This book presents the major events of world history at a glance. Five main sections and over 480 main entries - heroic figures, the rise and fall of emperors, kings and tsars, the most important scientific breakthroughs - are packed with facts. These are complemented by special features on the social and domestic conditions of each epoch to amplify the chronological narrative. Also included are 16 full-colour picture essays addressing world issues to help put individual facts in context: the Islamic World, the Renaissance, the rise of totalitarianism and the decline of Empires are covered in this section. Finally, a micropedia of people and places and summary charts give the reader a broad overview and provide a form of index for the longer entries.