which we called our home. But the tower showed us

the old home in a new light. The confused motion" target="_blank" title="n.混乱；骚动">commotion of the



streets and the market-place, of the factories and the workshop,

became the well-ordered expression of human energy



and purpose. Best of all, the wide view of the glorious past,

which surrounded us on all sides, gave us new courage to face



the problems of the future when we had gone back to our daily

tasks.



History is the mighty Tower of Experience, which Time

has built amidst the endless fields of bygone ages. It is no easy



task to reach the top of this ancient structure and get the benefit

of the full view. There is no elevator, but young feet are



strong and it can be done.

Here I give you the key that will open the door.



When you return, you too will understand the reason for

my enthusiasm.



HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON.

CONTENTS



1. THE SETTING OF THE STAGE

2. OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS



3. PREHISTORIC MAX BEGINS TO MAKE THINGS FOR HIMSELF

4. THE EGYPTIANS INVENT THE ART OF WRITING AND THE RECORD



OF HISTORY BEGINS

5. THE BEGINNING OF CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE



6. THE RISE AND FALL OF EGYPT

7. MESOPOTAMIA, THE SECOND CENTRE OF EASTERN CIVILISATION



8. THE SUMERIAN NAIL WRITERS, WHOSE CLAY TABLETS TELL US

THE STORY OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA, THE GREAT SEMITIC



MELTING-POT

9. THE STORY OF MOSES, THE LEADER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE



10. THE PHOENICIANS, WHO GAVE US OUR ALPHABET

11. THE INDO-EUROPEAN PERSIANS CONQUER THE SEMITIC AND THE



EGYPTIAN WORLD

12. THE PEOPLE OF THE AEGEAN SEA CARRIED THE CIVILISATION



OF OLD ASIA INTO THE WILDERNESS OF EUROPE

13. MEANWHILE THE INDO-EUROPEAN TRIBE OF THE HELLENES WAS



TAKING POSSESSION OF GREECE

14. THE GREEK CITIES THAT WERE REALLY STATES



15. THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TRY THE DIFFICULT

EXPERIMENT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT



16. HOW THE GREEKS LIVED

17. THE ORIGINS OF THE THEATRE, THE FIRST FORM OF PUBLIC



AMUSEMENT

18. HOW THE GREEKS DEFENDED EUROPE AGAINST AN ASIATIC INVASION AND



DROVE THE PERSIANS BACK ACROSS THE AEGEAN SEA

19. HOW ATHENS AND SPARTA FOUGHT A LONG AND DISASTROUS WAR



FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF GREECE

20. ALEXANDER THE MACEDONIAN ESTABLISHES A GREEK WORLD



EMPIRE, AND WHAT BECAME OF THIS HIGH AMBITION

21. A SHORT SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 1 TO 20



22. THE SEMITIC COLONY OF CARTHAGE ON THE NORTHERN COAST OF

AFRICA AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN CITY OF ROME ON THE WEST



COAST OF ITALY FOUGHT EACH OTHER FOR THE POSSESSION OF

THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND CARTHAGE WAS DESTROYED



23. HOW ROME HAPPENED

24. HOW THE REPUBLIC OF ROME, AFTER CENTURIES OF UNREST AND



REVOLUTION, BECAME AN EMPIRE

25. THE STORY OF JOSHUA OF NAZARETH, WHOM THE GREEKS CALLED



JESUS

26. THE TWILIGHT OF ROME



27. HOW ROME BECAME THE CENTRE OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD

28. AHMED, THE CAMEL DRIVER, WHO BECAME THE PROPHET OF THE



ARABIAN DESERT, AND WHOSE FOLLOWERS ALMOST CONQUERED

THE ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF



ALLAH, THE ``ONLY TRUE GOD''

29. HOW CHARLEMAGNE, THE KING OF THE ~ RANKS, CAME TO BEAR



THE TITLE OF EMPEROR AND TRIED TO REVIVE THE OLD IDEAL

OF WORLD-EMPIRE



30. WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE TENTH CENTURY PRAYED THE LORD

TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE FURY OF THE NORSEMEN



31. HOW CENTRAL EUROPE, ATTACKED FROM THREE SIDES, BECAME

AN ARMED CAMP AND WHY EUROPE WOULD HAVE PERISHED



WITHOUT THOSE PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS AND ADMINISTRATORS

