The Chronicles of History
Illustrated timelines of civilisations and empires, from the Bronze Age to the twentieth century.
Pick a historical region to begin. Each chronicle traces the milestones of an era, year by year.
American History
10 chronicles- Turtle Island · Before 1492Pre-Columbian North America
Mound-builders, cliff cities, and confederacies before European contact.
Pre-Columbian North America · Before 1492 - Thirteen Colonies · 1492-1763Colonial America
Jamestown to the French and Indian War: the making of colonial America.
Colonial America · 1492-1763 - Founding · 1765-1789The American Revolution
Revolution, independence, and the framing of the Constitution.
The American Revolution · 1765-1789 - Young Nation · 1789-1836The Early Republic
Louisiana, the War of 1812, and Jacksonian democracy.
The Early Republic · 1789-1836 - Manifest Destiny · 1836-1860Antebellum America
Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, and the crisis over slavery.
Antebellum America · 1836-1860 - A House Divided · 1861-1877Civil War & Reconstruction
The war that ended slavery and the struggle to rebuild the Union.
Civil War & Reconstruction · 1861-1877 - Industry & Reform · 1869-1914Gilded Age & Progressive Era
Railroads, immigration, big business, and the age of reform.
Gilded Age & Progressive Era · 1869-1914 - Arsenal of Democracy · 1917-1945World Wars & Depression
Two world wars, the Great Depression, and the New Deal.
World Wars & Depression · 1917-1945 - Superpower · 1947-1991Cold War America
Containment, civil rights, the Moon, Vietnam, and the Cold War's end.
Cold War America · 1947-1991 - Digital Age · 1991-PresentContemporary America
The internet, 9/11, financial crisis, and a divided nation.
Contemporary America · 1991-Present
British History
6 chronicles- BritanniaPrehistoric & Roman Britain
Stonehenge, the Celtic tribes, and four centuries of Rome at the edge of the world.
Prehistoric & Roman Britain · 9000 BC-410 AD - EnglalandAnglo-Saxon England
The making of England, from the Saxon migrations to Alfred, Cnut, and Hastings.
Anglo-Saxon England · 449-1066 AD - PlantagenetNorman & Medieval England
Normans and Magna Carta, Agincourt and the Wars of the Roses: England from 1066 to Bosworth.
Norman & Medieval England · 1066-1485 AD - Tudor & StuartEarly Modern Britain
Tudors and Stuarts, the Armada and the Civil Wars, up to the Union of 1707.
Early Modern Britain · 1485-1714 AD - Pax BritannicaIndustrial & Imperial Britain
The century Britain ruled the seas and the factories, from Walpole to the eve of 1914.
Industrial & Imperial Britain · 1714-1914 AD - United KingdomModern Britain
Two world wars, the welfare state, the end of empire, Brexit, and Charles III.
Modern Britain · 1914-Present
Global Conflicts
6 chronicles- Bellum TricennaleThirty Years' War
Thirty years that bled the Empire, from a window in Prague to the Peace of Westphalia.
Thirty Years' War · 1618-1648 - The First World WarSeven Years' War
Arguably the first world war, fought from Silesia to Plassey to the plains of Quebec.
Seven Years' War · 1756-1763 - L'EmpireNapoleonic Wars
Austerlitz to Waterloo: a decade in which one man fought all of Europe.
Napoleonic Wars · 1803-1815 - The Great WarWorld War I
One assassination in Sarajevo, four years of trenches, and four empires gone.
World War I · 1914-1918 - The Second World WarWorld War II
The deadliest war in history, from the invasion of Poland to the surrender of Japan.
World War II · 1939-1945 - East vs WestThe Cold War
Forty years the world held its breath: Berlin, Cuba, Afghanistan, and the Wall.
The Cold War · 1947-1991
Greek History
9 chronicles- Aegean Bronze AgeBronze Age Greece
Cycladic idols, Minoan palaces and Mycenaean warlords: Greece before it had an alphabet.
Bronze Age Greece · 3200-1100 BC - Archaic GreeceArchaic Greece
The polis takes shape: colonists sail west and Greece learns to write again.
Archaic Greece · 800-480 BC - Classical GreeceClassical Greece
Athens and Sparta at their height — democracy, tragedy, and a war that never seemed to end.
Classical Greece · 490-323 BC - HellasHellenistic Period
Alexander's heirs and their kingdoms, from Babylon to Cleopatra's Egypt.
Hellenistic Period · 323-31 BC - Provincia AchaeaRoman Greece
Greece as a Roman province, from Augustus and Hadrian to the eve of Constantinople.
