The need for a common knowledge of the general facts of human history throughout the world has become very evident during the tragic happenings of the last few years. Swifter means of communication have brought all men closer to one another for good or for evil. War becomes a universal disaster, blind and monstrously destructive; it bombs the baby in its cradle and sinks the food-ships that cater for the non-combatant and the neutral. There can be no peace now, we realize, but a common peace in all the world; no prosperity but a general prosperity. But there can be no common peace and prosperity without common historical ideas. Without such ideas to hold them together in harmonious co-operation, with nothing but narrow, selfish, and conflicting nationalist traditions, races and peoples are bound to drift towards conflict and destruction. This truth, which was apparent to that great philosopher Kant a century or more ago—it is the gist of his tract upon universal peace—is now plain to the man in the street. Our internal policies and our economic and social ideas are profoundly vitiated at present by wrong and fantastic ideas of the origin and historical relationship of social classes. A sense of history as the common adventure of all mankind is as necessary for peace within as it is for peace between the nations.
Such are the views of history that this Outline seeks to realize. It is an attempt to tell how our present state of affairs, this distressed and multifarious human life about us, arose in the course of vast ages and out of the inanimate clash of matter, and to estimate the quality and amount and range of the hopes with which it now faces its destiny. It is one experimental contribution to a great and urgently necessary educational reformation, which must ultimately restore universal history, revised, corrected, and brought up to date, to its proper place and use as the backbone of a general education. We say “restore,” because all the great cultures of the world hitherto, Judaism and Christianity in the Bible, Islam in the Koran, have used some sort of cosmogony and world history as a basis. It may indeed be argued that without such a basis any really binding culture of men is inconceivable. Without it we are a chaos.
Remarkably few sketches of universal history by one single author have been written. One book that has influenced the writer very strongly is Winwood Reade’s Martyrdom of Man. This dates, as people say, nowadays, and it has a fine gloom of its own, but it is still an extraordinarily inspiring presentation of human history as one consistent process. Mr. F. S. Marvin’s Living Past is also an admirable summary of human progress. There is a good General History of the World in one volume by Mr. Oscar Browning. America has recently produced two well-illustrated and up-to-date class books, Breasted’s Ancient Times and Robinson’s Medieval and Modern Times, which together give a very good idea of the story of mankind since the beginning of human societies. There are, moreover, quite a number of nominally Universal Histories in existence, but they are really not histories at all, they are encyclopædias of history; they lack the unity of presentation attainable only when the whole subject has been passed through one single mind. These universal histories are compilations, assemblies of separate national or regional histories by different hands, the parts being necessarily unequal in merit and authority and disproportionate one to another. Several such universal histories in thirty or forty volumes or so, adorned with allegorical title pages and illustrated by folding maps and plans of Noah’s Ark, Solomon’s Temple, and the Tower of Babel, were produced for the libraries of gentlemen in the eighteenth century. Helmolt’s World History, in eight massive volumes, is a modern compilation of the same sort, very useful for reference and richly illustrated, but far better in its parts than as a whole. Another such collection is the Historians’ History of the World in 25 volumes. The Encyclopædia Britannica contains, of course, a complete encyclopædia of history within itself, and is the most modern of all such collections.[1] F. Ratzel’s History of Mankind, in spite of the promise of its title, is mainly a natural history of man, though it is rich with suggestions upon the nature and development of civilization. That publication and Miss Ellen Churchill Semple’s Influence of Geographical Environment, based on Ratzel’s work, are quoted in this Outline, and have had considerable influence upon its plan. F. Ratzel would indeed have been the ideal author for such a book as our present one. Unfortunately neither he nor any other ideal author was available.[2]
