Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Reading and Interpreting Sources 1: The Beginnings of History and the Bronze Age 2: The Ancient Near East 3: Greece and the Mediterranean World 4: The Hellenistic Age and the Rise of Rome 5: The Roman Empire 6: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism 7: Early European Civilization, Byzantine Civilization, and Islamic Civilization 8: The Transition from the Early to the High Middle Ages from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century 9: The High Middle Ages 10: The Crises of the Late Middle Ages 11: Renaissance in Europe and Ming China 12: The Beginnings of European Expansion 13: Religious Reformation in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 14: Cultural Interaction During the Age of European Expansion 15: Absolute Monarchy and Political Revolution in the Seventeenth Century 16: The Scientific Revolution and Political Theory in the Seventeenth Century 17: The Enlightenment Glossary Bibliography Index