A free, self-paced textbook in 8 chapters. Read a chapter, then drill it with the 100 companion flashcards using spaced repetition.
The story of humanity begins in prehistory, a vast era stretching from the emergence of Homo sapiens around 300,000 years ago to the invention of writing around 3,200 BCE. During t...
The centuries surrounding 500 BCE witnessed a remarkable flowering of religion, philosophy, and political thought. The major world religions took shape during this era: Hinduism ar...
The medieval period was shaped by cross-cultural exchange, religious conflict, and devastating pandemics. The Silk Road, a network of trade routes connecting China to the Mediterra...
The transition from the medieval to the modern world was marked by a cultural revival and a dramatic reshaping of global connections. The Renaissance (14th–17th century) began in I...
The early modern period was transformed by revolutions in thought and governance. The Scientific Revolution (16th–18th century) brought major advances in physics, astronomy, biolog...
The Industrial Revolution (c. 1760–1840), which began in Britain, transformed economies from agrarian to industrial. Key inventions, including the spinning jenny (1764), James Watt...
The early 20th century was plunged into catastrophic conflict. World War I erupted from a combination of militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism (often summarized as MA...
The aftermath of World War II was dominated by the Cold War (1947–1991), a geopolitical rivalry between the United States and its Western allies and the Soviet Union and its Easter...