A Short History of the Ancient World examines the emergence of urban civilizations on the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Tracing developments from prehistoric times through the end of antiquity, the book investigates the unique social, cultural, religious, economic, and political characteristics of each civilization. Employing a social historical approach, Rauh argues that the ancient world encompassed more than simply Greece and Rome, and that urban populations across Eurasia and northern Africa were linked by an ancient world system. He explores the interconnectivity between societies in the Roman Mediterranean, East Africa, India, and China as they attained urban development, material prosperity, and cultural achievement. This beautifully designed full-color book includes an impressive range of images, as well as chronologies, timelines, overviews of dynasties, and chapter reviews.

The Accademia Pontaniana: A Model of a Humanist Network is an exploration of the vast intellectual networks which developed around the fifteenth century humanist Pontano. It includes the densely knit network which emerged in Naples, the Accademia Pontaniana, as well as the loosely knit networks which developed between the members of this academy and other humanists and academies outside of Naples. Shulamit Furstenberg-Levi points to the links between the Accademia Pontaniana and other sodalities in Southern Italy, and to the lineage between fifteenth century informal academies and sixteenth century institutional Academies. In this study recent sociological theory is applied to understand Renaissance academies and the vertical and horizontal links between them.