Smithsonian timelines of the ancient world / [editor-in-chief], Chris Scarre

London ; New York : D. Kindersley , 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper in publisher's shrink-wrap. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Edition; 1st American ed. Physical description; 256 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 36 cm. Notes; Includes index. Includes bibliographical references. Contents; First life on earth -- Surviving the Ice Ages -- The first modern humans -- Crossing to America -- The ice thaws -- Farmers & hunter-gatherers -- From village to city -- The age of monuments -- Diverging cultures -- Expansion & consolidation -- Rise & fall of empires -- An age of expansion -- Imperial realms -- The struggle for power -- The rise of Islam -- Thriving economies -- Conquests & crusades -- Contact and diversity. Summary; This full-color volume covers the span of prehistory, from the beginnings of the Earth and the emergence of mankind in Africa, through to Egypt and the pyramids, the fall of the Roman Empire, the voyages of discovery, and the height of the Inca Empire -- everything through A.D. 1500. Superbly illustrated with 1,700 color photographs of museum artifacts, archaeological finds, artists' reconstructions, and specially commissioned maps, Timelines is the first comprehensive visual timechart. Subjects; History, Ancient - Chronology. History, Ancient - Pictorial works. Middle Ages - History - Chronology. Unexplained phenomena / the paranormal. History / Ancient / General. Genres; Bibliography. Illustrated.