Embedded Files
Making Sense of World History
Rick Szostak, University of Alberta
Table of Contents
[The 32 chapters average about 15,000 words per chapter]
List of Tables: Challenges facing different historical actors
List of Boxes: The Nature of Specific Historical Processes or Phenomena
List of Figures: Relationships among Themes in Historical Episodes
List of Primary Documents: Connecting the Thoughts of Contemporaries to History
Glossary of Regions and States referred to often in the text
VOLUME I
SECTION 1: Organizing World History
1. Making Sense of World History (18313)
Key Organizing Devices and Principles
Placing this Text within the Evolution of World History
Implications for how the Book is Organized
Placing Individuals within World History
The Challenges of a Multi-dimensional Subject Matter
Skill Acquisition
What is World History About?: The Key Themes of World History
Our Themes and the World of Today; The Theme of Culture; The Theme of Social Structure
Achieving Conceptual Clarity
Understanding Change in History through Evolutionary Analysis
International Transmission, Relevant Phenomena, Evolution of Cultural Values and Practices, Evolution and Progress Compared
Philosophical Orientation
Interdisciplinarity and World History; Both/And Thinking; Valuing Multiple Perspectives; Summing Up
Outline of Book
SECTION II: Prehistory and Ancient History
2. The Big History Prelude: From the Big Bang to Hominids (11767)
The Nature of Big History
The Big Bang
Stars and Planets
The Earth
The Natural Environment Theme
Life on Earth
Evolutionary Theory Revisited
Multicellular Life
Mammals
Reprise
3. Evolution of Human Nature Itself in Early Human History (17398)
The Evolution of Human Nature
Environmental Influences; Culture and More
Language
Culture
Emotions
Altruism
The Subconscious Mind
Human Activities
Tool-making; Fire; Economic Activity; Incomes; Gender Relations;
Polity and Social Structure; Art; Migration; Population Growth;
Effects on the Natural Environment; Connections across Societies
Speculation on the Nature of Hominid Life
The Themes of Common Genetic Inheritance and Individual Differences
4. A Critical Transformation: The Development of Agriculture, Nomadism, and Fishing
(16,456)
The Development of Agriculture
Some Preliminary Considerations; Agriculture in the Middle East; A Regional Survey
Some Effects
Agriculture means Storage and Control over Land; Environmental Impacts
Addressing the Soil Nutrient Challenge Facing Farmers; Population and Health; Human Nature; Politics; Gender Relations; Speculation on Peasant Behavior
Nomadism
The Nature and Location of Nomadism; The Emergence of Nomadism; Nomads and Farmers; The Domestication of the Horse; Nomad Life
Fishing
The Economy Theme
5. Some Early Impacts of Agriculture: Key Technologies and Trade Practices (18367)
Agricultural Technology
The Diversity of Agricultural Practices; Irrigation; Fermentation;
Vegetable Oils
Non-Agricultural Technology
Pottery; Brick; Glass; Textiles; Metals and Mining; Other Technologies
The Technology and Science Theme
Trade
Money; Transport; Merchants; Artisans
Economic Growth
Evolution of Technology and Science
6. Grappling with “Civilization”: The Development of Cities, States and Writing (20996)
Civilization?
The Earliest “Civilizations”
Cities
Emergence of Early Cities; The Nature of Early Cities; Effects of Cities;
Architecture
Organized States
Emergence and Expansion of Early States; Nature of Early States;
The Rise of “Kings”; Effects of States (Writing, Education, Laws,
Gender Relations, Science)
War
The Birth of War; The Ubiquity of War; Military Leadership; Soldiers;
War and Social Differentiation; The Changing Face of War:
Technology, Scale, and Organization
The Politics Theme
7. Early Civilizations around the World [17578]
Comparisons and Connections across Regions
City States and “Empires” in Mesopotamia (Inscriptions)
Anatolia
Egypt
Nubia
The Levant
Greece
Indus Valley
The Ganges
China
Central Asia
Africa
Americas
Meanwhile Elsewhere in the World
Trade Expansion through Time
Institutional Evolution
Climate and Civilization
Population
Migration; Travel
The Population and Health Theme
Families
8. Belief Systems: The Nature and Development of Early Religions [14206]
Evolutionary Processes
Historical Analysis of Religion
The Earliest Religions
Egypt; The Levant; Mesopotamia; Greece; Rome; Africa beyond Egypt; India
China; Mesoamerica; Nomadic Religions
The Nature of Ethics
Reflections on Religion and Community
Religion and the Family
Sacrifices and Buildings
Art (Because there is room in this chapter)
The Art Theme
Artistic Evolution
SECTION III: Classical History
9. Political Organization on an Unprecedented Scale: The Classical Empires [20928]
From Earlier Large States to Larger Empires
The Nature of Empires
Imperial Internal Diversity and Justification
Functions of Empire
The Expansion of Empires
Administration of Empires
The Ends of Empires
Particular Empires
Persia; Mauryan and Gupta Empires in India; Kushan Empire
Axum; The Americas
Slavery
Trade
Currency; Finance; Merchant Networks; Sea Trade; Silk Road; Cultural and Health Impacts
Ancient Science
Libraries
10. Similarities and Differences: The Roman and Chinese Empires Compared (23181)
Greece
The Lasting Impact of Greek Civilization
Rome
The Republic; The Empire
Roman Family Life
China
Chinese Philosophy; The Qin; The Han
Comparing China and Rome
Similarities and Differences; Empire and Trade; Imperial Decline;
The Question of Reconstitution; The Legacy of Empire
Political Thought
China and Bureaucratic Theory; Democratic impulses; Jewish Political Thought; Patriotism
