| |
| |
Cast of Characters | |
| |
| |
Map of an Age of Empires, 1200-1750 | |
| |
| |
Introduction: Days of Empire | |
| |
| |
| |
Golden Khan, Golden Reins, Golden Horde: The Mongols Ride Out | |
| |
| |
Horse Sense and Hard Lives | |
| |
| |
Conquering the World | |
| |
| |
Anonymous, The Secret History of the Mongols, 13th century | |
| |
| |
| |
Who's Next? The Mongols Reach Their Limit | |
| |
| |
Assassins, Brides, and the Tartar Yoke | |
| |
| |
A Nomadic Army Loses Its Grip | |
| |
| |
Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, 13th century | |
| |
| |
| |
Twice as Powerful: Poland and Lithuania Unite | |
| |
| |
Fighting Christians and Pious Pagans | |
| |
| |
Flowers Before the Flood | |
| |
| |
Guillaume Le Vasseur Beauplan, A Description of Ukraine, 1744 | |
| |
| |
| |
Troubled Times, Troubled Tsars: The Russian Empire | |
| |
| |
Fear and Rage: The Rule of Ivan the Terrible | |
| |
| |
Russia Looks Westward | |
| |
| |
Sophia, electress of Hanover, letter about Peter the Great, 1687 | |
| |
| |
| |
The Real Mughals, Not the Reel Moguls: Empire in India | |
| |
| |
Babur the Tiger Takes India | |
| |
| |
An Empire Withers | |
| |
| |
Francois Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire, 1670 | |
| |
| |
| |
Triumph of the Turks: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire | |
| |
| |
Rule by the Sword | |
| |
| |
The Sack of Constantinople | |
| |
| |
Evliya Celebi, Book of Travels, 17th century | |
| |
| |
| |
When Tents Become Towers: The Sultans Settle Down | |
| |
| |
Suleyman Eludes the Poisoned Shirt | |
| |
| |
Spring Tulips, Wilting Empire | |
| |
| |
Anonymous, archives of the Turkish prime minister, 1749 | |
| |
| |
| |
Stocking the Royal Spice Cabinet: The Portuguese Empire | |
| |
| |
Henry, Armchair Navigator | |
| |
| |
Running out of Wind | |
| |
| |
Gomes Eannes de Zurara, Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, 15th century | |
| |
| |
| |
"Go Further!": Spain Expands across an Ocean | |
| |
| |
1492, A Remarkable Year | |
| |
| |
Enemies at Every Turn | |
| |
| |
Reginaldo de Montesinos, sermon delivered in a Dominican church, 1511 | |
| |
| |
| |
The Wedding Ring Empire: Europe under the Habsburgs | |
| |
| |
Out of Many, One | |
| |
| |
The Queen of Common Sense | |
| |
| |
Emanuel Tarouca, Letter to Empress Maria Theresa, 1740 | |
| |
| |
| |
Teenagers Take the Throne: Manchu China | |
| |
| |
The Civilized Barbarians | |
| |
| |
The Celestial Suns: Kangxi and Qianlong | |
| |
| |
Cheng Panch'io, a letter to his brother, 1732 | |
| |
| |
EPILOGUE: Remembering the Conquests | |
| |
| |
Glossary | |
| |
| |
Timeline | |
| |
| |
Further Reading | |
| |
| |
Websites | |
| |
| |
Index | |