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The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
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$34.95 - $29.71(Save 15%)
Bring history to life with this compelling narrative approach! From the creation of the first empires to the fall of Rome, learn about the events and people of ancient times. Ideal as the spine for advanced high school history studies, this book also makes compelling reading for adults interested in the grand sweep of history.
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Product Overview
This lively and engaging narrative history shows the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own. This is the first volume in a bold series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Originally written for adults who want to learn more about history, it can also form a world history spine for advanced high schoolers who enjoy the subject – just add the Study & Teaching Guide for a complete year’s study.
Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.
Annie –
I am using the Story of the World with my young children and I decided to get this book to gain a little more insight myself. It has been a wonderful experience.
I learned more from this book than in all my years of public education. All of my “world history” was really History of Western Civilization, filtered through a very political lens
Susan Wise Bauer does a lovely job of including information from several early civilizations. She manages to give plenty of fascinating detail without overwhelming the reader.
You can read straight through, or take opportunities to follow the rabbit trails. I’m excited to get the next book in the series.
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creativeworks210 (verified owner) –
Hi, I ordered Th e History of the Ancient World book and study & teaching guide recently and received them last week. Is there an audio version of the text that we can access?
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Press Minion –
The audio version of “The History of the Ancient World” is available on Amazon and Audible.com. It’s very good! It is read by John Lee.
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angijaegerchapman –
I will have a 3rd grader and a 6th grader this coming year. Would this book be too advanced for the 6th grader? What are the options for a middle school student for history curriculum?
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Press Minion –
This book would be too advanced for the sixth grader. It’s written at a college level and is only recommended for 9th grade and above (and then only if the student is interested in history and an advanced reader). For your sixth grader, it would be better to use “The Story of the World” curriculum, which can be adjusted to fit a sixth-grader’s level by having them write short weekly summaries of what they are reading in the book, as well as doing a bit of outside reading and using a timeline. You can find more about this in the preface to the SOTW activity books (any of the four), or email [email protected]
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Melissa –
Would this be appropriate to use with my advanced 6th grader?
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Press Minion –
Even with an advanced student, we really don’t recommend this series for students before 9th or 10th grade. But you can always try it and see, and return the book within 30 days for a refund if it’s too much for the student.
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joanna –
Will you be putting this high school version on audio as you did with SOTW? We enjoyed the audio CD’s so much!
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Press Minion –
This series has now been released in audio form by its publisher, W.W. Norton! They are available on Amazon and on Audible.com.
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Rebecca Everitt –
Is there a list of appropriate literature selections to correspond with the history book?
Is there a list of source material that can be read to back up the text?
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Press Minion –
There’s a bibliography and footnotes in the book that list the sources to back up the text. For literature that would accompany the text (not in a precise, chapter-by-chapter way, but in general), see the book lists in chapter 27 of The Well-Trained Mind. (The chapter is called “Great Books: History and Reading,” and the section on Ancient literature is on pages 622-624 of the 2016 edition.)
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Susan –
Do the History of the World books all have audio book compliments? I can’t find one for the Ancient World
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Press Minion –
The History of the Ancient World is available as a digital audiobook on Audible.com. The Medieval World is available on CD, which we sell on our site, and also on Audible. The Renaissance World is also available as a digital audiobook on Audible.
We aren’t the publishers of those books, so unfortunately we don’t control which formats they are released on.
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b.langton –
My boys and I have enjoyed the Story of the World series immensely over these past few years. I, myself, didn’t know what I didn’t know! We are keen to begin this high school version in the Fall. I have spent a good deal of time reading through this first book in the series, gathering resources, etc.
One thing that would have been very helpful was a generalized Table of Contents at the beginning. I found it cumbersome to leaf through all of the pages each time so that I could add my notes to the specific historical event in my teacher’s binder.
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Lynn K. Dunn –
Is The Story of The World Vol I appropriate for a public school, 7th Grade Ancient Civilizations course?
What materials do you suggest I purchase for our four teachers responsible for this course?
Thank you!
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Press Minion –
the STORY of the world would be appropriate for 7th grade. the HISTORY of the world books would be too advanced.
For a 7th grade class, you’d want to get each student and teacher a copy of the book itself. You should also get one copy of the Tests and of the Written Comprehension Responses, and buy a license to reproduce those (test copying license is 1 dollar per student, Written Comprehension Responses copying license is 100 dollars per classroom per year). You MIGHT want to get one copy of the Activity Book, since the introduction has some helpful material about using the book in classrooms. Email us at [email protected] if you have more questions about good ways to use this book in schools.
