A 'consummate mistress of narrative', C.V.Wedgwood's text is a mass of sparkle and illuminating detail taking the reader on a journey to the origins of man and early cultures across the world from the Americas to Egypt, India and China, among the Sumerians, the Hittites, the Phoenicians, the Jews ...from Alexander to Shih Huang Ti and Muhammad of Ghur through to the Renaissance and the Reformation. A wonderful, effortless, and invigorating read. A book about people, ordinary and extraordinary. We are their heirs.