BOOK COVER -- TITLE -- COPYRIGHT -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1 PREHISTORY -- PALEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT -- EARLIEST DEVELOPMENTS -- UPPER PALEOLITHIC DEVELOPMENTS -- MESOLITHIC ADAPTATIONS -- THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD -- THE ADOPTION OF FARMING -- THE LATE NEOLITHIC PERIOD -- THE INDO-EUROPEANS -- CHAPTER 2 THE METAL AGES -- THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE METAL AGES -- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COPPER AGE -- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRONZE AGE -- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IRON AGE -- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS -- CONTROL OVER RESOURCES -- CHANGING CENTRES OF WEALTH -- PRESTIGE AND STATUS -- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND CULTURE -- RITUALS, RELIGION, AND ART -- THE PEOPLE OF THE METAL AGES -- CHAPTER 3 GREEKS, ROMANS, AND BARBARIANS -- GREEKS -- A NATION OF CITY-STATES -- PEOPLE OF ACHIEVEMENT -- POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS -- GREEK INFLUENCE -- ROMANS -- THE ROMAN EMPIRE -- ROMAN GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENRY -- THE EMPIRE'S DECLINE -- ROME AND CHRISTIANITY -- BARBARIAN MIGRATIONS AND INVASIONS -- THE GERMANS AND HUNS -- THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE EMPIRE -- CHAPTER 4 THE MIDDLE AGES -- THE IDEA OF THE MIDDLE AGES -- THE TERM AND CONCEPT BEFORE THE 18TH CENTURY -- ENLIGHTENMENT SCORN AND ROMANTIC ADMIRATION -- THE MIDDLE AGES IN MODERN HISTORIOGRAPHY -- CHRONOLOGY -- LATE ANTIQUITY: THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE ROMAN WORLD -- THE ORGANIZATION OF LATE IMPERIAL CHRISTIANITY -- KINGS AND PEOPLES -- THE GREAT COMMISSION -- THE BISHOPS OF ROME -- THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD DIVIDED -- THE FRANKISH ASCENDANCY -- CHARLEMAGNE AND THE CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY -- CAROLINGIAN DECLINE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES -- GROWTH AND INNOVATION -- DEMOGRAPHIC AND AGRICULTURAL GROWTH -- TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS -- URBAN GROWTH -- REFORM AND RENEWAL -- THE CONSEQUENCES OF REFORM -- THE TRANSFORMATION OF THOUGHT AND LEARNING -- ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION -- DEVOTIONAL LIFE.

THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE -- CHRISTIANITY, JUDAISM, AND ISLAM -- FROM TERRITORIAL PRINCIPALITIES TO TERRITORIAL MONARCHIES -- THE OFFICE AND PERSON OF THE KING -- INSTRUMENTS OF ROYAL GOVERNANCE -- THE THREE ORDERS -- CRISIS, RECOVERY, AND RESILIENCE -- CHAPTER 5 THE RENAISSANCE -- THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE -- URBAN GROWTH -- WARS OF EXPANSION -- ITALIAN HUMANISM -- RENAISSANCE THOUGHT -- THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE -- POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND -- NORTHERN HUMANISM -- CHRISTIAN MYSTICS -- THE GROWTH OF VERNACULAR LITERATURE -- RENAISSANCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY -- CONCLUSION -- GLOSSARY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX -- BACK COVER.