Not A Historian Reading List
A History of the Ancient World
From the Preface of this 742 page book: "All the men discussed in this book have long been dead. Many of them have strange names, such as Hammurapi, Sophocles, and Cato the Censor; their customs and fundamental beliefs are often far different than ours. In their deeds and thoughts, in their hopes and fears, nonetheless, they fashioned a civilized base of life upon which the modern world directly rests. The history of the many peoples of antiquity is in itself enduringly fascinating; often it throws light upon the wide potentialities of mankind. For history, though closely bound to specific fact and date, is one of those liberating studies by which men come closer to understanding their own nature. Those born and reared in the western world will quite properly be concerned mainly with the story of their Greco-Roman background, which occupies the largest place in this volume. Today at last, however, we are coming to realize that the civilization which streamed through the ancient Mediterranean was not the only advanced pattern which existed in early Eurasia; nor was it alone in having great effects on the modern world. Accordingly, I have from time to time cast a glance at the parallel developments of the Eurasian nomads, of the historic Near East, and of the very important foundations of civilization in China and India."