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Arianne Henderson –
Will you be releasing these in PDF format? I’m in Australia, and postage is expensive! We love the elementary series. Thank you!!
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Press Minion –
This particular series isn’t actually published by us. It’s published by W.W. Norton, and they would have to make that decision. However, it is available on Kindle through Amazon.com.
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Amanda –
I have a gifted 8th grader. Would this series be an appropriate level for her to use for social studies?
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Press Minion –
Usually 9th grade is the youngest we recommend this curriculum for. It would be possible, but the student needs to be very interested in history and have excellent reading comprehension.
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Rachel Maiorano –
Do you have to do all three In the series (The history of the ancient world, the history of the medieval world and the history of the renaissance world) for it to be a full high school World History course? 264 chapters seems a lot in one year.
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Press Minion –
We suggest one volume per year…definitely not all three in a year!
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Raquel –
Olá! Você disponibilizará o formato desta coleção em PDF, como fez com a versão elementar?
Sou brasileira. Como ainda não temos a tradução, gostaria de usar ajuda eletrônica para ler seus livros.
Obrigada
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Press Minion –
Este livro não está disponÃvel em PDF. Mas está disponÃvel no Kindle. Você pode encontrar em https://www.amazon.com/History-Ancient-World-Earliest-Accounts-ebook/dp/B001PNYJ1C/
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Nichole Ostrander –
Is their going to be an audiobook for these? We love the audiobook and my daughter will be in this book next year.
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Press Minion –
There is! We don’t publish it, though…another company does. It’s available digitally at https://www.amazon.com/History-of-Ancient-World-audiobook-dp-B00D1YRUL4/dp/B00D1YRUL4/
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Jessica Langerman –
I homeschooled my son, who has ADHD, for two years. He LOVED these books and, many years later, still refers to them. They are brilliantly written – so engaging and informative. Cannot say enough good about this author.
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Help Desk –
We will keep you up-to-date regarding future publications in this article from our Help Center – FAQ.
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Lori –
How long does it take to get through each book? Does each version take a whole school year?
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Answer Desk –
Yes, when used with the Study & Teaching Guide, each volume is a full year of history study.
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Maria –
Is there a volume for Modern time?
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Press Minion –
Not yet!
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Jessica Masri Eberhard –
You guys should consider releasing your audiobook (and perhaps ebook) on Scribed. It’s a service that combines the functions of Kindle, Audible, as well as magazine, news, and music notion all on one app for a subscription. More and more people are switching from Audible to Scribed because it’s better to pay a flat rate for unlimited access to audiobooks. Not sure how the various contracts can be managed, but you’d would get a much larger listenership/readership.
PS Two generations of my family have used Story of the World are are extremely grateful for it. So glad you are writing a high school/adult version of the series.
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Jennifer –
Do you have a schedule that lines this up with SOTW?
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Answer Desk –
We do not. Although the time periods are the same, the History of the World series covers much more information, and it is presented in a way that doesn’t align with The Story of the World.
It can still be helpful to have younger and older students covering the ancient world at the same time. There will be many occasions for general discussion, there may be documentaries that are appropriate to all, and some activities in the SOTW activity books can be enjoyed by older students. Who doesn’t want to build a gingerbread Parthenon?
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DH –
What is actually happening with this series? I followed the instructions somewhere on this site to follow SWB on IG, FB, etc. and watch for updates, as well as to contact the publisher and ask when they will publish the fourth book. (See here: https://support.welltrainedmind.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012631393-Will-there-be-another-book-in-the-History-of-the-World-series-What-about-audiobooks- )
I did contact them, and contrary to what I learned here on The Well-Trained Mind website, they claim there will NOT be a fourth book. This is highly disappointing. Every other history curriculum has a modern component… they’ve picked a date to work up to and stopped. WTM and SWB, please reconsider and pick a time period. As time goes on, there will always be more and more info to include. Today’s students need to know about the events that could be included in a fourth book, even one that stops at the fall of the Berlin Wall, or somewhere around there.
The following is the message from WW. Norton & Company.
“Thank you for your inquiry about the 4th volume of Suisan Wise Bauer’s History of the World series. Unfortunately, Susan has decided not to attempt that book because she was having increasing difficulty keeping the volumes at a reasonable length as she moved forward in time. The closer to the present she moved, the source material grew exponentially, and there were more and more events that had to be covered. She figured out that in order to write the volume on modern times she could allot only sixty-something pages to cover all of World War 2, otherwise the book would be unmanageably huge.
