The glory that was Rome -- The early days of Britain -- Christianity comes to Britain -- The Byzantine empire -- The medieval Indian empire -- The rise of Islam -- Islam become an empire -- The great dynasties of China -- East of China -- The bottom of the world -- The kingdom of the Franks -- The Islamic invasion -- The great kings of France -- The arrival of the Norsemen -- The first kings of England -- England after the conquest -- Knights and Samurai -- The age of crusaders -- A new kind of king -- The diaspora -- The Mongols devastate the east -- Exploring the mysterious east -- The first Russians -- The Ottoman empire -- The end of the world -- France and England at war -- War for the English throne -- The kingdoms of Spain and Portugal -- African kingdom -- India under the Moghuls -- Exploring new worlds -- The American kingdoms -- Spain, Portugal, and the new world -- Martin Luther's new ideas -- The Renaissance -- Reformation and counter reformation -- The new universe -- England's greatest queen -- England's greatest playwright -- New ventures to the Americas -- Explorations in the north -- Empires collide -- Appendix one: chronology of the Middle Ages -- Appendix two: a geography of the Middle Ages -- Appendix three: pronouncing the names of the Middle Ages.