The History Book
Big Ideas Simply Explained - World history
Book Chapters
106 chapters from the complete book
CTION 12 T he ultimate aim of history is human self-knowledge. In the words of 20th-century his...
21 Remains of Homo floresiensis were found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003. Some studie...
24 T he Altamira cave complex, near Santander on the northern coast of Spain, comprises a series ...
29 An entire mammoth was unearthed in Siberia, Russia, in 1900—the first complete example ever fou...
31 This illustration shows the way in which humans lived and worked close to each other at the Ça...
IONS CE 34 A bout 5,000 years ago, humans began to form societies of unprecedented complexity....
37 See also: The settlement at Çatalhöyük 30–31 ■The temples of Abu Simbel 38–39 ■The palace a...
39 See also: The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■The palace at Knossos 42–43 ■The conquests of...
41 Stone reliefs depicting the life of Buddha decorate gateways of The Great Stupa at Sanchi, comm...
43 This bull-leaping fresco in the palace at Knossos in Crete is the most completely restored of s...
45 See also: The Law Code of Hammurabi 36–37 ■Athenian democracy 46–51 ■The conquests of Alexa...
48 T he term “democracy” comes from the Greek words demos (people) and kratos (rule). The democra...
53 See also: The Persian Wars 44–45 ■Athenian democracy 46–51 ■The assassination of Julius Cae...
60 enabled him to rule as emperor, bringing the 500-year-old Roman Republic to an end in all but n...
67 See also: The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■The crowning of Charlemagn...
69 In Destruction (c.1935) by Thomas Cole, invaders overrun a once-great city often likened to Rom...
71 ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS the 230s bce. In 218 bce, Hannibal, Carthage’s commander in Spain, took h...
77 See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■The fall of Jerusalem...
79 See also: The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■Mansa Musa’s hajj to...
83 See also: The Battle of Milvian Bridge 66–67 ■The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■Belisarius retakes Ro...
85 An Lushan’s rebels conquered and occupied Chang’an, but the general himself remained in Luoyang...
88 dropping brass balls onto cymbals at the mechanism’s base. This sophisticated timepiece was jus...
95 See also: The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■The crowning of Charlemagn...
97 Henry was refused entry when at last his long trek across the Alps brought him to the castle g...
99 See also: The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■The Mongol invas...
101 See also: The Norman conquest of England 132 ■The Battle of Castillon 156–57 ■The executio...
103 See also: The First Emperor unifies China 54–57 ■The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■Marco Polo ...
105 See also: Siddartha Gautama preaches Buddhism 40–41 ■Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■...
107 See also: Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■...
109 After its rediscovery by Europeans in the late 19th century, Angkor Wat suffered decades of l...
111 See also: Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■...
114 Hondurus, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. This progress was paralleled by the growth at mu...
119 See also: The crowning of Charlemagne 82–83 ■Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■The Colu...
122 ousted the despised Yuan dynasty— founded by Kublai Khan, the Mongol conqueror of China—the c...
129 See also: Founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■The fall of Jerusalem 106–07 ■The fall of Constantino...
131 See also: The An Lushan revolt 84–85 ■Kublai Khan conquers the Song 102–03 ■Hongwu founds ...
133 THE MEDIEVAL WORLD link between England and mainland Europe, in which England’s rulers held Fr...
139 See also: Belisarius retakes Rome 76–77 ■Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■...
144 continued to explore the Caribbean, visiting Cuba, Hispaniola, and several of the smaller isla...
149 See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■The foundation of Tenochtitlan 112–17 ■Christ...
153 See also: Athenian democracy 46–51 ■The assassination of Julius Caesar 58–65 ■The Sack of ...
157 French troops (left) engage with the English over wooden defenses in this 15th-century illustr...
159 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■...
161 See also: The Investiture Controversy 96–97 ■The beginning of the Italian Renaissance 152–55 ...
166 The trio landed some 65 ft (20 m) below in a dung heap stacked against the castle walls. Known...
171 In this miniature painting, the Mughals are seen battling their Hindu enemies at Panipat. As l...
173 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Ex...
175 See also: The signing of the Magna Carta 100–01 ■Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 ■The ...
177 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■...
181 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■T...
185 See also: Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Shogun 98–99 ■The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange...
