Civilization Outline

Author: Fernand Braudel
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: As a historical work, this book has the following main characteristics: , it is written by a contemporary historian of great renown as a single-author comprehensive history. Second, the writing method is unique: each part of the book is self-contained yet organically connected; it integrates the past and the present, examining the past while also discussing the near future. Third, the arguments are profound: the theoretical discussions on civilization and culture in the book are profound and unique, offering enlightenment. Although each chapter is relatively concise, its content is richer than that of many lengthy works. It is a comprehensive history written by one of the most renowned historians of the contemporary world, Braudel, and also one of his important works later translated into Chinese. First published in 1962, its original intention was to provide French secondary school students (aged 16-18) with a textbook written using new historical methods (i.e., the Annales School method), but it is not a textbook in the conventional sense, rather an academic work worthy of being considered a classic. The book is divided into three parts and twenty-five chapters. Part "History of Civilization" focuses on the theoretical issues of civilization and culture; the second part "Civilizations Beyond Europe" is divided into three sections, introducing the civilizations of "Islam and the Muslim World," "Africa," and "East Asia"; the third part "European Civilization" is also divided into three sections: Europe, the Americas, and another Europe (narrating the history of Eastern Europe and Russia). Based on extensive research across various disciplines and written according to Braudel's own concepts of long-term, medium-term, short-term, and overall history, it aims to provide readers with a (a