The essential world history / William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The First civilizations and the rise of empires (prehistory to 500 CE) -- Early humans and the first civilizations -- Ancient India -- China in antiquity -- The Civilization of the greeks -- The Roman world empire -- New patterns of civilization (500-1500 CE) -- The Americas -- Ferment in the middle east: the rise of islam -- Early civilizations in Africa -- The Expansion of civilization in south and southeast asia -- The Flowering of traditional China -- The East asian rimlands: early Japan, Korea, and Vietnam -- The Making of Europe -- The Byzantine empire and crisis and recovery in the west -- The Emergence of new world patterns (1500-1800) -- New encounters: the creation of a world market -- Europe transformed: reform and state building -- The Muslim empires -- The East asian world -- The West on the eve of a new world order -- Modern patterns of world history (1800-1945) -- The Beginnings of modernization: industrialization and nationalism in the nineteenth century -- The Americas and society and culture in the west -- The High tide of imperialism -- Shadow over the pacific: east under challenge -- The Beginning of the twentienth-century crisis: war and revolution -- Nationalism, revolution, and dictatoship: asia, the middle east, and latin america from 1919 to 1939 -- The Crisis deepens: world war II -- Toward a global civilization? the world since 1945 -- East and west in the grip of the cold war -- Brave new world: communism on trial -- Europe and the western hemisphere since 1945 --Challenges of nation building in Africa and the middle east -- Toward the pacific century? -- Epilogue -- Glossary -- Index."