 COLONIAL EXPANSION AND WAR/殖民扩张和战争 397
63 A NEW WORLD/崭新的世界 406
64 AS IT EVER SHALL BE/继往开来 415
內容試閱:
We live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark.
Who are we?
Where do we come from?
Whither are we bound?
Slowly, but with persistent courage, we have been pushing this question mark further and further towards that distant line, beyond the horizon, where we hope to find our answer.
We have not gone very far.
We still know very little but we have reached the point where with a fair degree of accuracy, we can guess at many things.
In this chapter I shall tell you bow according to our best belief the stage was set for the first appearance of man.
If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length, then the tiny line just below indicates the age during which man or a creature more or less resembling man has lived upon this earth.
Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going to study him, rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other animals, who, all in their own way, have a very interesting historical development behind them.
In the beginning, the planet upon which we live was as far as we now know a large ball of flaming matter, a tiny cloud of smoke in the endless ocean of space. Gradually, in the course of millions of years, the surface burned itself out, and was covered with a thin layer of rocks. Upon these lifeless rocks the rain descended in endless torrents, wearing out the hard granite and carrying the dust to the valleys that lay hidden between the high cliffs of the steaming earth.
Finally the hour came when the sun broke through the clouds and saw how this little planet was covered with a few small puddles which were to develop into the mighty oceans of the eastern and western hemispheres.
Then one day the great wonder happened. What had been dead, gave birth to life.
The first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea.
For millions of years it drifted aimlessly with the currents. But during all that time it was developing certain habits that it might survive more easily upon the inhospitable earth. Some of these cells were happiest in the dark depths of the lakes and the pools. They took root in the limy sediments which had been carried down from the tops of the hills and they became plants. Others preferred to move about and they grew strange jointed legs, like scorpions and began to crawl along the bottom of the sea amidst the plants and the pale green things that looked like jelly-fishes. Still others covered with scales depended upon a swimming motion to go from place to place in their search for food, and gradually they populated the ocean with myriads of fishes.
Meanwhile the plants had increased in number and they had to search for new dwelling places. There was no more room for them at the bottom of the sea. Reluctantly they left the water and made a new home in the marshes and on the mudbanks that lay at the foot of the mountains. Twice a day the tides of the ocean covered them with their brine. For the rest of the time, the plants made the best of their uncomfortable situation and tried to survive in the thin air which surrounded the surface of the planet. After centuries of training, they learned how to live as comfortably in the air as they had done in the water. They increased in size and became shrubs and trees and at last they learned how to grow lovely flowers which attracted the attention of the busy big bumble-bees and the birds who carried the seeds far and wide until the whole earth had become covered with green pastures, or lay dark under the shadow of the big trees.
But some of the fishes too had begun to leave the sea, and they had learned how to breathe with lungs as well as with gills. We call such creatures amphibious, which means that they are able to live with equal ease on the land and in the water. The first frog who crosses your path can tell you all about the pleasures of the double existence of the amphibian.