A Brief History of Peru provides a concise yet comprehensive narrative of Peruvian history from the first civilizations established on the slopes of the Andes around the second millennium BCE through the most recent social unrest and political developments. From the accomplishments of early civilizations that culminated in the great Inca Empire of the 14th to 16th centuries to Spanish conquest and colonization; from independence in 1821 to the election of centrist leader Alejandro Toledo for president in June 2001 Peru's history is presented in a clear narrative line and with a non-specialist audience in mind.

From the rise of the first civilizations of North America and continuing through the cataclysm of the Spanish conquest and the explosive revolution of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa to the intensely contested presidential election of 2006, Mexico has had a vibrant and dynamic history. "A Brief History of Mexico, Updated Edition" gives expansive coverage to Mexico's pre-Columbian civilizations as well as contemporary indigenous cultures. This book also brings readers up to date on recent developments in Mexico and helps them understand the deeper significance of these...

This substantial expansion and reworking of the classic Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara (1997) covers the entire continent, from the Europe-facing shores of the Mediterranean to the commercial bustle of Cape Town. The set addresses the entire history of African cultures from the pharaohs and the ancient civilizations of the south through the colonial era to the emergence of 53 independent countries, some of them, like Nigeria, newly emergent in world commerce and others deep in conflict (Sudan, Liberia, Congo).

A highly original and ambitious approach to civilizations. Fernández-Armesto emphasizes the degree to which control over the environment shapes the nature of civilizations. Blessed with a gift for illuminating "total history" in books like Millennium, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto has become a fixture on the annual New York Times Notables list, time and again proving himself a brilliantly original and accessible historian. Now, with this breakthrough new work, he achieves a masterful resolution to the riddle that has preoccupied centuries of state-of-the-art thinkers: the nature of civilization. To the author, societies become civilized by taming and warping nature. Civilizations can best be studied and ranked in relation to their environments. Exploring seventeen distinct habitats  -  including tundra societies of Ice Age Europe, bushmen of South Africa, and island cultures of Polynesia  -  Civilizations zooms in on features that will be familiar to any ecologist, but which actually reflect the quality of life and source of survival in civilizations across ten millennia.