187 See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■The ...
189 See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■...
190 See also: The execution of Charles I 174–75 ■Diderot publishes the Encyclopédie 192–95 ■T...
191 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■The Defenestration of Prague 164–69 ...
192 ASSEMBLE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE SCATTERED ON THE EARTH DIDEROT PUBLISHES THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE ...
193 See also: Newton publishes Principia 188 ■The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–...
199 THE EARLY MODERN ERA under his reign many Protestants were imprisoned and many others fled fro...
205 See also: The Battle of Quebec 191 ■The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■The Slave Trade A...
210 O n July 14, 1789, an enraged Parisian mob, seeking weapons to defend their city from a rumor...
215 See also: Louis XIV begins personal rule of France 190 190 â– The Battle of Quebec 191 â– Di...
217 See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■The storming of the Bastil...
222 O n September 15, 1830, the world’s first commercial passenger rail service to be powered by ...
227 William Wilberforce, portrayed here by Karl Anton Hickel, was a fervent Christian and the Brit...
229 See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■The storming of the Bastille...
232 T he ceremonial opening, on November 17, 1869, of the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean a...
237 The finches on the Galapagos Islands were key to Darwin’s work. The 13 species he found there ...
239 See also: The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■The 1848 revolutions 228–29 ■Russia emancip...
243 See also: The founding of St. Petersburg 196–97 ■The 1848 revolutions 228–29 ■The construc...
244 GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EAR...
245 See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■The storming of the Bastille...
249 See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■The Gettysburg Address 244–4...
251 See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 â– BolĂvar establishes Gran Col...
253 This image of Yokohama in 1874 depicts the modernity of Meiji-era Japan in the form of steam-p...
255 The port of Canton, in southern China, was initially the only trading port open to Western mer...
257 See also: Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■The construction of the Suez Canal 230–...
259 Cecil Rhodes, portrayed in this Victorian cartoon as a giant straddling the entire African con...
263 Emily Davison, George V’s horse Anmer, and jockey Herbert Jones lie on Epsom race track after ...
265 CHANGING SOCIETIES Irish history: Ireland’s population has never risen back to its pre- famine ...
272 P asschendaele, officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a large- scale attack agai...
277 See also: The founding of St. Petersburg 196–97 ■Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■Stali...
281 See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■The Berlin Airli...
282 ANY LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES IS FOOLISH THE WALL ...
283 See also: The California Gold Rush 248–49 ■The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■The Reichstag F...
285 The Reichstag Fire is said to have burned so fiercely that flames could be seen for miles aro...
288 I n August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, also secre...
295 Auschwitz, in southern Poland, has become a byword for the Holocaust. Those prisoners subjecte...
297 See also: Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■The October Revolution 276–79 ■Stalin assumes...
303 The flag of Israel was adopted in 1948, a few months after the birth of the state. It was orig...
305 Mao Zedong rides his white horse alongside Communist Party members during the Long March of 19...
307 Kwame Nkrumah, Kojo Botsio, Krobo Edusei, and other Ghanaian politicians celebrate the indepe...
309 Cuban president Fidel Castro and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hold up their joined hands in...
311 See also: The formation of Royal African Company 176–79 ■The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–2...
312 I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE VIETNAM THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT (1964) I n the aftermath of Wor...
313 The US Navy destroyer Maddox was sailing off the coast of North Vietnam when it came under at...
315 The Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster for the United States, and many anti-Castro forces w...
317 In this propaganda poster dating from around the time of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guar...
323 The fall of the Berlin Wall meant liberation for many people. German reunification, the collap...
325 See also: The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 ■The Berlin Conference 258–59 ■Nkrumah wins...
326 See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■The fall of the ...
327 See also: The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■The establishment of Israel 302–03 ■The Suez...
328 YOU AFFECT THE WORLD BY WHAT YOU BROWSE THE LAUNCH OF THE FIRST WEBSITE (1991) T he first we...
329 See also: The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 ■Darwin publishes On the Origin ...
336 O n October 31, 2011, a baby girl born in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, was chosen ...
341 THE MODERN WORLD THE MILITARY COUP IN BRAZIL (1964) The 1964 coup ousted Brazilian president ...
352 Dorling Kindersley would like to thank Hannah Bowen, Polly Boyd, Diane Pengelly, and Debra Wo...