Clear, concise yet wide-ranging, 'Ancient World in Minutes' is the quickest way to understand the great civilisations of the distant past. From the first-ever cities of Sumeria and Babylon around 3500 BCE to the fall of Rome and the bloody demise of the Aztecs, here - in 200 mini-essays - are the critical leaders and wars; ideas and inventions; myths and religions; and art and architecture of the first 5000 years of recorded history.