Kerry Shale
Author
Series
First Civilizations volume 3
Language
English
Description
Cities investigates the symbiotic link between urban living and civilization - there have been no cities without civilization, no civilizations without cities. The world's first settlements were in Mesopotamia, where the emergence of farming created the calories necessary for people to feed themselves on a permanent basis. This led to an exponential increase in population and a blossoming of innovation – civilization itself.
Author
Series
First Civilizations volume 1
Language
English
Description
War addresses the paradox that good comes from bad. The threat of destruction engenders a sense of fear, but also creates tighter bonds within a community, while driving an arms race of technological progress. This happened in the Zapotec civilization in Mexico, but also with the Teotihuacan civilization which overthrew the Zapotecs and emerged as the first superpower of the Americas.
Author
Series
First Civilizations volume 2
Language
English
Description
Religion examines the power of a shared belief system, which serves as the social glue to unify a population within a single state. Nowhere was this truer than in Ancient Egypt - still the world's longest lasting civilization - which depended for its stability on the god-like status of its rulers.
Author
Series
First Civilizations volume 4
Language
English
Description
Trade explores the civilizing effect of buying and selling goods. In particular, the Indus Valley Civilization – on the borders of modern-day India and Pakistan – was seemingly created with the single purpose of encouraging the free flow of trade. The knock-on effects were massively beneficial - an increase in wealth, co-operation and trust.
Author
Series
First Peoples volume 2
Language
English
Description
Around 200,000 years ago, a new species, Homo sapiens, appeared on the African landscape. While scientists have imagined eastern Africa as a real-life Garden of Eden, the latest research suggests humans evolved in many places across the continent at the same time. DNA from a 19th-century African-American slave is forcing geneticists to re-think the origins of our species. The theory is that our ancestors met, mated and hybridized with other human...
Author
Series
First Peoples volume 1
Language
English
Description
As early humans spread out across the world, their toughest challenge was colonizing the Americas - because a huge ice sheet blocked the route. It has long been thought that the pioneers, known as Clovis people, arrived about 13,000 years ago, but an underwater discovery in Mexico suggests people arrived earlier than previously thought - and by boat, not on foot. How closely related were these First Americans to today's Native Americans? It's a controversial...
Author
Series
First Peoples volume 5
Language
English
Description
When Homo sapiens turned up in prehistoric Europe, they ran into the Neanderthals. The two types of human were similar enough to interbreed - and both created artifacts of similar complexity. But as more and more Homo sapiens moved into Europe, the balance of power shifted. Neanderthals were overwhelmed. Ever since, we've had Europe and the rest of the world to ourselves.
Author
Series
First Peoples volume 3
Language
English
Description
What happened when early humans ventured out of Africa and into Asia? Where did they go and whom did they meet along the way? The latest evidence suggests they left far earlier than previously thought and interbred with other types of ancient human - Homo erectus, Neanderthals and also the Denisovans, whose existence was established only five years ago when geneticists extracted DNA from a tiny fragment of finger bone. Because these ancient humans...
Author
Series
First Peoples volume 4
Language
English
Description
When Homo sapiens arrived in Australia, they were, for the first time, truly alone, surrounded by wildly different flora and fauna. How did they survive and populate a continent? There is a close cultural and genetic link between the First Australians and modern-day Aborigines. The ancient and modern story intersect here as nowhere else in the world. The secret to this continuity is diversity. Intuitively, they found the right balance between being...
Author
Language
English
Description
Tad is a bored construction worker dreaming of a life of adventure until one day he is mistaken for a famous archeologist and that dream comes true. Whisked to Peru holding a sacred key, Tad helps Professor Lavrof and his beautiful daughter Sara as they race against evil treasure hunters in search of the Lost City of Paititi.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist's examination of the booming industry shaping the modern world: former journalists and spies going for hire, and financed by companies, politicians, lawyers, and the rich and powerful to excavate the lives of their enemies and opponents for dirt and secrets.
Language
English
Description
Around 200,000 years ago, a new species, Homo sapiens, appeared on the African landscape. While scientists have imagined eastern Africa as a real-life Garden of Eden, the latest research suggests humans evolved in many places across the continent at the same time. DNA from a 19th-century African-American slave is forcing geneticists to re-think the origins of our species. The theory is that our ancestors met, mated and hybridized with other human...
14) Australia
Language
English
Description
When Homo sapiens arrived in Australia, they were, for the first time, truly alone, surrounded by wildly different flora and fauna. How did they survive and populate a continent? There is a close cultural and genetic link between the First Australians and modern-day Aborigines. The ancient and modern story intersect here as nowhere else in the world. The secret to this continuity is diversity. Intuitively, they found the right balance between being...
15) First peoples
Language
English
Description
200,000 years ago we took our first steps in Africa. Today there are seven billion of us living across the planet. How did our ancestors spread from continent to continent? This is a global detective story, featuring the latest archaeological discoveries and genetic research. On each continent, we track down the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens. Who were these First Peoples? What drove them to the ends of the earth?
Language
English
Description
Rheneas picks the perfect Christmas tree when he finally stops to smell the evergreen. Charlie knows how fun snow can be and discovers that teamwork in the snow is the most fun of all. Edward gets Salty just what he asked for, the perfect story to re-tell and Emily learns the best way to be really useful.
Language
English
Description
Having lived as mobile foragers for 99 percent of our time on Earth, how and why did humans set out on the road to civilization? How did they create villages, towns, cities and states, and establish the blueprint for the modern world? Explore the seedbed civilizations of Mesoamerica, the Middle East, and the Indus Valley in this global story.
Author
Language
English
Description
"One year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understandwhat these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Collects eleven stories and one novella featuring Jack Reacher, including "Too Much Time." Together these twelve stories shed new light on Reacher's past, illuminating how he grew up and developed into the wandering avenger who has captured the imagination of millions around the world.