Fifty Things You Need to Know About World History

Fifty Things You Need to Know About World History
Hugh Williams

What are the key 50 events you really need to understand to grasp the developments of our world?In this highly entertaining read Hugh Williams distils world history into an insightful overview. By selecting fifty key people, places, battles, objects and events, he casts a clear eye over the way the world has developed and how we live today.Injecting life into familiar historical landmarks as well as bringing lesser-known events to the forefront, Hugh shapes the fifty things into themes as all-encompassing today as they were over two thousand years ago: wealth, religion, conquest, discovery and freedom.The Fifty Things include…Origin of SpeciesModel T FordThe Russian RevolutionPlatoConquest of MexicoMao Tse TungCrucifixion of JesusVia EgnatiaWorldwide webOzymandias9/11Nelson MandelaCoronation of CharlemagneAmerican Declaration of IndependenceFranco-Prussian WarMahabharataThe Black DeathAnd many more…

Copyright (#u144179df-4FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

First published in 2010 by Collins

an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

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Text © Hugh Williams 2010

Hugh Williams asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780007326501

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2010 ISBN: 9780007411115 Version: 2018-07-18

Contents

Cover (#u144179df-1FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Title Page (#u144179df-2FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Copyright (#u144179df-3FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Introduction (#u144179df-5FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

1 Wealth (#u144179df-6FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Introduction (#u144179df-7FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 1 The Building of the Via Egnatia 146 BC (#u144179df-8FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 2 The City of Chang’an 750 AD (#u144179df-9FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 3 The Travels of Marco Polo 1271–95 (#u144179df-10FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 4 The Black Death 1348–50 (#u144179df-11FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 5 The Foundation of the Dutch East India Company 1602 (#u144179df-12FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 6 The Invention of the Flying Shuttle 1733 (#u144179df-13FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 7 The Foundation of Oil City, Pennsylvania 1859 (#u144179df-14FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 8 The Treaty of Versailles 1919 (#u144179df-15FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 9 The Model T Ford 1908 (#u144179df-16FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 10 The Credit Crunch 2007 (#u144179df-17FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

2 Freedom (#u144179df-18FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Introduction (#u144179df-19FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 1 Spartacus 73 BC (#u144179df-20FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 2 The Burning of Jan Hus 1415 (#u144179df-21FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 3 The American Declaration of Independence 1776 (#u144179df-22FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

CHAPTER 4 The French Revolution 1789 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 5 Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony 1824 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 6 The Zulu War 1879 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 7 The Russian Revolution 1917 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 8 Mao Zedong and the People’s Republic of China 1949 (#litres_trial_promo)

Plates 1 (#)

CHAPTER 9 The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 10 The Release of Nelson Mandela 1990 (#litres_trial_promo)

3 Religion (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 1 The Epic of Gilgamesh 2000 BC (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 2 The Mahabharata 500–100 BC (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER 3 Plato 429–347 BC (#litres_trial_promo)