From the Book - First edition.
Part I: Tools, language, and environment. The physical stage ; History begins with language ; Civilization begins with geography ; Trade weaves the networks ; The birth of belief systems
Part II: One planet, many worlds. Money, math, messaging, management, and might ; Megaempires take the stage ; The lands in between ; When worlds overlap ; World historical monads
Part III: The table tilts. Out of the north ; Europe on the rise ; The nomads' last roar ; Europe and the long crusades ; The restoration narrative ; The progress narrative
Part IV: History's hinge. That Columbus moment ; Chain reactions ; After Columbus : the world ; The center does not hold ; Middle world enmeshed ; Ripple effects
Part V: Enter the machine. The invention explosion ; Our machines, ourselves ; Social constellations in the machine age ; Empires and nation-states ; A world at war
Part VI: The singularity has three sides. Beyond the nation-state ; Digital era ; The environment ; The big picture.