v. 1. The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 B.C. -- v. 2. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250 -- v. 3. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750 -- v. 4. The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the eighteenth century: part 1: The historical social and economic setting; part 2: The achievements -- v. 5. Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century -- v. 6. Towards the contemporary period: from the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century