Civilizations: Ten Thousand Years of Ancient History

by Jane McIntosh, Clint Twist

Civilization takes the reader 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 monadic hunters and gatherers, the book opens with the crucial step taken around 10,000 years ago when some communities started to ultimate 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 around the world. Focusing largely on the world's key civilizations in each time period, the book begins with the primary civilizations in Mesopotamia, India, Egypt, and China, and from there to Greece, Rome, and their contemporary cultures, culminating in the settlements in the Americas. Illustrated with revealing photographs, artworks, and maps throughout, Civilizations brings alive the ideas, events, and people of earlier cultures whose achievements have laid the foundations of our present-day world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2001

Reviews

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up to page through to study for a middle school social science certification test. This was well done, easy to read and not in the least bit dry. I get bored very easily with topics I don't particularly like and ancient civ isn't my specialty, so I greatly appreciated the way this was written and organized.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten thousand years of ancient history. I loved this book. You get to see ancient civilizations with their myths and religions. You see what foods they ate, tools used, military weapons, etc. It covers inventions over the years. It also shows medicine and surgey techiniques.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using it for the excellent maps and good brief descriptions to get to know the areas.