A History of Civilizations [Paperback]

Written from a consciously anti-enthnocentric approach, this fascinating work is a survey of the civilizations of the modern world in terms of the broad sweep and continuities of history, rather than the event-based technique of most other texts.List of Maps
Translator's Introduction
By Way of Preface
Introduction: History and the Present Day

I. A History of Civilizations
1. Changing Vocabulary
2. The Study of Civilization Involves All the Social Sciences: Civilizations as geographical areas; civilizations as societies; civilizations as economies; civilizations as ways of thought.
3. The Continuity of Civilizations: Periods within civilizations; underlying structures; history and civilization

II. Civilizations Outside Europe
Part I. Islam and the Muslim World
4. History: Islam as a successor civilization: the Near East in new form; the history of the Near East; Muhammad, the Koran and Islam; Arabia: the problem of a barely urbanized culture.
5. Geography: Islam's lands and seas; a continent as intermediary: trade-routes and towns.
6. The Greatness and Decline of Islam: No Muslim civilization before the eighth or ninth century; the golden age of Islam: eighth to twelfth centuries; science and philosophy; stagnation or decadence: twelfth to eighteenth centuries.
7. The Revival of Islam Today: The end of colonialism and the birth of new nationalist movements; Muslim States in the modern world; Muslim civilization in the twentieth century.

Part II: Africa
8. The Past: Geography; the dark past.
9. Black Africa: Today and Tomorrow: The awakening of Africa; economic and social issues at stake; art and literature.

Part III: The Far East
10. An Introduction to the Far East: What geography shows; barbarism against civilization: the evidence of history; distant origins: the reasons for cultural immobility.
11. The China of the Past: Religion; politics; social and economic affairs.
12. Chinal³’