"A captivating exploration of how "Western Civilization"--the concept of a single cultural inheritance extending from ancient Greece to modern times--is a powerful figment of our collective imagination"-- The concept of "the West" is present in entertainment, politics, and world markets. Told through fourteen figures who each played a role in the creation of the Western idea— from Herodotus, a mixed-race migrant, to Phylis Wheatley, an enslaved...

The rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds from the beginning of our Republic. Depending on who's doing the talking, the history of Rome serves either as a triumphal call to action, or a dire warming of imminent collapse. Esteemed editor and author Murphy ventures past the pundits' rhetoric to draw nuanced lessons about how we might avoid Rome's demise. Working on a canvas that extends far beyond the issue of an overstretched military,...

Figures such as Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar loom large in our imaginations, but they were themselves fascinated by what had preceded them. This book is an authoratative history and an attempt to show how our own changing values and interests have shaped our feelings about an era which is by some measures very remote.

China : the mandate of heaven: Many breakthroughs on which the modern world is based were discovered in China long ago-- iron-casting, gunpowder, even printing. When introduced to Europe, these things changed Western civilization. This episode presents the synthesis of East and West. Egypt : the habit of civilization: Ancient Egypt was the first great nation on earth and endured for thousands of years. The god-like Pharoah was the rock on which this...

R. Buckminster Fuller is regarded as one of the most important figures of the 20th century, renowned for his achievements as an inventor, designer, architect, philosopher, mathematician, and dogged individualist. Perhaps best remembered for the Geodesic Dome and the term "Spaceship Earth," his work and his writings have had a profound impact on modern life and thought. Critical Path is Fuller's master work-the summing up of a lifetime's thought and...

Documents are milestones and markers of human activity, part of who and what we are. Our story can be told through the objects, profound and trivial, famous and forgotten, by which we remember and are remembered. Documents That Changed the Way We Live examines dozens of compelling stories that describe these documents, their creation, motivation, influence, importance, historical and social context, provenance, and their connections to contemporary...

The classic beginning Latin texbook offers forty chapters with grammatical explanations and readings based on ancient Roman authors, along with self-tutorial exercises and an answer key for independent study

Text and black-and-white illustrations follow the intricate step-by-step process of the building of an ancient Egyptian pyramid