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Title: A Short History of the World

Author: H. G. Wells

Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35461]
[Last updated: November 3, 2011]

Language: English


*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD ***




Produced by Donald F. Behan

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD

BY H. G. WELLS

New York
THE MACMILLAN & COMPANY
1922

Copyright 1922

CONTENTS CHAPTER    Page I.   THE WORLD IN SPACE 1 II.    THE WORLD IN TIME 5 III.    THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE 11 IV.    THE AGE OF FISHES 16 V.    THE AGE OF THE COAL SWAMPS 21 VI.    THE AGE OF REPTILES 26 VII.    THE FIRST BIRDS AND THE FIRST MAMMALS 31 VIII.    THE AGE OF MAMMALS 37 IX.    MONKEYS, APES AND SUB-MEN 43 X.    THE NEANDERTHALER AND THE RHODESIAN MAN 48 XI.    THE FIRST TRUE MEN 53 XII.    PRIMITIVE THOUGHT 60 XIII.    THE BEGINNINGS OF CULTIVATION 65 XIV.    PRIMITIVE NEOLITHIC CIVILIZATIONS 71 XV.    SUMERIA, EARLY EGYPT AND WRITING 77 XVI.    PRIMITIVE NOMADIC PEOPLES 84 XVII.    THE FIRST SEA-GOING PEOPLES 91 XVIII.    EGYPT, BABYLON AND ASSYRIA 96 XIX.    THE PRIMITIVE ARYANS 104 XX.    THE LAST BABYLONIAN EMPIRE AND THE EMPIRE OF DARIUS I 109 XXI.    THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE JEWS 115 XXII.    PRIESTS AND PROPHETS IN JUDEA 122 XXIII.    THE GREEKS 127 XXIV.    THE WARS OF THE GREEKS AND PERSIANS 134 XXV.    THE SPLENDOUR OF GREECE 139 XXVI.    THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT 145 XXVII.    THE MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT ALEXANDRIA 150 XXVIII.    THE LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA 156 XXIX.    KING ASOKA 163 XXX.    CONFUCIUS AND LAO TSE 167 XXXI.    ROME COMES INTO HISTORY 174 XXXII.    ROME AND CARTHAGE 180 XXXIII.    THE GROWTH OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 185 XXXIV.    BETWEEN ROME AND CHINA 196 XXXV.    THE COMMON MAN’S LIFE UNDER THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE 201 XXXVI.    RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENTS UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE 208 XXXVII.    THE TEACHING OF JESUS 214 XXXVIII.    THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINAL CHRISTIANITY 222 XXXIX.    THE BARBARIANS BREAK THE EMPIRE INTO EAST AND WEST 227 XL.    THE HUNS AND THE END OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE 233 XLI.    THE BYZANTINE AND SASSANID EMPIRES 238 XLII.    THE DYNASTIES OF SUY AND TANG IN CHINA 245 XLIII.    MUHAMMAD AND ISLAM 248 XLIV.    THE GREAT DAYS OF THE ARABS 253 XLV.    THE DEVELOPMENT OF LATIN CHRISTENDOM 258 XLVI.    THE CRUSADES AND THE AGE OF PAPAL DOMINION 267 XLVII.    RECALCITRANT PRINCES AND THE GREAT SCHISM 277 XLVIII.    THE MONGOL CONQUESTS 287 XLIX.    THE INTELLECTUAL REVIVAL OF THE EUROPEANS 294 L.    THE REFORMATION OF THE LATIN CHURCH 304 LI.    THE EMPEROR CHARLES V 309 LII.    THE AGE OF POLITICAL EXPERIMENTS; OF GRAND MONARCHY AND PARLIAMENTS AND REPUBLICANISM IN EUROPE 318 LIII.    THE NEW EMPIRES OF THE EUROPEANS IN ASIA AND OVERSEAS 329 LIV.    THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 335 LV.    THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE RESTORATION OF MONARCHY IN FRANCE 341 LVI.    THE UNEASY PEACE IN EUROPE THAT FOLLOWED THE FALL OF NAPOLEON 349 LVII.    THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATERIAL KNOWLEDGE 355 LVIII.    THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 365 LIX.    THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IDEAS 370 LX.    THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 382 LXI.    THE RISE OF GERMANY TO PREDOMINANCE IN EUROPE 390 LXII.    THE NEW OVERSEAS EMPIRES OF THE STEAMSHIP AND RAILWAY 393 LXIII.    EUROPEAN AGGRESSION IN ASIA, AND THE RISE OF JAPAN 399 LXIV.    THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1914 405 LXV.    THE AGE OF ARMAMENT IN EUROPE, AND THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-18 409 LXVI.    THE REVOLUTION AND FAMINE IN RUSSIA 415 LXVII.    THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WORLD 421    CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 429    INDEX 439

