A spin off from a TV series first published in the early 1990s it felt very visual to me. So wrote an intrepid reviewer for the New York Times, but from my perspective I found this to be above all a friendly book. One of the covers blurbs runs: 'Wood takes great care to put everything in a large historical perspective, which is actually more disturbing than comforting'. 'Well-written, gorgeous and guaranteed to induce thought.Wood takes great care to put everything in a large historical perspective, which is actually more disturbing than comforting.' - 'New York Post'. 'A brilliant exploration.' - 'Sunday Times'. 'In Search of the First Civilizations' (previously published as Legacy) asks the intriguing what is civilization? Did it mean the same to the Chinese, the Indians and the Greeks? What can the values of the ancient cultures teach us today? And do the ideals of the West - a latecomer to civilization - really have universal validity? In this fascinating historical search, Michael Wood explores these ancient cultures, looking for their essential character and their continuing legacy. The ideals of these ancient civilizations still shape the lives of the majority of mankind.

Starting in Mesopotamia, city civilization emerged for the first time on earth, to be followed in Egypt, India, China and the Americas.

Five thousand years ago there began the most momentous revolution in human history.

Mesopotamia art ancient egypt legacy