A PICTURESQUE TALE OF PROGRESS was written by Olive Beaupre Miller, assisted by Harry Neal Baum, former professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. The set includes 8 volumes (with separate Index) divided into 4 themes: Beginnings, Conquests, New Nations, Explorations. Dawn Chorus is also publishing a condensed set bound in 4 volumes. 'Picturesque' here refers to the many beautiful illustrations and maps that give this work its unique value. In a world where the quality of education has deteriorated, may the reissue of this wonderful historical text shine as a beacon to a new generation of young (and not-so-young) scholars THIS SET IS ESPECIALLY BELOVED AND SOUGHT AFTER BY HOME SCHOOLERS. BEGINNINGS I starts with Early Man, followed by the rise and fall of Egypt. BEGINNINGS II covers Babylonia, the Assyrian empire, and biblical history from Abraham to the Fall of Jerusalem. CONQUESTS I follows the history of Crete and Greece, from their rise as political states through the conquests of Alexander the Great. CONQUESTS II presents the history of Rome, and covers early Christianity and the conversion of Rome. NEW NATIONS I covers the Fall of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Medieval Church, Vikings, and Feudal Age. NEW NATIONS II moves from the Byzantine Empire and the Crusades to Spain and the Moors, the development of England, France as a monarchy, Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, and Italy and the Renaissance. EXPLORATIONS I covers Marco Polo, Genghis Khan, the conquests of the Mongols, and Africa and India. EXPLORATIONS II follows the New World from ancient times: the voyages of Leif Ericsson and Columbus introducing extensive treatment of the peoples in the Americas, especially the civilizations of Mexico, Central America, and southwestern America and their conquest by the Spanish. The series ends here-with the discovery of America. The ninth volume is an invaluable INDEX to peoples and places throughout world history from Ancient Egypt through the discovery of America.