全书分为四个部分，共二十五章，主要从古代世界、中世纪文明、早期现代欧洲和现代西方的兴起四个板块阐述西方文明的简短发展史。本书从西方文明这一概念的起源入手，介绍了对西方文明的形成和发展发挥至关重要作用的各项要素，包括古希腊、古罗马的思想和政治成就，科学、技术和宗教的因素等；还展示了西方文明对世界上其他地区产生的影响，包括亚洲、非洲和美洲。对于重点章节的介绍，本书还提供了相关的权威性引文，为学生提供原汁原味的素材。本书既可用于高校英语专业、翻译专业的课堂教学，又可作为高校英语通识选修课教材。
本书另配有课后练习的答案详解及电子课件，读者可登录ftp://ftp.tup.tsinghua.edu.cn/下载使用。

Part One The Ancient World (3000 B.C.-500 A.D.)
Chapter 1 Civilization in Mesopotamia
1.The Earliest Cities and Empires
2.Society, Culture, and Religion in Mesopotamia
3.The Hebrews and Their Religion
4.The Phoenicians
Chapter 2 The Civilization of the Greeks
1.Early Greece: Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Civilization
2.The Archaic Age of Greek City-States (c.750 B.C.–c.500 B.C)
3.Classical Greece (500 B.C.-338 B.C.)
4.Culture in Classical Greece
Chapter 3 The Hellenistic World
1.Conquest of Alexander
2.Life in Hellenistic World
3.Religion and Philosophy
4.Science in Alexandria
Chapter 4 The Rise and Fall of Rome
1.Roman Republic
2.Roman Empire
3.The Fall of Roman Empire
4.Literature and Historiography
5.Science and Medicine
6.The Rise and Development of Christianity
Part Two Medieval Civilization 500-1300
Chapter 5 The Germanic Kingdoms
1.The Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy
2.The Visigothic Kingdom in Spain
3.The Vandals' Kingdom in Carthage
4.Thе Frankish kingdom
5.Anglo-Saxon England
Chapter 6 The Byzantine Empire
1.The Reign of Justinian (527-565)
2.From Eastern Roman to Byzantine Empire
3.Byzantine Culture
Chapter 7 The Rise and Expansion of Islam
1.Mohammed
2.Arabic Conquests and the Caliphate
3.The Faith of Islam
4.The Culture of Islam
Chapter 8 Remaking of Europe
1.The World of the Carolingians
2.The Rise of Western Europe
3.Central and Eastern Europe of the Slavs
Chapter 9 Feudal Europe
1.Feudalism
2.Growth of Feudal States
Chapter 10 The Medieval Church
1.Christian Doctrine
2.Gregory the Great
3.Early Church Fathers
4.Monastic Reform Movements
5.Investiture Struggle
6.The Crusades
Chapter 11 Medieval Culture
1.The Rise of Universities
2.Thirteenth-Century Learning
3.Christian Architecture
Part Three Early Modern Europe 1300-1650
Chapter 12 An Age of Discovery and Expansion
1.Portugal and the African Route
2.Spain and the Atlantic Route
3.The Spanish Administration in the New World
4.Impact of Expansion
Chapter 13 The Renaissance
1.Renaissance Italy
2.The Hundred Years' War
3.New Monarchies
4.Humanism
5.Renaissance Art
Chapter 14 The Reformation
1.Decay of the Church
2.The Awakening Reform Spirit
3.Political and Social Influence
4.The Revolt of Luther: "Justification by Faith"
5.Calvin and the Elect: "Predestination"
6.Henry VII and the Church of England
7.The Roman Catholic Response
Chapter 15 Politics and Religious Wars
1.The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)
2.Philip II's Spain and the Revolt of the Netherlands
3.The England of Elizabeth
4.Thirty Years'War (1618-1648)
Chapter 16 Two Systems of State: Absolutism
and Constitutional Monarchy
1.Theory of Absolutism
2.Absolutism in France: Louis XIV
3.Absolutism in Germany: Prussia and Austria
4.Emergence of Russia
5.England and the Emergence of Constitutional Monarchy
Chapter 17 The Beginning of Modern Capitalism
1.New Forms of Business Organization
2.The Rise of Modern Banking
3.Mercantilism and Overseas Colonies
Part Four The Rise of the Modern West 1600-1850
Chapter 18 Scientific Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Science
1.Revolution in Astronomy: Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton
2.Advances in Medicine
3.Scientific Societies and Organizations
Chapter 19 Emancipation of Philosophy Empiricism and Skepticism
1.Michel Eyquem de Montaigne: Skepticism and Religious Tolerance
2.Francis Bacon: New Approach to Knowledge
3.René Descartes
4.John Locke: Tabula Rasa
5.David Hume: An Outright Skeptic
Chapter 20 The Intellectual Enlightenment
1.The Growth of Doubt
2.Vision of Progress
3.Culture