An Age of Empires 1200-1750 (The Medieval and Early Modern World)

About this book

Beautifully illustrated and filled with maps and primary sources The Age of Empires captures both the historical sweep and vivid details of this transformative period. From Marco Polos eyewitness account of an opulent Chinese banquet to a missionarys sermon denouncing Spanish atrocities in the Caribbean these documents bring the era dramatically to life. They show how the spread of empires meant new lands and great wealth for the conquerors and death destruction and slavery for the conquered. But The Age of Empires also shows how in their relentless outward expansions imperial rulers brought vastly different peoples into contact opening new trade routes and stimulating intellectual development as cultures exchanged both goods and ideas. In these ways as well as others the Age of Empires is the beginning of our own age.