Product Description

"Civilizations" takes the reader forward from the earliest days of human settlement to the civilizations of the New World overthrown by the Spanish Conquistadors. After a brief look at humanity's development as nomadic hunters and gatherers, the story begins with the crucial step taken around 10,000 years ago when some communities began cultivating plants. The settled villages of these early farmers were the forerunners of the complex cities and highly sophisticated cultures that were later to flourish in the emergent civilizations across the world. Following a basically chronological path, the book focuses on the world's key civilizations in each time period, beginning with the primary civilizations in Mesopotamia, India, Egypt and China, illuminating Greece, Rome and their contemporaries and culminating in the states of America, but not neglecting other, less familiar, civilizations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1508285 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
A high-class coffee-table book of the sort the BBC do so well, Civilizations traces the development of human society from humble beginnings as nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled farmers and so to the sophisticated city states of Central Asia, the Mediterranean and the Americas. We get a quick flit through the first two million years of human evolution, but the story really begins some 10,000 years ago with the adoption of agriculture. This quickened the pace of change and laid the foundations of civilization as we know it. The second chapter, 'Cities and States', looks at the emergence of complex societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, the use of copper, bronze and iron, the development of international relations, trade and warfare, the invention of writing and the lavish burial rituals of these societies. The greater part of the book is then given over to the classical civilizations of Greece, Rome and their contemporary cultures (with nods to Buddhism and the Han civilization of China). These societies were characterized by imperialism on a hitherto undreamt-of scale, commerce and slavery. The last chapter, 'Empires of the New World', examines the pre-Conquest worlds of the Aztec, Maya and Inca peoples, marked by superb craftsmanship (especially in stonework and pyramid building) and widespread adherence to religion, with its attendant culture of constant warfare and bloody sacrifice. There is nothing new here. But the book serves to remind us how remarkable these earlier cultures were, and demonstrates - in a most colourful and user-friendly manner - how much we owe them, in terms of knowledge and ideas in science and philosophy, the arts, architecture, agriculture and astronomy. It is lavishly illustrated throughout, with a wealth of photographs, maps and artwork, drawing together the best of humanity's heritage. A visual and academic treat. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

Excellent, wonderful and such an interesting read!
This is a must, written well with pictures to intrigue individuals. This is a book for Adults and the youngsters to read and enjoy. It has several graphs and wonderful pictures of artifacts, the BBC has done a good job on this one. Ms.Mclntosh and Mr.Twist should be congratulated on this masterpeice, covering the history of mankind "Civilizations" (Part one of several other publications).