Roman Greece · 27 BC-324 AD - ΡΩΜΑΝΙΑEastern Roman Empire
A thousand years of Rome that never fell, ruled from Constantinople.
Eastern Roman Empire · 330-1453 AD - RumeliaOttoman Greece
The Greek world under Ottoman rule, and the long road to 1821.
Ottoman Greece · 1453-1830 AD - Hellenic RepublicModern Greek State
Independence, monarchy, dictatorship and democracy: Greece since 1832.
Modern Greek State · 1832-Present - ΙΩΝΙΑ · ΠΟΝΤΟΣPontus & Asia Minor
Three thousand years of Greek life in Ionia, Pontus and Cappadocia, ending in 1922.
Pontus & Asia Minor · 1100 BC-1923 AD
Italian History
9 chronicles- ItaliaPrehistoric & Ancient Italy
Before Rome: Ötzi and the nuraghi, the Villanovans and the Latins.
Prehistoric & Ancient Italy · before 753 BCE - SPQRRoman History
From a village on the Tiber to an empire that outlived itself.
Roman History · 753 BC-476 AD - Alto MedioevoEarly Middle Ages
Rome has fallen, and Ostrogoths, Lombards, popes and Franks contend for Italy.
Early Middle Ages · 476-1000 AD - Comuni e SignorieHigh Middle Ages & City-States
Communes and the Black Death, Venice and the signorie, up to the eve of the Italian Wars.
High Middle Ages & City-States · 1000-1494 AD - RinascimentoItalian Renaissance
Art, humanism and hard politics in the city-states that reinvented Europe.
Italian Renaissance · 1300-1600 AD - Secolo di FerroForeign Domination & Early Modern Era
Two centuries of Spanish, Austrian and Bourbon masters, from Cateau-Cambrésis to Napoleon.
Foreign Domination & Early Modern Italy · 1559-1797 AD - RisorgimentoNapoleonic Period & Risorgimento
Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi make a nation, from Napoleon to the capture of Rome.
Napoleonic Period & Risorgimento · 1796-1871 AD - Italia LiberaleLiberal Italy & World Wars
From Giolitti's liberal Italy to Mussolini, empire, and the ruin of 1945.
Liberal Italy & World Wars · 1871-1945 AD - Repubblica ItalianaRepublic of Italy
The postwar Republic: economic miracle, the Years of Lead, the euro, and today.
Republic of Italy · 1946-Present
Egyptian History
14 chronicles- KemetPrehistoric Egypt
Before the pharaohs: Nile hunters, Nabta Playa, and the cultures that became Egypt.
Prehistoric Egypt · before c. 3100 BCE - TawyEarly Dynastic Period
The first pharaohs unite the Two Lands and found Memphis.
Early Dynastic Egypt · c. 3100–2686 BCE - Age of the PyramidsOld Kingdom
The Age of the Pyramids: Djoser, Imhotep, Giza, and the collapse that followed.
Old Kingdom · c. 2686–2181 BCE - Collapse & RenewalFirst Intermediate & Middle Kingdom
Collapse, reunification under Mentuhotep, a golden age, and the coming of the Hyksos.
First Intermediate & Middle Kingdom · c. 2181–1650 BCE - The Hyksos AgeSecond Intermediate Period
Egypt divided between the Hyksos and Kush, until Thebes rises to reunite it.
Second Intermediate Period · c. 1650–1550 BCE - The Egyptian EmpireNew Kingdom
Egypt's imperial zenith: Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, and Ramesses the Great.
New Kingdom · c. 1550–1069 BCE - Division & Foreign KingsThird Intermediate Period
A divided Egypt under Libyan and Kushite kings, until Assyria and then Saïs reunite it.
Third Intermediate Period · c. 1069–664 BCE - The Last PharaohsLate Period
The last native pharaohs, two Persian conquests, and the arrival of Alexander.
Late Period · c. 664–332 BCE - Hellenistic EgyptPtolemaic Period
Greek pharaohs, the Library of Alexandria, and Cleopatra's last stand at Actium.
Ptolemaic Period · 332–30 BCE - AegyptusRoman & Byzantine Egypt
Rome's breadbasket becomes a Christian land, from Augustus to the Arab conquest.
Roman & Byzantine Egypt · 30 BCE–641 CE - MisrIslamic Egypt
The Fatimids found Cairo, Saladin rules, and the Mamluks hold Egypt until 1517.
