World History (2^nd Ed.)
A Concise Thematic Analysis, Volume 1

World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis presents the highly anticipated second edition of the most affordable and accessible survey of world history designed for use at the college level.

• An engaging narrative that contextualizes history and does not drown students in a sea of facts
• Offers a comparative analysis of the great civilizations of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas
• Addresses themes of population dynamics, food production challenges, disease history, warfare, and other major issues for civilizations
• Features new interior design and organization to enhance user experience
• Instructor?s test bank available online at www.wiley.com/go/wallech

Introduction x

Unit One The Ancient World 1

THEMES: The artificial existence of civilization

The biology of civilization

The geography of civilization

The climate of civilization

The relationship between belief and action

Chapter 1 Biology and World History 5
Civilization and Nomads

Climate 12

The Geography of Cultivation 14

The Domestication of Animals 20

Urban Development 24

The Nomads 27

Disease History 28

Suggested Reading 31

Chapter 2 Mesopotamia 33
The Land between the Rivers

A Temple Economy 34

The Causes of Trade 35

Kings, War, and Ecocide 37

The Art of Writing and Hammurabi’s Code 39

The General Matrix of Civilization 41

The Dawn of Religion: Creation Myths 42

Iron and Mesopotamia 44

The Hebrews 47

The Emergence of Monotheism 48

Suggested Reading s 51

Chapter 3 Pre-Islamic Africa 52
Egyptian, Nilotic, and Sub-Saharan Africa

Egypt, the Gift of the Nile 52

The Archaic Period (ca. 3100–2700 BCE) and the Pyramid Age of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2700–2200 BCE) 57

The First Intermediate Period (ca. 2200–2000 BCE) and the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2000–1786 BCE) 59

The Hyksos and Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1786–1575 BCE) and the New Kingdom (ca. 1575–1050 BCE) 60

Special Topic: The Distant but Powerful Link between Pacific Currents and Egyptian Floods 61

Egypt and the Iron Age 65

Nilotic Africa 66

Sub-Saharan Africa 70

Iron 73

Suggested Reading 75

Chapter 4 India 76
From the Indus to the Ganges

Iron, Rice, and India 80

Indian Religions 83

Religious Opposition 87

The Maturation of India’s Faiths 89

Suggested Reading 90

Chapter 5 China 91
The Yellow River Civilization

The Land and the People 91

Mythological China 93

The Bronze Age: The Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynsties 94

The Iron Age: Economic, Military, and Commercial Revolutions 97

The Golden Age of Classical Chinese Philosophy 98

China’s First Empire: The Qin and Han Dynasties 102

Centers of Power within and beyond the Han Empire 107

Special Topic: Lady Lu: Empress Dowager 108

Suggested Reading 110

Chapter 6 The Nomads’ Trade 111
and the Great Migrations

The First Wave of Mass Migrations: The Wheel, the Chariot, and Nomads 112

A Second Wave of Migrations: The Iron Age 118

Cavalry: The Third Wave of Migrations 123

Suggested Reading 126

Chapter 7 Greece 127
The Rainfall Zone

Network Cities and the Special Case of Athens 128

The Role of Coins in Athenian History 131

The Limits of Democracy 133

Sparta 134

The Failure of Greek Politics 135

Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, and the Hellenistic World 136

Greek Philosophy 138

Physics 139

Math and Logic: Metaphysics 140

Socrates and his Followers 141

Drama 143

The Origins of History 145

Suggested Reading 146

Chapter 8 The Hellenistic East and Persia 147
A Cultural Bridge

The Hellenistic East 147

Diffusion of Hellenism to the East 149

Kings, Cities, and Soldiers 151

Hellenistic Philosophy 154

The Stoics 157

One God, One Lord 158

The Persians 160

The Persian Sassanian Empire (224–651 CE) 164

Khusro I and the Height of the Sassanian Empire 168

Suggested Reading 169

Chapter 9 Rome 170
From Citizenship to Imperial Rule

Part One: The Republic 170

Part Two: The Empire 176

Roman Society 179

Roman Philosophy 181

Christianity 183

Suggested Reading 188

Chapter 10 Origins of Native American Cultures 189
Geographic Isolation

Origins of the Americas’ First Cities 192

Mesoamerica 193

Teotihuacán 195

The Maya 196

South America 198

Elsewhere in the Americas 200

Suggested Reading 201

Chapter 11 The Fall of The Ancient Eurasian World 203
Rome, Han China, and Gupta India

