The Super Summary of World History Read Free

percent rational; however, in matters of politics, religion, social interaction, philosophy, and law people are at least 80 percent irrational. This dualistic nature of humankind is the source of many problems, and it is seemingly part of our genes. In this case, rational means the actions (or events, or results) can be understood on many levels by most people, can be copied for the betterment of all (or the vast majority), and can be built upon for advancement. Irrational is the opposite in that the actions cannot be understood on any level by most people, and if copied or built upon would bring immense harm.
    Throughout this history I have sacrificed exactness for readability. Many statements are “slam dunk,” such as, in the reign of Augustus, the Pax Romana ushered in two hundred years of peace. Well, in fact, it did not because there was at least one civil war within the empire and other minor wars on the boarders, but to go into all the detail would destroy the readability of the text and ruin the super summary concept.
    I apologize for the quality of the maps herein. Please use the Internet references to see the maps (and photographs) in full color, and in a size that is easy to read. The Internet, especially Wikipedia and Olga’s Gallery ( http://www.abcgallery.com ), is a wonderful source for viewing historical art in full color.
     
    Good reading!
    AD2

Dedications
    To: My Wife, Lori , who puts up with all this history stuff, and her grandson Zimri (Z-man) for all the joy he brings into our lives.
    To: Clarice Young, who read over endless amounts of text looking for errors, and was good-natured about it. How do people do that? And to Charlie Young, whose thoughts helped me delve deeper into history.
    To: Dr. Sally A. Schumacher , my high school history teacher who taught me to love history, and Mrs. Grey my grade school teacher who saved my academic life when she had the South High School counselors put me into college prep classes—over their objections.
    To: Sam McCall , of Bakersfield Jr. College who taught me to look at the big picture in history, and to the entire staff of Bakersfield Jr. College who were nonpareil in their instruction of this struggling and starving student.
    To: Rita Rowland, Gary Lack, Allen Shaw, Gary Fachin, Tim Otto, Trudy Slater, Debbie Lund (faithful secretary and proof reader), Christopher Noyes, the Gifford family who saved me from starving while I was in college, especially Gail, Glen Spickler who looked after me in times of need, the Honorable Richard Oberholzer, Milo Hall, Dennis Sherman, a Bible teaching pastor, Ralph Kahlen and his dad who told me about the Eastern Front in WWII, Connie L. Daniel (mother), James R. Daniel (father), James K. Daniel (son), Cristin Daniel (daughter), Charlie Daniel (brother), and other friends too numerous to mention who have supported my fascination with history—or at least put up with it.

    Thank You , thank you, one and all.
    AD2
     

 Chapter 1
    Prehistory 150,000 BC to 3,500 BC (approximate)
    Going back to the very beginning of time we discover the Big Bang started the entire universe off about 13 to 15 billion years ago. Currently accepted theories (Einstein’s Theories of Relativity for example) hold that our entire universe started out as a point far smaller than the period at the end of this sentence—in fact, smaller than an atom. Before the Big Bang space, time, and matter did not exist—at least as we know them. Then, for unknown reasons, the small point began to expand rapidly. An “explosion,” of sorts took place and the entire universe began to expand from that infinitesimal point. Researchers studying space are discovering leftovers from the big bang; for example, the cosmic radiation present everywhere we look in space. Scientists are finding numerous other proofs of this long past mysterious event; thus, the Big Bang theory enjoys wide scientific support. It is difficult to imagine stuffing all the matter from over 200