Simon Adams was born in Bristol and studied at London and Bristol universities. He worked as an editor of children's reference and other non-fiction books before becoming a full-time writer 15 years ago. Since then, he has written and contributed to more than 50 books on subjects as varied as American history, the sinking of the Titanic, the two world wars and the history of jazz. He is the author of Kingfisher Knowledge: Castles & Forts and Kingfisher Knowledge: Life in Ancient Rome. Dr Miles Russell, archaeologist at the University of Bournemouth and a senior archaeological consultant for Channel 4's Time Team, is the book's consultant.

1 Title; 2-3 Imprint & contents; 4-5 Introduction: The ancient world; 6-7 Introduction feature: How we know about the past; 8-9 The first towns - 7000-4000bce; 10-11 Mesopotamia - 4000-1500bce; 12-13 Ancient Egypt - 3500bce-0; 14-15 Ancient Egypt feature: Preparing for the afterlife; 16-17 Ancient Europe - 6000-500bce; 18-19 Indus Valley civilization - 6000-1000bce; 20-21 Minoans and Myceneans - 2000-1000bce; 22-23 Peoples of the Mediterranean - 1200bce-0; 24-25 The great empires - 1000-300bce (Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, Persians); 26-27 Ancient Greece - 900-300bce; 28-29 Ancient Greece feature: The Greek world; 30-31 The Roman Empire - 800bce-ce500; 32-33 Roman Empire feature: the city of Rome; 34-35 Ancient Africa - 800bce-ce1000; 36-37 Ancient India - 500bce-ce6000; 38-39 Ancient China - 500bce-ce1000; 40-41 North American peoples - ce300-1000; 42-43 Central and South America - 500bce-ce1000 (Olmecs, Toltecs, Maya); 44-45 Ancient Australia, New Zealand and Polynesia - ce500-1000; 46-47 Index; 48 Acknowledgements.