The writer will offer no apology for making this experiment. His disqualifications are manifest. But such work needs to be done by as many people as possible, he was free to make his contribution, and he was greatly attracted by the task. He has read sedulously and made the utmost use of all the help he could obtain. There is not a chapter that has not been examined by some more competent person than himself and very carefully revised. He has particularly to thank his friends Sir E. Ray Lankester, Sir H. H. Johnston, Professor Gilbert Murray, and Mr. Ernest Barker for much counsel and direction and editorial help. Mr. Philip Guedalla has toiled most efficiently and kindly through all the proofs. Mr. A. Allison, Professor T. W. Arnold, Mr. Arnold Bennett, the Rev. A. H. Trevor Benson, Mr. Aodh de Blacam, Mr. Laurence Binyon, the Rev. G. W. Broomfield, Sir William Bull, Mr. L. Cranmer Byng, Mr. A. J. D. Campbell, Mr. A. Y. Campbell, Mr. L. Y. Chen, Mr. A. R. Cowan, Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, Dr. W. S. Culbertson, Mr. R. Langton Cole, Mr. B. G. Collins, Mr. J. J. L. Duyvendak, Mr. O. W. Ellis, Mr. G. S. Ferrier, Mr. David Freeman, Mr. S. N. Fu, Mr. G. B. Gloyne, Sir Richard Gregory, Mr. F. H. Hayward, Mr. Sydney Herbert, Dr. Fr. Krupicka, Mr. H. Lang Jones, Mr. C. H. B. Laughton, Mr. B. I. Macalpin, Mr. G. H. Mair, Mr. F. S. Marvin, Mr. J. S. Mayhew, Mr. B. Stafford Morse, Professor J. L. Myres, the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore, Sir Sydney Olivier, Mr. R. I. Pocock, Mr. J. Pringle, Mr. W. H. R. Rivers, Sir Denison Ross, Dr. E. J. Russell, Dr. Charles Singer, Mr. A. St. George Sanford, Dr. C. O. Stallybrass, Mr. G. H. Walsh, Mr. G. P. Wells, Miss Rebecca West, and Mr. George Whale have all to be thanked for help, either by reading parts of the MS. or by pointing out errors in the published parts, making suggestions, answering questions, or giving advice. The amount of friendly and sympathetic assistance the writer has received, often from very busy people, has been a quite extraordinary experience. He has met with scarcely a single instance of irritation or impatience on the part of specialists whose domains he has invaded and traversed in what must have seemed to many of them an exasperatingly impudent and superficial way. Numerous other helpful correspondents have pointed out printer’s errors and minor slips in the serial publication which preceded this book edition, and they have added many useful items of information, and to those writers also the warmest thanks are due. But of course none of these generous helpers are to be held responsible for the judgments, tone, arrangement, or writing of this Outline. In the relative importance of the parts, in the moral and political implications of the story, the final decision has necessarily fallen to the writer. The problem of illustrations was a very difficult one for him, for he had had no previous experience in the production of an illustrated book. In Mr. J. F. Horrabin he has had the good fortune to find not only an illustrator but a collaborator. Mr. Horrabin has spared no pains to make this work informative and exact. His maps and drawings are a part of the text, the most vital and decorative part. Some of them, the hypothetical maps, for example, of the western world at the end of the last glacial age, during the “pluvial age” and 12,000 years ago, and the migration map of the Barbarian invaders of the Roman Empire, represent the reading and inquiry of many laborious days.
The index to this edition is the work of Mr. Strickland Gibson of Oxford. Several correspondents have asked for a pronouncing index and accordingly this has been provided.
The writer owes a word of thanks to that living index of printed books, Mr. J. F. Cox of the London Library. He would also like to acknowledge here the help he has received from Mrs. Wells. Without her labour in typing and re-typing the drafts of the various chapters as they have been revised and amended, in checking references, finding suitable quotations, hunting up illustrations, and keeping in order the whole mass of material for this history, and without her constant help and watchful criticism, its completion would have been impossible.