Trade, Disease, and Religious Ideas 204

Special Topic: Manichaeism 207

Internal Decay: The Roman Story 207

Special Topic: Malaria 210

Special Topic: Smallpox 211

The Han Dynasty, 206 BCE–220 CE 214

Chaos and Religion: Buddhism and Daoism 219

The Last Days of the Han 221

Gupta India: The Great Exception 222

The Nomads 224

Suggested Reading 227

Unit Two The Middle Years 229

THEMES: Culture

Learned

Shared

Symbolic

Integrated

Chapter 12 The Rise of Islam 233
The Ancient Near East Becomes the Middle East

The Prophecy 233

The Pillars of Islam 235

The Umma 239

The Caliphs 240

Suggested Reading 245

Chapter 13 China in an Era of Recovery and Cultures on the Fringe 246
Korea, Japan, and the Mongols

China’s Second Empire: Sui and Tang Dynasties 247

The Tang Dynasty, 618–907 248

The Song Dynasty, 960–1127 254

The Yuan Dynasty, 1279–1368: The Mongol Conquest of China 259

Sinicization: The Influence of Chinese Culture on Korea, Japan, and Mongolia 262

Korea 263

Japan 266

The Mongols: The End of Nomadism 275

Suggested Reading 279

Chapter 14 India and Islam 280
An Era of Political Chaos

Internal Fragmentation 282

The Arrival of Islam 285

Hindu Revival 287

Delhi Sultanate 289

Dhimmis, Being Cared for by the Faithful 290

Suggested Reading 293

Chapter 15 The European Middle Ages 294
The Failure of Tradition

Part One: The Early Middle Ages, 500–1000 295

Part Two: The Byzantine Empire 300

Part Three: Europe and the High Middle Ages, 1000–1300 303

Special Topic: The Magna Carta 311

Part Four: The Late Middle Ages, 1300–1450 319

Special Topic: The Bubonic Plague 321

Special Topic: Joan of Arc 325

Part Five: The Renaissance 328

Suggested Reading 337

Chapter 16 Islamic Africa 339
A Complex Pattern of Cultures

Corporate Lineage and State Formation after 500 340

Muslim Africa 341

Special Topic: Abu Abdullah Mohammed Battuta 343

South Africa 352

Suggested Reading 353

Chapter 17 The Americas 355
A Time of Trouble

The Toltecs 357

The Aztecs 359

Special Topic: Ixiptla: An Aztec God-Representative 362

The Incas 363

North America 366

The Unmistakable Influence of Isolation 370

Suggested Reading 370

Credits C-1

Index I-1

Steven Wallech is the senior Professor of World History at Long Beach City College. He developed the world history program there, and integrated the world history curriculum with community colleges and universities throughout California.

Craig Hendricks is Emeritus Professor of History at Long Beach City College. He has written on Latin America for history journals and edited four books of American social history readings.

Touraj Daryaee is theHoward C. Baskerville Professor of Iran and the Persianate World and the Associate Director of the Dr. Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at the University of California, Irvine. He is editor of the Name-ye-Iran-e Bastan: The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies and the creator of Sasanika: The Late Antique Near East Project.

Anne Lynne Negus received her Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, specializing in Egyptology. Currently she is Professor of History at Fullerton College and Co-Coordinator of the Honors Program.

Peter P. Wan received his B.A. from East China Normal University and taught American literature in China until he came to the United States on a Harvard-Yanching fellowship. He received his Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from Harvard University. His major interests are American history, East Asian history, and U.S.-China relations.

Gordon Morris Bakken earned his degrees at the University of Wisconsin and joined the faculty of California State University, Fullerton, in 1969. He teaches courses on American legal history, women in American history, westward movement, and American military heritage.