本书以比较简洁易懂又具有现代英语特点的英语讲述西方文明的发展历程。全书共分二十五章。本书能使读者在学习西方文明发展史的过程中，学习英语，在学习英语的过程中，了解西方的文化。文化通则英语成，英语成则文化精，事半功倍，曲径通幽。

PREFACE

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS

What Is Civilization

Prehistory of Civilization

Oriental Origins

Egypt: The Gift of the Nile

The Fertile Crescent

Nineveh and Babylon

Chapter 2

EARLY GREECE, 2500-500 B.C.E.

Greece in the Bronze Age to 700 B.C.E.

Archaic Greece, 700-500 B.C.E.

Corinth, Sparta and Athens

The End of the Archaic Age

Chapter 3

CLASSICAL AND HELLENISTIC GREECE, 500-100 B.C.E.

War and Politics in the 5th Century B.C.E.

Athenian Culture in the Hellenic Age

Hellenistic Age, 404-323 B.C.E.

The Hellenistic World

Chapter 4

ROME AND ROMAN EMPIRE

The Western Mediterranean to 509 B.C.E.

From City to Empire, 509-146 B.C.E.

Social and Cultural Life in Republican Rome

The Crisis of the Republic

The End of the Republic

The Augustan Age and the Pax Romana

The Rise of Christianity

Chapter 5

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD AND

ITS LEGACY IN THE EAST

The Crisis of the 3rd Century

The Empire Restored

The Collapse of the Western Roman Empire

The Byzantines

The Byzantine Apogee and Decline, 1000-1453

The Rise of Islam

Chapter 6

THE WEST IN THE MIDDLE AGES, 500-1300

Barbarian Kingdoms and the Beginning of Feudalism

Life in the New Europe

The Carolingian Achievement

Europe in the 8th and 9th Centuries

From Empire to Lordships

Feudalism

Medieval Towns

The Emergence of State Power

Chapter 7

THE LATE MIDDLE AGES, 1300-1500

The Emergence of Centralized Monarchs and Nationalism

Life and Death in the Late Middle Ages

The Decline of the Church and Revival of Vernacular Spirit

Chapter g

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, 1350-1550

Renaissance Society

Renaissance Art

Renaissance and Liberal Arts

The Politics of the Italian City-States

Chapter 9

THE EUROPEAN EMPIRES

European Expansion

The Formation of States

The Dynastic Struggles

Chapter 10

THE REFORM OF RELIGION

The Intellectual Reformation

The Lutheran Reformation

The Protestant Reformation

The Catholic Reformation

Chapter 11

EARLY MODERN EUROPE, 1500-1650

The Crisis of the Western States

The Struggle in Eastern Europe

The Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648

Economic Life

Private and Community Life

Popular Beliefs and the Persecution of Witches

Chapter 12

THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM IN EUROPE

Absolute Monarchies

The Crisis of the Royal State

The Zenith of the Royal State

Chapter 13

THE RISE OF NATION STATES

The New Science

Expanding Markets

The Wars for Dominance

The Balance of Power in 18th Century Europe

The Rise of Russia 

The Two Germanys

Chapter 14

REVOLUTIONS IN THE ANGLOPHONE WORLD

The English Revolution

The American Revolution

Chapter 15

CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN THE 18TH CENTURY EUROPE

The 18th-Century Culture

The 18th-Century Society

Chapter 16

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE NAPOLEONIC ERA

The Crisis of the Old Regime in France, 1715-1788

The First Stage of the French Revolution, 1789-1792

From the Republic to the Reign of Terror, 1792-1794

The Thermidorean Reaction and the Directory

The Era of Napoleon, 1799-1815

The First Empire and Domestic Reforms

Chapter 17

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Traditional Western Economy

The Industrial Revolution in Britain

In Continental Europe

In the United States

Chapter 18

SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND THE NEW REVOLUTIONS

The Congress of Vienna and Reshaping of Europe

The New Ideologies

Unfinished Task: The Last Bourgeois Revolutions in Europe

Chapter i9

NATION-BUILDING AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE WEST, 1850-1871

Nation-building and Social Change

Reforming European Society

Changing Values and the Force of New Ideas

Chapter 20

THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE

IN THE WEST, 1871-1914

Economy and Politics of Mass Society

Modern Cultural Responses

The New World of Science

Chapter 21

THE WESTERN DRIVE FOR DOMINANCE, 1870-1914

The Conflicts and Balance of Power in Europe

The Capitalist Empires and the New imperialism

The European Search for Territories and Markets

Results of the Global Dominance of the West

Chapter 22

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The Alliances and Conflicts

From the European War to the Word War

Revolution in Russia, 1917-1920

Chapter 23

THE CRISES, 1920-1939

Europe After World War I

Crisis and Collapse in the World Economy

The Soviet Union

The Rise of Fascist Dictatorship in Italy

Hitler and the Third Reich

Democracies in Crisis

Chapter 24

WORLD WAR II

The Coming of World War II

Racism and Holocaust

The Ultimate Victory

The Aftermath of the War

Chapter 25

FROM THE POSTWAR TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Economic Recovery in Europe

Decolonization and Rise of the Third World

New Challenges

Rights ReVolutions

New Trends

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

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