WHO WERE PART OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM



32. CHIVALRY

33. THE STRANGE DOUBLE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE



AGES, AND HOW IT LED TO ENDLESS QUARRELS BETWEEN THE

POPES AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS



34. BUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT QUARRELS WERE FORGOTTEN WHEN

THE TURKS TOOK THE HOLY LAND, DESECRATED THE HOLY



PLACES AND INTERFERED SERIOUSLY WITH THE TRADE FROM

EAST TO WEST. EUROPE WENT CRUSADING



35. WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES SAID THAT CITY AIR

IS FREE AIR



36. HOW THE PEOPLE OF THE CITIES ASSERTED THEIR RIGHT

TO BE HEARD IN THE ROYAL COUNCILS OF THEIR COUNTRY



37. WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES THOUGHT OF THE

WORLD IN WHICH THEY HAPPENED TO LIVE



38. HOW THE CRUSADES ONCE MORE MADE THE MEDITERRANEAN A

BUSY CENTRE OF TBADE AND HOW THE CITIES OF THE ITALIAN



PENINSULA BECAME THE GREAT DISTRIBUTING CENTRE FOR THE

COMMERCE WITH ASIA AND AFRICA



39. PEOPLE ONCE MORE DARED TO BE HAPPY JUST BECAUSE THEY

WERE ALIVE. THEY TRIED TO SAVE THE REMAINS OF THE



OLDER AND MORE AGREEABLE CIVILISATION OF ROME AND

GREECE AND THEY WERE 80 PROUD OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS



THAT THEY SPOKE OF A RENAISSANCE OR RE-BIRTH OF

CIVILISATION



40. THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO FEEL THE NEED OF GIVING EXPRESSION

TO THEIR NEWLY DISCOVERED JOY OF LIVING. THEY EXPRESSED



THEIR HAPPINES9 IN POETRY AND IN SCULPTURE AND

IN ARCHITECTURE AND PAINTING, AND IN THE BOOKS THEY



PRINTED

41. BUT NOW THAT PEOPLE HAD BROKEN THROUGH THE BONDS OF



THEIR NARROW ~IEDIIEVAL LIMITATIONS, THEY HAD TO HAVE

MORE ROOM FOR THEIR WANDERINGS. THE EUROPEAN WORLD



HAD GROWN TOO SMALL FOR THEIR AMBITIONS. IT WAS THE

TIME OF THE GREAT VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY



42. CONCERNING BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS

43. THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN RACE IS BEST COMPARED TO A



GIGANTIC PENDULUM WHICH FOREVER SWINGS FORWARD AND

BACKWARD. THE RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE AND THE ARTISTIC



AND LITERARY ENTHUSIASM OF THE RENAISSANCE WERE FOLLOWED

BY THE ARTISTIC AND LITERARY INDIFFERENCE AND THE



RELIGIOITS ENTHUSIASM OF THE REFORMATION

44. THE AGE OF THE GREAT RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES



45. HOW THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS

AND THE LESS DIVINE BUT MORE REASONABLE RIGHT OF



PARLIAMENT ENDED DISASTROUSLY FOR KING CHARLES II

46. IN FRANCE, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS



CONTINUED WITH GREATER POMP AND SPLENDOR THAN EVER

BEFORE AND THE AMBITION OF THE RULER WAS ONLY TEMPERED



BY THE NEWLY INVENTED LAW OF THE BALANCE OF POWER

47. THE STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS MUSCOVITE EMPIRE WHICH SUDDENLY



BURST UPON THE GRAND POLITICAL STAGE OF EUROPE

48. RUSSIA AND SWEDEN FOUGHT MANY WARS TO DECIDE WHO



SHALL BE THE LEADING POWER OF NORTHEASTERN EUROPE

49. THE EXTRAORDINARY RISE OF A LITTLE STATE IN A DREARY PART



OF NORTHERN GERMANY, CALLED PRUSSIA

50. HOW THE NEWLY FOUNDED NATIONAL OR DYNASTIC STATES OF



EUROPE TRIED TO MAKE THEMSELVES RICH AND WHAT WAS

MEANT BY THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM



51. AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE HEARD

STRANGE REPORTS OF SOMETHING WHICH HAD HAPPENED IN



THE WILDERNESS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. THE

DESCENDANTS OF THE MEN WHO HAD PUNISHED KING CHARLES



FOR HIS INSISTENCE UPON HIS DIVINE RIGHTS ADDED A

NEW CHAPTER TO THE OLD STORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF-