SCHEME OF CONTENTS
| [BOOK I] THE MAKING OF OUR WORLD | ||
|---|---|---|
| PAGE | ||
| [Chapter I.] The Earth in Space and Time | [3] | |
| [Chapter II.] The Record of the Rocks | ||
| § 1. | The first living things | [7] |
| § 2. | How old is the world? | [13] |
| [Chapter III.] Natural Selection and the Changes of Species | [16] | |
| [Chapter IV.] The Invasion of the Dry Land by Life | ||
| § 1. | Life and water | [23] |
| § 2. | The earliest animals | [25] |
| [Chapter V.] Changes in the World’s Climate | ||
| § 1. | Why life must change continually | [29] |
| § 2. | The sun a steadfast star | [34] |
| § 3. | Changes from within the earth | [35] |
| § 4. | Life may control change | [36] |
| [Chapter VI.] The Age of Reptiles | ||
| § 1. | The age of lowland life | [38] |
| § 2. | Flying dragons | [43] |
| § 3. | The first birds | [43] |
| § 4. | An age of hardship and death | [44] |
| § 5. | The first appearance of fur and feathers | [47] |
| [Chapter VII.] The Age of Mammals | ||
| § 1. | A new age of life | [51] |
| § 2. | Tradition comes into the world | [52] |
| § 3. | An age of brain growth | [56] |
| § 4. | The world grows hard again | [57] |
| § 5. | Chronology of the Ice Age | [59] |
| [BOOK II] THE MAKING OF MEN | ||
| [Chapter VIII.] The Ancestry of Man | ||
| § 1. | Man descended from a walking ape | [62] |
| § 2. | First traces of man-like creatures | [68] |
| § 3. | The Heidelberg sub-man | [69] |
| § 4. | The Piltdown sub-man | [70] |
| § 5. | The riddle of the Piltdown remains | [72] |
| [Chapter IX.] The Neanderthal Men, an Extinct Race. (TheEarly Palæolithic Age) | ||
| § 1. | The world 50,000 years ago | [75] |
| § 2. | The daily life of the first men | [79] |
| § 3. | The last Palæolithic men | [84] |
| [Chapter X.] The Later Postglacial Palæolithic Men, the FirstTrue Men. (Later Palæolithic Age) | ||
| § 1. | The coming of men like ourselves | [86] |
| § 2. | Subdivision of the Later Palæolithic | [95] |
| § 3. | The earliest true men were clever savages | [98] |
| § 4. | Hunters give place to herdsmen | [101] |
| § 5. | No sub-men in America | [102] |
| [Chapter XI.] Neolithic Man in Europe | ||
| § 1. | The age of cultivation begins | [104] |
| § 2. | Where did the Neolithic culture arise? | [108] |
| § 3. | Everyday Neolithic life | [109] |
| § 4. | How did sowing begin? | [116] |
| § 5. | Primitive trade | [118] |
| § 6. | The flooding of the Mediterranean Valley | [118] |
| [Chapter XII.] Early Thought | ||
| § 1. | Primitive philosophy | [122] |
| § 2. | The Old Man in religion | [125] |
| § 3. | Fear and hope in religion | [126] |
| § 4. | Stars and seasons | [127] |
| § 5. | Story-telling and myth-making | [129] |
| § 6. | Complex origins of religion | [130] |
| [Chapter XIII.] The Races of Mankind | ||
| § 1. | Is mankind still differentiating? | [136] |
| § 2. | The main races of mankind | [140] |
| § 3. | Was there an Alpine race? | [142] |
| § 4. | The Heliolithic culture of the Brunet peoples | [146] |
| § 5. | How existing races may be related to each other | [148] |
| [Chapter XIV.] The Languages of Mankind | ||
| § 1. | No one primitive language | [150] |
| § 2. | The Aryan languages | [151] |
| § 3. | The Semitic languages | [153] |
| § 4. | The Hamitic languages | [154] |
| § 5. | The Ural-Altaic languages | [156] |
| § 6. | The Chinese languages | [157] |
| § 7. | Other language groups | [157] |
| § 8. | Submerged and lost languages | [161] |
| § 9. | How languages may be related | [163] |
| [BOOK III] THE DAWN OF HISTORY | ||
