The Xenophile Historian

From 1984 to 2005 I taught a general world history course for my church, and in 1997 I was asked by my pastor to write a text to go with it. Most of the work was done by 2000, but then I got distracted by other events, and had a little trouble finding a publisher, so it wasn't published until 2008. Still, when I did the final proofreading, I only had to make a few slight changes to the text to keep it up to date. With all that has happened since the 1990s, especially the September 11 terrorist attacks, how many other history books can make the same claim?

Anyway, you can order the book by clicking on this link: http://www.rosedogbookstore.com/biinofwohi.html , or by clicking on the book cover above.

(Update: The book is now available on Amazon.com, too!)

If you want read a sample of my work, here is Chapter 1 from the text. The footnotes and pictures were moved to the back of the book by the publisher, but otherwise everything is the same.

Chapter 1, HTML version

Chapter 1 as a PDF file

And here is the table of contents, so you know what else to expect. I hope you like what you read!

Contents

(and malcontents)

Chapter 1: Overview

• Introduction
• Is History Relevant?
• Theories of History
• A Few Words on Calendars and Dates
• What is Civilization?
• The Impact of the Barbarian
• Evolution of Governments
• The Apostasy
• God's Vessel of Redemption
• A Biblical Chronology
• A Proposed Chronology of the Old Testament Era

Chapter 2: Before 3000 B.C.

• God's Limiting Action Against Evil
• Our Middle Eastern Heritage
• The Tower of Confusion
• Characteristics of Babel
• The Descendants of Japheth
• The Descendants of Ham
• The Descendants of Shem
• A Disclaimer About Race
• The Fall and Rise of Civilization

Chapter 3: Early Civilization, A Short History Of The Middle East From 3000 To 1000 B.C.

• The Rise of the Sumerians
• A War-Ravaged Civilization
• The Age of Hammurabi
• The Gift of the Nile
• Most Ancient Egypt
• The Pyramid Age
• Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt
• The Middle Kingdom
• The Second Intermediate Period
• Intermission
• The Rise of The New Kingdom
• Imperial Egypt
• The Amarna Revolution
• The Ramessid Age
• The Third Intermediate Period
• The Indo-Europeans
• The Hittites
• The Minoans
• The Mycenaeans
• The Phoenicians
• The Aramaeans
• The Philistines

Chapter 4: God's Vessel Of Revelation, Part I

• Abraham: The Friend of God
• Joseph
• Israel Becomes a Nation
• Kings and Prophets

Chapter 5: The Assyrian And Babylonian Empires

• Introduction to the Age of Empires
• How Assyria Got Started
• The Calah Period
• The New Assyrian Empire
• Assyria Triumphant
• Babylon Replaces Assyria
• The Final Years of Judah
• By the Rivers of Babylon

Chapter 6: The Persian Empire

• The First Shah of Iran
• Kanbujiya (Cambyses) II
• Darayavahush (Darius) I
• Khshayarsha (Xerxes) I
• From Xerxes to Alexander

Chapter 7: The Greek Empires

• Philip of Macedon
• Alexander the Great
• The Wars of the Diadochi (Successors)
• The Diffusion of Greek Culture
• The Ptolemies
• The Seleucid Kingdom
• The Kingdom of the Holy Warriors
• Rome Takes Over

Chapter 8: Ancient Rome

• The Etruscans
• The Founding of Rome
• The Roman Republic: the Early Years
• Rome Becomes the Capital of Italy
• Carthage
• The Punic Wars
• Growing Pains
• The First Triumvirate
• The Second Triumvirate
• The Pax Romana
• Civilization and Economics Under the Pax Romana
• Troubled Times Begin
• The Barbarians Learn New Tricks
• The Soldier Emperors
• Diocletian
• Constantine
• Constantinian Christianity
• Constantine's Successors Muddle Through
• The House of Valentinian
• The Beginning of the End of the Classical World
• Alaric the Visigoth and Gaiseric the Lame
• Attila the Hun
• The Final Collapse

Chapter 9: The Byzantine Or Eastern Roman Empire

• Justinian
• Heraclius
• Against Islam's First Wave
• Macedonian Revival
• The Declining Centuries

Chapter 10: Ten Major Empires Since Rome

• Introduction, Byzantium
• Russia
• Islam
• Germany
• Austria
• Spain and Portugal
• France
• Italy
• Great Britain
• The United States of America, Conclusion

Chapter 11: Classical Greece And The Origins Of Humanism

• What Made Classical Greece So Special?
• The Archaic Period
• Colonization
• Aristocracy, Oligarchy, and Tyranny
• Militant Sparta
• The Athenian Road to Democracy
• The Persian Wars
• Athenian Democracy
• Greek Medicine
• Hellenic Poetry and Drama
• Hellenic Architecture
• Hellenic Sculpture and Pottery
• Athenian Society
• Athenian Imperialism
• Athenian-Spartan Rivalry
• The Peloponnesian War
• Spartan and Theban Ascendancy
• Pre-Classical Greek Religion
• The Early Philosophers
• The Sophists and Socrates
• Plato and Aristotle
• Other Philosophical Developments in the Classical Era
• Greece Rediscovered
• The Rise of the West
• From Faith to Reason
• Feudalism
• England Leads the Way
• The Last Three Hundred Years
• The World as a Greek Colony, and the Apostasy

Chapter 12: God's Vessel Of Revelation, Part II

• The Reluctant Chosen
• The Jewish-Roman War
• Bar Kochba's Revolt
• The Ups and Downs of Christianity and Judaism
• Israel Among the Nations
• The Spread of Christianity

Chapter 13: The New Age Of National Israel

• Early Steps in the Regathering of Israel
• The Father of Modern Zionism
• Promises, Promises
• The Rebuilding of Zion
• The Slide Toward Catastrophe
• Israel's War of Independence
• An Exchange of Arabs for Jews
• The Six Day War
• Where Does Israel Go From Here?

Chapter 14: What's Next?

• What the Prophets Tell Us
• Becoming One World
• One Language?
• The Congress of Vienna
• The League of Nations
• The United Nations
• Safety In Numbers
• One Religion
• One Economy
• The Mark of the Beast
• Where Are We Today?
• Summary: The Ten Most Important Trends in World History

Appendix 1: Problems With Egyptian Chronology

Appendix 2: A List Of The Kings Who Ruled The Empires Described In Chapters 5-9

Appendix 3: A List Of Major Events In The History Of Islam

Bibliography

Finally, here are some extra pages that will help increase your understanding of the text:

About the Pictures & Maps

My Biblical Chronology, From Adam to the Exile

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