Civilizations Map by Map

Spanning roughly 6,000 years, this atlas-style history follows more than 90 early societies from their first flourishing to their decline, using maps as the main way of telling the story. Each civilization is placed on specially made maps that show where events happened, supported by present-day examples that link the ancient world to what survives today.

The range is wide. Readers start in Mesopotamia's busy trading centres and finish with the Inca and their remarkable cities, Machu Picchu among them. Along the way come the first recorded war, fought between Elam and Sumer, the campaigns of Alexander the Great across three continents, and the swift growth of the Aztec Empire.

The book also tracks the ideas and inventions that shaped later societies: writing, the calendar, coinage and city planning, as well as early science and the spread of religious, philosophical and political thought. Its tour of artistic and architectural achievements includes the giant stone heads of the Olmec, the fine gold work of Silla in ancient Korea, and the rock-hewn churches built under the Zagwe dynasty.

A panel of expert historians wrote and checked the content. The result is a visual guide to the events, innovations, cultural foundations and lasting legacies of the ancient world, told one map at a time.