Great Civilizations From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day

Micropedia

by Brenda Ralph Lewis

From the familiar tales of Greece and Rome and the opulence of the major Chinese dynasties, to the great empires of Egypt and Mesopotamia, Great Civilizations encompasses the rise and fall, victories and defeats, leaders and subjects, of many diverse and magnificent cultures. This comprehensive and colorful guide traces the development of the world's greatest civilizations - the powerful, the peaceful, the opulent, and the formidable. Whether they were destined to last just a few years, or dominate the wold for centuries, this guide provides a fascinating insight into the foundations, politics, peoples, and customs of the powers of the ancient world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, World History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Brenda Ralph Lewis is a writer with over 200 books on history and numerous magazine articles and television documentaries to her name. Her fascination with Scottish history and culture began early in her career and she has since returned to the subject at every opportunity. She regards [her] book on tartans as a labor of love.

Reviews

[Kaia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information presented was understandable, but brief as expected. I was surprised that it had not been proof read and found the grammatical errors to be distracting, but overall pretty concise. I even looked things up to get further information. The photos were interesting but often not relevant to the text and quite a few were repeated (trying to fill up more pages?) For instance, the Marco Polo picture on page 78 is the same one used for Russia on page 267. It did not make sense. Same photo also was used on page 281 and 282. The native life for north America shows a Sioux Indian on horseback hunting bison (it is called buffalo in the book) but horses were not used until after the Spanish brought them from Europe. The same photo of a Celt bronze is used on page 46, 67, and 228. Couldn't other Celt artifact photos be used? Just small criticisms, but overall it was a quick, interesting read.

[Sierra Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a very informative overview of all the major world civilizations, which is a good introduction to or refresher of world history. I can see myself reading this to my children someday in the very distant future. 😌 However, the amount of typos and mechanical errors can become frustrating at times. Another thing that would be helpful is more relevant pictures such as maps. There is a lot of quite specific geographical terminology being used, and I believe the target audience would benefit greatly from more maps of the regions, migration routes, principalities, etc... being described. If it weren't for the aforementioned complaints, I would have given it 4 stars, but a fun read nonetheless. :)

[D.J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Completely Euro-centric and Christian-centric. Barely an attempt to be objective. Also has wrong information (the Great Wall is the only man-made thing visible from space with the naked eye, etc.).

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over 200 illustrations. A must for the young historian.

[Casondra Mackeller-Stille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information in a short read! love reading history!

[Kwyvan · Rating 1 out of 5]

what a waste money! The book is terribly biased!

[Robert Browning · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not outright stated on the cover, this book seems to be targeted at a younger audience. It's admittedly a daunting task - covering 19 civilizations in just over 300 pages. What results is a quick, cursory read through all of these cultures… sort of the highlights of the highlights. It's great for familiarizing one's self generally with some of the regions of Earth that might be hazy to them, but really it's a tease at best. If you're fond of lots of photos and a sense of accomplishment after blazing through short chapters then there might be something here for you. It's not bad; it's not long; but it could've been better.

[Russell Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting book of perspectives on history that are not always present. Still I felt there was some bias in the book which is more than understandable. As and American reader, I will not be able to write well about the American Revolution from the British Standpoint, to the fact that I call it the Revolution, and Britain calls the conflict by another name. I did feel it was a good book to start learning about other cultures and interactions from nonetheless.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The small book contains brief profiles on significant [in their time] civilizations from all of the regions of the world. It is a politically correct version of history.

[Kristel · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good i guess, if you want a general idea of the history of civilizations this is great, but it felt incomplete at times