The History of the Ancient World

From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

“Bauer’s elegant prose and her command of much of the material makes this a wonderful starting point for the study of the ancient world.” —Publisher’s Weekly

Bauer’s annals, which span the millennia between the traces of Sumer and the Roman emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 CE, are an attractive introduction to a subject vast in time and geography. She writes briskly and interpretively, and is attuned throughout to the challenge of rulers: appearing to the ruled as legitimate holders of power. This sensibility makes her narratives acutely interesting, as Bauer pierces the biases inherent in most ancient sources to discern the sincerity or the cynicism with which power seekers pursued their goals. Above, approval of the divine was invaluable; on Earth, a loyal army was indispensable. Acquiring both enabled lawgivers to make their writ stick, and Bauer’s chronicles exhibit the interaction of priestly, military, and legal powers as empires and dynasties wax and wane. This endows continuity to her accounts of polities as disparate as the Harappan civilization of the Indus River or the states that emerged from misty prehistory along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers to form China. Nonacademic and sometimes colloquial in composition, Bauer’s survey will spark the imagination. (Booklist) To purchase, visit Peace Hill Press.

WW Norton • 2007 • ISBN 978-0393059748

The Well-Educated Mind

A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had

“A brilliant guide. … A timeless, intelligent book.” — Publisher’s Weekly

Have you lost the art of reading for pleasure? Are there books you know you should read but haven’t because they seem too daunting? In The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer provides a welcome and encouraging antidote to the distractions of our age, electronic and otherwise. The Well-Educated Mind offers brief, entertaining histories of five literary genres — fiction, autobiography, history, drama, and poetry — accompanied by detailed instructions on how to read each type. The Well-Educated Mind reassures those readers who worry that they read too slowly or with below-average comprehension. If you can understand a daily newspaper, there’s no reason you can’t read and enjoy Shakespeare’s sonnets or Jane Eyre. For more, visit www.well-educatedmind.com.

WW Norton • 2003 • ISBN 0-393-05094-7

The Well-Trained Mind

A Guide to Classical Education at Home

“Outstanding … should be on every home educator’s reference bookshelf. — Homeschooling Today”

Is your child getting lost in the system, becoming bored, losing his or her natural eagerness to learn? If so, it may be time to take charge of your child’s education — by doing it yourself. This book will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school — one that will train him or her to read, to think, to understand, to be well-rounded and curious about learning. The Well-Trained Mind outlines the classical pattern of education called the trivium, which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child’s mind. Thousands of parents and teachers have already used the detailed book lists and methods decribed in The Well-Trained Mind to create a truly superior education for the children in their care. This newly-revised edition contains completely updated ordering information for all curricula and books, new and expanded curricula recommendations, new material on using computers and distance learning resources, answers to common questions about home education, information about educational support groups, and advice on practical matters such as working with your local school board, preparing a high school transcript, and applying to colleges. The Well-Trained Mind will give you the tools you’ll need to teach your child with confidence and success. For more, visit www.welltrainedmind.com. WW Norton • 2004 (revised), 1999 • ISBN 0-393-05927-8

The Story of the World Series

A narrative history of the world, written for grades K – 6

“This may well be the best multiage read aloud narrative of world history yet to have been written.” — Homeschooling in Japan

Told in the straightforward, engaging style that has become Susan Wise Bauer’s trademark, The Story of the World covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas — find out what happened around the world in the centuries before our own. This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children, or for older readers to enjoy alone. Introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world’s civilizations! For more, visit www.peacehillpress.com. Peace Hill Press • 2001–2005 • ISBNs 0-9728603-0-1 / 0-9714129-3-6 / 0-9714129-9-5 / 0-9728603-4-7