11. The Birth of Missionary Religions: Why and How did the World’s Major Religions Emerge?
[18713]
New Religions from Old
Religions and States
Why Then?
Hinduism
Jainism
Charvaka
Judaism
Zoroastrianism
Confucianism
Daoism
Buddhism
Christianity
Manichaeism
Islam
Shinto
Mayan Religion
Some Comparisons and Reflections
Canon Development; Religion and Family Values; Religion and Trade; Faith;
Religion and War
The Geographical Spread of Religions
Conversion of Rulers; Policies of Rulers; Conquest; Political Conflict;
Missionaries and Merchants; Migration; Financial Resources; Syncretism;
Suitability; Summing Up
Evolutionary Reflections
12. A New Force in World History: The Islamic Conquests [10891]
Early Days
Islamic Political Realities
Battles over Succession
Umayyads
Abbasids
Abbasid Cultural and Scientific Efflorescence
Islamic Attitudes toward Women
Trade and the Movement of Ideas
Islam in India
Mamluks
Islam in West Africa
Islam in Central Asia
Islamic Art
13. Eurasia in the Centuries after the Fall of the Classical Empires [21977]
Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia
Nomads and Sedentary Societies, Nomadic Military Technology and Organization, Particular Nomadic Groups
“Barbarian” Incursions into Europe
The Germans; The Huns; The Slavs; Magyars, The Vikings; Islam
The Classic Feudal System
The Byzantine Empire
Justinian and Theodora; Byzantine Strategy; The Nature of Empire; Huns;
Islam; Slavs
China
Period of Disunity, Sui, Tang
Korea
Japan
Southeast Asia
Tibet
India
SECTION IV: The Middle Ages
14. Seeking Global Commonalities: Some Key Thematic Trends 900-1500 and Beyond [10019]
Climate after 900
Political Consolidation after 900
Courtly Life
Cultural Consolidation after 900
Trade Expansion
Traveler’s Tales, Trading Cities, Porcelain, Agricultural Expansion
Monuments
Family Patterns
Population
15. Regional Developments: Eurasia after 900 [23169]
State Formation in Europe
The Catholic Church
The Crusades
Trade and Trading Towns
Agriculture
Industry and Gilds
The Printing Press
The Renaissance
China
Song Politics, Economic Dynamism under the Song, Landscape Painting, The Yuan, The Ming, Ming Society and Economy, Ming Naval Expeditions
Japan
India
Southeast Asian Mainland
Southeast Asian Islands
16. Regional Developments: Polynesia, the Americas, and Africa [10829]
Polynesian Settlement
Easter Island, Australia
The Americas
Mesoamerica, Farther North, South America
Africa
West Africa, West African Trading Centers, East Africa, Kongo
17. The Mongols and the Largest Ever Contiguous Empire [11030]
Central Asia at the Time of the Mongols
Chinggis Khan
Keys to Mongol Success
Some Speculations
The Unfortunate Logic of Slaughter
Post-Chinggis Mongols
Mongol Administration
The Role of Women
The Yuan Dynasty
Effects of the Mongol Conquests
Trade and Transport; The Exchange of Ideas; The Plague; Religion
After the Fall
Muscovy; Timur
Note: Volume I ended up with 287,300 words. I will surely cut a few thousand of these as I edit.