GOVERNMENT

62. THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION PROCLAIMS THE PRINCIPLES



OF LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND EQUALITY UNTO All THE PEOPLE

OF THE EARTH



53. NAPOLEON

54. AS SOON AS NAPOLEON HAD BEEN SENT TO ST. HELENA, THE



RULERS WHO SO OFTEN HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY THE HATED

CORSICAN MET AT VIENNA AND TRIED TO UNDO THE MANY



CHANCES WHICH HAD BEEN BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE FRENCH

REVOLUTION



55. THEY TRIED TO ASSURE THE WORLD AN ERA OF UNDISTURBED

PEACE BY SUPPRESSING ALL NEW IDEAS. THEY MADE THE



POLICE-SPY THE HIGHEST FUNCTIONARY IN THE STATE AND

SOON THE PRISONS OF AIL COUNTRIES WERE FILLED WITH



THOSE WHO CLAIMED THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO

GOVERN THEMSELVES AS THEY SEE FIT



56. THE LOVE OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, HOWEVER, WAS TOO

STRONG TO BE DESTROYED IN THIS WAY. THE SOUTH AMERICANS



WERE THE FIRST TO REBEL AGAINST THE REACTIONARY

MEASURES OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. GREECE AND BELGIUM



AND SPAIN AND A LARGE NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES

OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT FOLLOWED SUIT AND THE



NINETEENTH CENTURY WAS FILLED WITH THE RUMOR OF MANY

WARS OF INDEPENDENCE



57. BUT WHITE THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVED



HAD BEEN ENTIRELY CHANGED BY A SERIES OF INVENTIONS,

WHICH HAD MADE THE CLUMSY OLD STEAM-ENGINE OF THE



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THE MOST FAITHFUL AND EFFICIENT

STAVE OF MAN



58. THE NEW ENGINES WERE VERY EXPENSIVE AND ONLY PEOPLE

OF WEALTH COULD AFFORD THEM. THE OLD CARPENTER OR



SHOEMAKER WHO HAD BEEN HIS OWN MASTER IN HIS LITTLE

WORKSHOP WAS OBLIGED TO HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO THE OWNERS



OF THE BIG MECHANICAL TOOLS, AND WHITE HE MADE

MORE MONEY THAN BEFORE, HE LOST HIS FORMER INDEPENDENCE



AND HE DID NOT LIKE THAT

59. THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY DID NOT BRING



ABOUT THE ERA OF HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY WHICH HAD

BEEN PREDICTED BY THE GENERATION WHICH SAW THE STAGE



COACH REPLACED BY THE RAILROAD. SEVERAL REMEDIES

WERE SUGGESTED, BUT NONE OF THESE QUITE SOLVED THE



PROBLEM

60. BUT THE WORLD HAD UNDERGONE ANOTHER CHANGE WHICH WAS



OF GREATER IMPORTANCE THAN EITHER THE POLITICAL OR THE

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS. AFTER GENERATIONS OF OPPRESSION



AND PERSECUTION, THE SCIENTIST HAD AT LAST GAINED

LIBERTY OF ACTION AND HE WAS NOW TRYING TO DISCOVER



THE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS WHICH GOVERN THE UNIVERSE

61. A CHAPTER OF ART



62. THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, INCLUDING SEVERAL EXPLANATIONS

AND A FEW APOLOGIES



63. THE GREAT WAR, WHICH WAS REALLY THE STRUGGLE FOR A

NEW AND BETTER WORLD



64.ANIMATED CHRONOLOGY

65.CONCERNING THE PICTURES



66.AN HISTORICAL READING LIST FOR CHILDREN

67.INDEX



THE STORY OF MANKIND