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White is credited with reintroducing evolution in a way that had a profound impact on our understanding of the relationship between technology, ecology, and culture in the development of civilizations. A materialist, he was particularly concerned with societies’ ability to harness energy as an indicator of progress, and his empirical analysis of this equation covers a vast historical span.

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Ancient Rome synthesizes the vast period from the second millennium BCE to the sixth century CE, carrying readers through the succession of fateful steps and agonizing crises that marked Roman evolution from an early village settlement to the capital of an extraordinary realm extending from northern Britain to the deserts of Arabia. A host of world-famous figures come to life in these pages, including Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Cicero, Nero, Hadrian, Diocletian, Constantine, Justinian, and Theodora. Filled with chilling narratives of violence, lust, and political expediency, this book not only describes empire-shaping political and military events but also treats social and cultural developments as integral to Roman history.

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A Companion to Ancient Macedonia--the first of its kind--examines the political, military, social, economic, and cultural history of ancient Macedonia from the Archaic period to the end of Roman domination and beyond. Material culture, such as art, architecture, and archaeology, is also explored.

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Japan's ancient age was a period of radical and political change during which a Chinese-style empire emerged. This volume of The Cambridge History of Japan spans the beginnings of human existence to the end of the eighth century, focusing on the thousand years between 300 B.C. and 784, the end of the fabulous Nara period. The volume explores this period in four stages: (1) The Yayoi period (to about 250 A.D.) when small kingdoms and kingdom federations accumulated enough power to dispatch diplomatic missions to Korea and China; (2) the Yamato period (to 587) when priestly rulers, having gained economic and military power, conquered most of Japan; (3) the Century of Reform (to 710) when Japanese leaders, pressed by China's expanding T'ang empire, set out to build a strong Chinese-style empire of their own; (4) the Nara period (to 784) when spectacular literary, artistic, architectural, and religious advances were made.

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"This case study of prehispanic cultural evolution in the Titicaca Basin addresses issues of broad general interest, not only to Andeanists but also to scholars working in many other parts of the world where archaic states and empires developed from simpler cultural forms. Stanish, who has been working along the forefront of research on the Titicaca Basin, brings a very large body of new data to bear upon major theoretical concerns in evolutionary anthropology. This book makes the Titicaca Basin archaeological record much more accessible than it ever has been in the past. It is a major contribution, and will surely be a landmark study for years to come."--Jeffrey R. Parsons, co-author of 2000 Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Upper Mantaro and Tarma Drainages, Junin, Peru