I regret her decision, but I understand why she made the choice she did.
Yours truly,
Starling Lawrence
Editor at Large
W.W. Norton & Company, Publishers”
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Press Minion –
Thank you for checking with us, and we apologize for the confusion. The information you received from Norton isn’t quite correct…yes, Dr. Bauer did decide not to follow the original plan of a 4-volume world history, because the 4th volume would have had to cover so much material in such a short span. But she hasn’t abandoned the project, and does plan a continuation of the series…it’s just that it’s going to have to be multiple volumes instead of 1. It’s still a good idea to follow her on Facebook, since that’s her main space for announcing future projects, publications, etc.
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Dessa –
Do you happen to have a recommended supplemental reading list (fiction or non) to go along with this?
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Answer Desk –
There is no supplemental reading list, but the Notes section lists works cited by chapter, and you can find some good non-fiction reading that way, based on which chapters interest you the most.
For fiction, you can’t go wrong with the classics (Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey, Greek comedies/tragedies), and there are also a good number of choices in historical fiction.
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Brittany Beacham –
Hi! I’m wondering if the History of the World Books can be used alongside the Story of the World books, in order to do history family style with high schoolers and elementary/middle schoolers together? Do they line up with each other at all, or do you have a guide that shows how to do that?
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Answer Desk –
We do not have a timeline matchup between the two books. Although the time periods are the same, the History of the World series covers much more information, and it is presented in a way that doesn’t align with The Story of the World.
It can still be helpful to have younger and older students covering the ancient world at the same time. There will be many occasions for general discussion, there may be documentaries that are appropriate to all, and some activities in the SOTW activity books can be enjoyed by older students. Who doesn’t want to build a gingerbread Parthenon?
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AJ –
Is this available in digital format so it can be read on an iPad or kindle. I need to be able to have an accessibility sized font for my daughter.
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Answer Desk –
It is available on Kindle via Amazon. This title is published by Norton, so we do not sell the digital format on our site.
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Christina Salisbury –
Is this christian/ biblical??
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Answer Desk –
The History of the World series is secular.
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GK –
When do you expect to have this book in stock?
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Answer Desk –
It should be back in stock within one to two weeks.
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Tisa Mantle –
I need tests and answers for this textbook. Do you sell that?
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Press Minion –
We sure do! The first half is the instructor section with answers; the second half is the student section with just the questions: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/study-teaching-guide-history-ancient-world/
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Elizabeth –
I have 3 kids doing Ancients this year they are 4th, 6th and 9th grade. I want to read aloud to all of them. Would you recommend this book or the other one for younger grades? Also do you think my 9th grader can read this on her own?
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Answer Desk –
I would recommend The Story of the World for reading aloud to them.
If the 9th grader is a strong reader, yes, they can read this independently. It’s written at an adult level, but each individual chapter if fairly short.
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Ellen –
I see it says, “advanced high schooler.” Would this not be appropriate for just an average high schooler to use for history?
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Answer Desk –
It’s a challenging course and the book is written at an adult level. That said, it can be a good fit for many motivated students with an interest in history. Take a look at Chapter 1 in the Sample on this page to see reading level and content, and then the Study & Teaching Guide will also have a sample to give you a good idea of the assignments.
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Kelly Gotwalt –
We have been devoted to SOTW since my oldest was in 3rd grade, and were very excited to try the high school series as well. My oldest son is an excellent reader and has a love of history, but this book was too much for him to just take and read on his own. We wound up modifying our year’s plan by also purchasing the audio book on Audible and having him read along. This made his retention much better and helped him overcome the extremely challenging text. The study guide that is available is also extremely challenging – coming from SOTW to this was a huge huge challenge. Again I had to modify my expectations by completing selected portions of the study guide instead of the whole thing. We are doing SOTW ancients with our youngers and this with our oldest. They do not line up neatly, due to the huge amount of info in the History of the Ancient World. All in all I would say for a well read, history loving adult this text cannot be beat. For my 9th grader, an extremely good reader who loves history, it has still been challenging. Definitely recommend, but adjust your expectations according to ability.
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Crystal –
Can I get history of the world in paperback to send to a prison? It can’t be hard cover.
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Answer Desk –
The History of the World series is only published in hardcover.
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