War and peace. Sumer and Akkad ; Egypt ; Assyria and Babylonia ; Persia -- Empires of the classical world. Athens ; Rome ; Alexander ; Iran ; India ; China -- Empires of faith. The Byzantine Empire ; The Holy Roman Empire ; The Abbasid Caliphate -- Empires of the horse. The Mongols ; Chinese empires ; Muslim India ; The Ottoman Empire -- Empires of isolation. The Empire of Mali ; The Aztec Empire ; The Inca Empire -- The first global empires. The empires of Spain and Portugal ; The Dutch ; Britain and France in America -- Empires and nations. Napoleon ; Russia ; The Austrian Habsburgs -- Empires of industrial capitalism. The British empire ; The high age of imperialism ; The Empire of Japan -- Empires and utopias. The United States of America ; The Soviet Union ; The European Union.