Islamic Egypt · 641–1517 - Eyalet-i MısırOttoman Egypt
An Ottoman province run by Mamluk beys, shaken by Napoleon's invasion of 1798.
Ottoman Egypt · 1517–1805 - The Making of Modern EgyptMuhammad Ali & British Influence
Muhammad Ali's modern state, the Suez Canal, British rule, and the revolution of 1952.
Muhammad Ali & British Influence · 1805–1952 - Modern EgyptRepublic of Egypt
Nasser, the Suez Crisis, Sadat's peace, Mubarak, and the revolution of 2011.
Republic of Egypt · 1952–present
French History
9 chronicles- GalliaPrehistoric & Ancient Gaul
Cave painters, the stones of Carnac, Vercingetorix, and the last emperors of the West.
Prehistoric & Ancient Gaul · before the 5th century CE - FranciaEarly Middle Ages / Frankish Kingdoms
Clovis, Charlemagne and the partition of Verdun: the Franks build the West.
Frankish Kingdoms · 5th–10th centuries CE - Regnum FranciaeHigh & Late Middle Ages
The Capetians, the crusades, Joan of Arc, and the long climb out of the Hundred Years' War.
High & Late Medieval France · 10th–15th centuries CE - Renaissance FrançaiseRenaissance & Religious Wars
Francis I and Leonardo, then decades of religious war ending at the Edict of Nantes.
French Renaissance & Wars of Religion · 15th–16th centuries CE - Ancien RégimeAbsolute Monarchy & the Ancien Régime
Richelieu, the Sun King at Versailles, and the Enlightenment that undid them both.
Absolute Monarchy & the Ancien Régime · 17th–18th centuries CE - Liberté · Égalité · FraternitéFrench Revolution & Napoleon
Month by month from the Bastille to Waterloo: revolution, Terror, and Napoleon.
French Revolution & Napoleon · 1789–1815 - Le long XIXe siècle19th-Century France
Restoration to Republic: revolutions, the Commune, the Dreyfus Affair, and 1914.
19th-Century France · 1815–1914 - République en périlWorld Wars & Crisis
Two wars in thirty years: the Marne, Verdun, Vichy, the Resistance, and a freed Paris.
France · World Wars & Crisis · 1914–1945 - République françaiseModern & Contemporary France
De Gaulle to the Paris Olympics: decolonisation, the Fifth Republic, and the euro.
Modern & Contemporary France · 1945–present
German History
7 chronicles- GermaniaGermanic Antiquity
From Arminius in the Teutoburg forest to the great migrations and Charlemagne's crown.
Germanic Antiquity · 750 BC-800 AD - Sacrum Imperium RomanumHoly Roman Empire
Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire — and yet a thousand years of it, from Charlemagne to Napoleon.
Holy Roman Empire · 800-1806 AD - DeutschlandRise of Prussia & German Unification
Prussia rebuilds after Jena and, under Bismarck, forges a German Reich by 1871.
Rise of Prussia & German Unification · 1806-1871 AD - KaiserreichThe German Empire
Bismarck's Reich at its height, the naval race, and the road to 1918.
The German Empire · 1871-1918 AD - Weimarer RepublikThe Weimar Republic
Fourteen fragile years between Versailles and Hitler: revolt, hyperinflation, jazz, and collapse.
The Weimar Republic · 1919-1933 AD - Drittes ReichNazi Germany & World War II
Twelve years from the Enabling Act to the Berlin bunker: dictatorship, war, and the Holocaust.
Nazi Germany & World War II · 1933-1945 AD - BundesrepublikDivided & Modern Germany
Division and the Wall, reunification and the euro, from 1945 to the Zeitenwende.
Divided & Modern Germany · 1945-Present
Russian History
8 chronicles- Before Rus'Early Slavic / Pre-State Period
Slavs, Finns, steppe nomads and Varangians, in the centuries before Rus'.
Early Slavic / Pre-State Period · before c. 862 CE - Rus' of KyivKievan Rus'
Rurik's line, Vladimir's baptism and Yaroslav's golden age, until the Mongols came.
Kievan Rus' · c. 862-1240 - From Horde to MuscovyFragmentation & Mongol Period
Under the Golden Horde, Moscow rises and gathers the Russian lands.
Fragmentation & Mongol Period · 1240-c. 1480/1547 - Tsardom of RussiaTsardom of Russia
From Ivan the Terrible, through the Time of Troubles, to Peter the Great's new empire.
Tsardom of Russia · 1547-1721 - Imperium RossicumRussian Empire
Peter, Catherine, 1812 and the freeing of the serfs, until revolution ended the Romanovs.
