From crusades to world wars, from ancient monuments to bloody revolutions, here is a fascinating tour of the historical events that have helped shape the world today. How did the ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid? How did Alexander the Great conquer so much of the world? How did the Vikings accidentally discover North America? Who led the "reign of terror" in the French revolution? Who stormed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg? Who was Lawrence of Arabia? When was communism born? When did Montezuma rule? When was the Normandy invasion? With perspective, scope, and clarity to great events in history, this book answers these questions and many, many more. Great Events that Changed the World shows children the history of our amazing world in easy-to-follow panoramic tableaux and maps. Filled with superbly detailed artwork and exciting text, this is a valuable and enjoyable source book for the entire family.

"In a sweep of history, this book brings you what National Geographic has introduced into households for more than a century: the world and all that is in it. Concise narratives, each focused on one event and numbered chronologically from 1 to 1,000, walk you through the story of civilization, from the first evidence of life 3.8 billion years ago to the discovery of the first known planet beyond the solar system that could harbor life as we know it. Accompanied by hundreds of illustrations, events famous, infamous and little known offer insight into how and why the world has grown and changed as it has."--BOOK JACKET.

Join the editors of TIME in a fast-paced journey through the adventures of man on Planet Earth in this richly illustrated volume, which explores history's most important turning points. Here are the great religions: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Here are the great empires, from the vanished civilization of the Minoans on Crete to the glories of Classical Greece and Rome to the mysterious collapse of the Maya culture in Mexico. Here are the visionary scientists who altered our view of nature's laws: Newton and Darwin, Copernicus and Einstein. Here are the great conquerors,including Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and Napoleon. And here are the great clashes between cultures, as Christian knights besiege Muslim citadels in the Crusades, a handful of Spanish conquistadors topple the empires of the Aztecs and Incas, and Japan attacks the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. The book is arranged chronologically, rapidly accelerating in pace as it reports the development of the technologies that define the modern world, from the coming of the railroad and the telegraph to the advent of photography, the cinema and television and culminating in the invention of the transistor and the boot-up of the World Wide Web. And it offers fresh perspectives on cultures too often overlooked, from the Golden Age of Islam to the voyages of Viking mariners to China's renascence under the Ming dynasty. Presented in a special oversized format, this beautifully illustrated volume also offers a sweeping panorama of man's greatest artistic achievements, from the cave paintings of Lascaux to marvelous medieval maps and on to the great paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance. As an illuminating guide to mankind's triumphs and sorrows, and as a gallery of human culture, science, art and architecture, it offers a dazzling and provocative encounter with the great turning points of history.

Discusses the events and achievements of the twentieth century that transformed the world.

Get the real facts you weren’t taught in school and learn how these myths have survived for so long. Discover the stories behind history’s greatest lies and how—and why—the world’s biggest whoppers have survived textbooks and lesson plans for years. For instance, did you know the conquistador Hernán Cortés wasn’t as bloodthirsty as they say? Neither were the Goths, who were actually the most progressive of the Germanic tribes. Or, that a petty criminal with a resemblance to John Dillinger was probably assassinated instead of the notorious bank robber? In History’s Greatest Lies, Weir sets the record straight through a fascinating examination of historical lies and myths and the true stories behind them. Each chapter pinpoints a misconception held as common truth in history. For example: Emperor Nero did not fiddle as Rome burned Paul Revere had plenty of help in his midnight ride In terms of prisons, the Bastille wasn’t all that bad Weir explains why each lie persevered in our minds through ulterior motives, responsibility shirking, or exaggerations. You’ll also discover the common threads that make up these falsehoods: the scapegoats, the spin needed to cast undeserving in a better light, and the frightful oversimplification of facts. Praise for History’s Greatest Lies “Weir takes no prisoners—and tells no lies—in his continuously surprising and always fascinating new book. Great falsehoods have shaped history even more than great truths; the enduring fascination of this highly original volume is discovering how much of what we accept for fact is just plain wrong.” —Joe Cummins, author of The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks and History’s Greatest Untold Stories