VOLUME II
SECTION V The Early Modern Period
18. Thematic Developments in the Early Modern Period 1450-1800 [12435]
Climate
Political Consolidation
Laws; Seventeenth Century Disruptions; The Netherlands
Religious Developments
Religious Interactions, Witch Hunts
Wars and Gunpowder Technology
The Early Development of Gunpowder Technology, The Success of Europe
Trade
Trading Networks; Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa; Trans-Sahara Trade; Collecting; The Diffusion of Art
Capitalism
Population
19. Exploration and Trade: Linking the Continents [21506]
The Spanish Conquests in the Western Hemisphere
The Spanish Discovery of America; Spanish Conquests in the Americas; Silver and Settlement
The Spanish across the Pacific
The Portuguese to the Indian Ocean
English and Dutch Expansion
Russia into Siberia
Chinese Expansion
The Columbian Exchange
The Potato, Exchange of Ideas
The Slave Trade
The Newfoundland Fishery
The Fur Trade
Agricultural Expansion
20. Comparing New Empires in Asia [13609]
Comparisons and Contrasts
The Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Administration; Reform Initiatives; Ottoman Decline; Ottoman Culture
The Safavid Empire
Safavid Culture
The Mughals
Mughal Culture; Caste; Mughals and British
The Qing in China
Africa
21. It Seems so Natural Now: The Emergence of the Modern Nation State [14161]
A Historical Survey
Europe, Egypt and Asia, Latin America, Nation States and Empires, Settler Societies, Africa, The Pacific, The Nation State System
Ethnicity Itself
Nationalism
Democracy
22. The Great Divergence: The Rise of the European Economy and Military (13926)
The Roots of the Great Divergence
Comparing Incomes, Natural Resources and Colonies, Trade and Markets, Demography, Political and Economic Institutions, Religion, Technology and Technological Innovation
The Scientific Revolution
Changes in Astronomical Understanding, Changes in Practice, The Cultural Environment of the Scientific Revolution, Non-European Antecedents, Effects of the Scientific Revolution
Western Civilization Revisited
Section VI: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
23. Key Thematic Transformations of the Long Nineteenth Century [12931]
Colonization
South Africa and Algeria, Japan and Colonialism, American Imperialism?, Mining
Transport
Changes in Work
Science
Agriculture
24. Industrial Revolutions: Innovation, Factories, and Economic Growth [11978]
The British Industrial Revolution
Relationships among Factories, Technology, and Economic Growth; Why?: The European Context; Politics and Property Rights; The British Empire; Transport; Other Factors
The Second Generation of Industrializers
The Second Industrial Revolution
The Third Generation of Industrializers
Demographic Changes Associated with Industrialization
Social and Cultural Changes Associated with Industrialization
25. Political Revolutions around the World: A Diverse Set of Experiences with Important Commonalities [10077]
The American Revolution
To Revolt or Not; The Twenty Colonies; Forging a New State
The French Revolution
Haiti
Latin American Revolutions
The Sokoto Caliphate
Other Revolutions and Revolts
26. A Unique Historical Transformation: The Abolition of Slavery and Serfdom [10982]
The Abolition of Slavery
Europe, The Americas, Elsewhere
The Aftermath of Abolition
Other Types of Coerced Labor
Racism
The Abolition of Serfdom
The Abolition of Seigneurial Tenure in Quebec in 1854
27. Key Thematic Transformations of the Twentieth Century [15890]
Democratization
Communism
The Growth of the State
International Organizations
Rights
Social Change
Religion
Environment
28. Devastation and Fear: War in the Twentieth Century [18608]
Prelude to War
World War I
Linking the World Wars
Fascism
World War II
Wartime Atrocities, Allied Bombing, The Impacts of War
The Cold War
The Hot Cold War
Korea, Cuba, Indonesia, Afghanistan
Terrorism
New Wars
Trends in War-making
29. The Worst of Times and the Best of Times: The Great Depression and Postwar Recovery [13706]
The Great Depression
Technological Innovation and the Great Depression
The Golden Age
Social Policy Revisited
Convergence
Consumer Culture
Globalization
30. An Unprecedented Development: Postwar Decolonization [14054]
A Unique Historical Transformation
Influences on the Timing and Nature of Decolonization, Challenges in Transition
The Middle East
Asia
Iran, Vietnam, India, China
Africa
Latin America
The Pacific
31.Population Movements: Dramatic Changes in the Numbers, Location, and Health of Humans [11726]
Population Growth and Stabilization
Life Expectancy
Migration
Nineteenth Century Migration, Twentieth Century Migration
Urbanization
Tourism
Epidemics and Famines
Obesity
SECTION VII: Drawing Lessons
32. Drawing Lessons from History: Why, How, and What [19728]
Why to Draw Lessons
Some Important General Insights
Challenges in Drawing Lessons
How to Draw Lessons
Institutions and Values
Human Challenges
Science
Technology
Human Nature
Do No Harm
Cultural Understanding
Toleration
Energy, Resources, Environment
Politics and War
Changing Paths
Population
History Itself
Closing Thoughts on Our Organizing System
World History and the Meaning of Life: How this Book Could Shape your View of Life
We can achieve meaning by striving to make the world a better place
The role of individuals in history; Human progress?; Why Bother?
Can we do Good?
We can achieve meaning through celebrating group identity
We can achieve meaning by celebrating personal identity
We can achieve meaning through balance
We can achieve meaning through our own life story
We can find meaning in religion or philosophy
Volume II has 215,300 words
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