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS   Page Luminous Spiral Clouds of Matter
2 Nebula seen Edge-on
3 The Great Spiral Nebula
6 A Dark Nebula
7 Another Spiral Nebula
8 Landscape before Life
9 Marine Life in the Cambrian Period
12 Fossil Trilobite
13 Early Palæozoic Fossils of various Species of Lingula
14 Fossilized Footprints of a Labyrinthodont, Cheirotherium
15 Pterichthys Milleri
17 Fossil of Cladoselache
18 Sharks and Ganoids of the Devonian Period
19 A Carboniferous Swamp
22 Skull of a Labyrinthodont, Capitosaurus
23 Skeleton of a Labyrinthodont: The Eryops
24 A Fossil Ichthyosaurus
27 A Pterodactyl
28 The Diplodocus
29 Fossil of Archeopteryx
32 Hesperornis in its Native Seas
33 The Ki-wi
34 Slab of Marl Rich in Cainozoic Fossils
35 Titanotherium Robustum
38 Skeleton of Giraffe-camel
40 Skeleton of Early Horse
40 Comparative Sizes of Brains of Rhinoceros and Dinoceras
41 A Mammoth
44 Flint Implements from Piltdown Region
45 A Pithecanthropean Man
46 The Heidelberg Man
46 The Piltdown Skull
47 A Neanderthaler
49 Europe and Western Asia 50,000 years ago
Map 50 Comparison of Modern Skull and Rhodesian Skull
51 Altamira Cave Paintings
54 Later Palæolithic Carvings
55 Bust of Cro-magnon Man
57 Later Palæolithic Art
58 Relics of the Stone Age
62 Gray’s Inn Lane Flint Implement
63 Somaliland Flint Implement
63 Neolithic Flint Implement
67 Australian Spearheads
68 Neolithic Pottery
69 Relationship of Human Races
Map 72 A Maya Stele
73 European Neolithic Warrior
75 Babylonian Brick
78 Egyptian Cylinder Seals of First Dynasty
79 The Sakhara Pyramids
80 The Pyramid of Cheops: Scene from Summit
81 The Temple of Hathor
82 Pottery and Implements of the Lake Dwellers
85 A Lake Village
86 Flint Knives of 4500 B.C.
87 Egyptian Wall Paintings of Nomads
87 Egyptian Peasants Going to Work
88 Stele of Naram Sin
89 The Treasure House at Mycenæ
93 The Palace at Cnossos
95 Temple at Abu Simbel
97 Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak
98 The Hypostyle Hall at Karnak
99 Frieze of Slaves
101 The Temple of Horus, Edfu
103 Archaic Amphora
105 The Mound of Nippur
107 Median and Chaldean Empires
Map 110 The Empire of Darius
Map 111 A Persian Monarch
112 The Ruins of Persepolis
113 The Great Porch of Xerxes
113 The Land of the Hebrews
Map 117 Nebuchadnezzar’s Mound at Babylon
118 The Ishtar Gateway, Babylon
120 Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II
124 Captive Princes making Obeisance
125 Statue of Meleager
128 Ruins of Temple of Zeus
130 The Temple of Neptune, Pæstum
132 Greek Ships on Ancient Pottery
135 The Temple of Corinth
137 The Temple of Neptune at Cape Sunium
138