| [Chapter XV.] The Aryan-speaking Peoples in Prehistoric Times | ||
| § 1. | The spreading of the Aryan-speakers | [167] |
| § 2. | Primitive Aryan life | [169] |
| § 3. | Early Aryan daily life | [176] |
| [Chapter XVI.] The First Civilizations | ||
| § 1. | Early cities and early nomads | [183] |
| § 2A. | The riddle of the Sumerians | [188] |
| § 2B. | The empire of Sargon the First | [191] |
| § 2C. | The empire of Hammurabi | [191] |
| § 2D. | The Assyrians and their empire | [192] |
| § 2E. | The Chaldean empire | [194] |
| § 3. | The early history of Egypt | [195] |
| § 4. | The early civilization of India | [201] |
| § 5. | The early history of China | [201] |
| § 6. | While the civilizations were growing | [206] |
| [Chapter XVII.] Sea Peoples and Trading Peoples | ||
| § 1. | The earliest ships and sailors | [209] |
| § 2. | The Ægean cities before history | [213] |
| § 3. | The first voyages of exploration | [217] |
| § 4. | Early traders | [218] |
| § 5. | Early travellers | [220] |
| [Chapter XVIII.] Writing | ||
| § 1. | Picture writing | [223] |
| § 2. | Syllable writing | [227] |
| § 3. | Alphabet writing | [228] |
| § 4. | The place of writing in human life | [229] |
| [Chapter XIX.] Gods and Stars, Priests and Kings | ||
| § 1. | Nomadic and settled religion | [232] |
| § 2. | The priest comes into history | [234] |
| § 3. | Priests and the stars | [238] |
| § 4. | Priests and the dawn of learning | [240] |
| § 5. | King against priests | [241] |
| § 6. | How Bel-Marduk struggled against the kings | [245] |
| § 7. | The god-kings of Egypt | [248] |
| § 8. | Shi Hwang-ti destroys the books | [252] |
| [Chapter XX.] Serfs, Slaves, Social Classes, and Free Individuals | ||
| § 1. | The common man in ancient times | [254] |
| § 2. | The earliest slaves | [256] |
| § 3. | The first “independent” persons | [259] |
| § 4. | Social classes three thousand years ago | [262] |
| § 5. | Classes hardening into castes | [266] |
| § 6. | Caste in India | [268] |
| § 7. | The system of the Mandarins | [270] |
| § 8. | A summary of five thousand years | [272] |
| [BOOK IV] JUDEA, GREECE, AND INDIA | ||
| [Chapter XXI.] The Hebrew Scriptures and the Prophets | ||
| § 1. | The place of the Israelites in history | [277] |
| § 2. | Saul, David, and Solomon | [286] |
| § 3. | The Jews a people of mixed origin | [292] |
| § 4. | The importance of the Hebrew prophets | [294] |
| [Chapter XXII.] The Greeks and the Persians | ||
| § 1. | The Hellenic peoples | [298] |
| § 2. | Distinctive features of the Hellenic civilization | [304] |
| § 3. | Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy in Greece | [307] |
| § 4. | The kingdom of Lydia | [315] |
| § 5. | The rise of the Persians in the East | [316] |
| § 6. | The story of Crœsus | [320] |
| § 7. | Darius invades Russia | [326] |
| § 8. | The battle of Marathon | [332] |
| § 9. | Thermopylæ and Salamis | [334] |
| § 10. | Platæa and Mycale | [340] |
| [Chapter XXIII.] Greek Thought and Literature | ||
| § 1. | The Athens of Pericles | [343] |
| § 2. | Socrates | [350] |
| § 3. | What was the quality of the common Athenians? | [352] |
| § 4. | Greek tragedy and comedy | [354] |
| § 5. | Plato and the Academy | [355] |
| § 6. | Aristotle and the Lyceum | [357] |
| § 7. | Philosophy becomes unworldly | [359] |
| § 8. | The quality and limitations of Greek thought | [360] |
| [Chapter XXIV.] The Career of Alexander the Great | ||
| § 1. | Philip of Macedonia | [367] |
| § 2. | The murder of King Philip | [373] |
| § 3. | Alexander’s first conquests | [377] |
| § 4. | The wanderings of Alexander | [385] |
| § 5. | Was Alexander indeed great? | [389] |
| § 6. | The successors of Alexander | [395] |
| § 7. | Pergamum a refuge of culture | [396] |
| § 8. | Alexander as a portent of world unity | [397] |
| [Chapter XXV.] Science and Religion at Alexandria | ||
| § 1. | The science of Alexandria | [401] |
| § 2. | Philosophy of Alexandria | [410] |
| § 3. | Alexandria as a factory of religions | [410] |
| [Chapter XXVI.] The Rise and Spread of Buddhism | ||
| § 1. | The story of Gautama | [415] |
| § 2. | Teaching and legend in conflict | [421] |
| § 3. | The gospel of Gautama Buddha | [422] |
| § 4. | Buddhism and Asoka | [426] |
| § 5. | Two great Chinese teachers | [433] |
| § 6. | The corruptions of Buddhism | [438] |
| § 7. | The present range of Buddhism | [440] |
| [BOOK V] THE RISE AND COLLAPSE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE | ||
| [Chapter XXVII.] The Two Western Republics | ||
| § 1. | The beginnings of the Latins | [445] |
| § 2. | A new sort of state | [454] |
| § 3. | The Carthaginian republic of rich men | [466] |
| § 4. | The First Punic War | [467] |
| § 5. | Cato the Elder and the spirit of Cato | [471] |
| § 6. | The Second Punic War | [475] |
| § 7. | The Third Punic War | [480] |
| § 8. | How the Punic War undermined Roman liberty | [485] |
| § 9. | Comparison of the Roman republic with a modern state | [486] |
| [Chapter XXVIII.] From Tiberius Gracchus To the God Emperor in Rome | ||
| § 1. | The science of thwarting the common man | [493] |
| § 2. | Finance in the Roman state | [496] |
| § 3. | The last years of republican politics | [499] |
| § 4. | The era of the adventurer generals | [505] |
| § 5. | Caius Julius Cæsar and his death | [509] |
| § 6. | The end of the republic | [513] |
| § 7. | Why the Roman republic failed | [516] |
| [Chapter XXIX.] The Cæsars between the Sea and the Great Plains of the Old World | ||
| § 1. | A short catalogue of emperors | [52] |
| § 2. | Roman civilization at its zenith | [529] |
| § 3. | Limitations of the Roman mind | [539] |
| § 4. | The stir of the great plains | [541] |
| § 5. | The Western (true Roman) Empire crumples up | [552] |
| § 6. | The Eastern (revived Hellenic) Empire | [560] |
| [BOOK VI] CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM | ||
| [Chapter XXX.] The Beginnings, the Rise, and the Divisionsof Christianity | ||
| § 1. | Judea at the Christian era | [569] |
| § 2. | The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth | [573] |
| § 3. | The universal religions | [582] |
| § 4. | The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth | [584] |
| § 5. | Doctrines added to the teachings of Jesus | [586] |
| § 6. | The struggles and persecutions of Christianity | [594] |
| § 7. | Constantine the Great | [598] |
| § 8. | The establishment of official Christianity | [601] |
| § 9. | The map of Europe, A.D. 500 | [605] |
| § 10. | The salvation of learning by Christianity | [609] |
| [Chapter XXXI.] Seven Centuries in Asia (CIRCA 50 B.C. TO A.D. 650) | ||
| § 1. | Justinian the Great | [614] |
| § 2. | The Sassanid Empire in Persia | [616] |
| § 3. | The decay of Syria under the Sassanids | [619] |
| § 4. | The first message from Islam | [623] |
| § 5. | Zoroaster and Mani | [624] |
| § 6. | Hunnish peoples in Central Asia and India | [627] |
| § 7. | The great age of China | [630] |
| § 8. | Intellectual fetters of China | [635] |
| § 9. | The travels of Yuan Chwang | [642] |