Russian Empire · 1721-1917 - 1917 · РеволюцияRevolution & Civil War
Five years that remade the world: February, Red October, civil war, and a new union.
Revolution & Civil War · 1917-1922 - СССР · USSRSoviet Union
Lenin to Gorbachev: revolution, terror, the Great Patriotic War, and collapse.
Soviet Union · 1922-1991 - Российская ФедерацияRussian Federation
After the USSR: Yeltsin's chaos, Putin's rise, Crimea, and the war in Ukraine.
Russian Federation · 1991-Present
Chinese History
10 chronicles- 中國 · ZhongguoAncient China: Xia to Zhou
Oracle bones and bronze kings, Confucius and the Warring States: China before the empire.
Ancient China · to 221 BC - 秦漢 · Qin-HanQin & Han Empire
The First Emperor and the Terracotta Army, the Han and the Silk Road.
Qin & Han Empire · 221 BC-220 AD - 六朝 · Six DynastiesDivision & the Sui
Three Kingdoms and Red Cliffs, the spread of Buddhism, and the reuniting Sui.
Division & the Sui · 220-618 AD - 唐 · TangTang Dynasty
Cosmopolitan Chang'an, Empress Wu and Li Bai: China's golden age.
Tang Dynasty · 618-907 AD - 宋 · SongSong Dynasty
Gunpowder, the compass and paper money: China's commercial and scientific golden age.
Song Dynasty · 960-1279 AD - 元 · YuanYuan Dynasty
Kublai Khan and Marco Polo: all China under the Mongols.
Yuan Dynasty · 1271-1368 AD - 明 · MingMing Dynasty
The Forbidden City, Zheng He's treasure fleets, and the Great Wall in stone.
Ming Dynasty · 1368-1644 AD - 清 · QingQing Dynasty
The Manchu empire at its height, the Opium Wars, and the fall of imperial China.
Qing Dynasty · 1644-1912 AD - 中華民國 · RepublicRepublican China
Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, the warlords, the Long March and the war with Japan.
Republican China · 1912-1949 AD - 中華人民共和國 · PRCPeople's Republic of China
Mao and Deng, the Cultural Revolution and reform: the making of modern China.
People's Republic of China · 1949-Present
Persian History
10 chronicles- Ancient IranElam & Ancient Iran
Elam and its ziggurats, and the Medes and Persians who inherited the plateau.
Elam & Ancient Iran · 3200-550 BC - Persian EmpireAchaemenid Empire
Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes: the first world empire, from Persepolis to the Persian Wars.
Achaemenid Empire · 550-330 BC - Arsacid IranSeleucid & Parthian Iran
Alexander's heirs and the Parthian horse-archers who fought Rome to a standstill.
Seleucid & Parthian Iran · 330 BC-224 AD - ĒrānshahrSasanian Empire
Rome's equal in the East: Zoroastrian Persia from Ardashir to the Arab conquest.
Sasanian Empire · 224-651 AD - The Persian RevivalIslamic Iran & the Caliphates
Conquered by the Arabs, Persia remakes Islam: Baghdad, Ferdowsi and Avicenna.
Islamic Iran & the Caliphates · 651-1040 AD - Turks & MongolsSeljuks, Mongols & Ilkhanate
Seljuk sultans, the Assassins of Alamut, and the Mongol storm that remade Iran.
Seljuks, Mongols & Ilkhanate · 1040-1370 AD - The Timurid RenaissanceTimurid & Turkmen Iran
Tamerlane's conquests and the brilliant art of Herat and Samarkand.
Timurid & Turkmen Iran · 1370-1501 AD - Shia IranSafavid Empire
Iran reunited and made Shia, and the wonder of Abbas the Great's Isfahan.
Safavid Empire · 1501-1736 AD - The Long Nineteenth CenturyAfsharid, Zand & Qajar Iran
Nader Shah's conquests and the Qajar century of lost provinces and reform.
Afsharid, Zand & Qajar Iran · 1736-1925 AD - Modern IranPahlavi Iran & Islamic Republic
Oil, the Pahlavi shahs, and the 1979 revolution that made the Islamic Republic.
Pahlavi Iran & Islamic Republic · 1925-Present
Spanish History
10 chronicles- HispaniaPrehistoric & Ancient Iberia
Atapuerca, the painted caves of Altamira, Tartessos, and the Carthaginians before Rome.
Prehistoric & Ancient Iberia · before 218 BCE - Hispania RomanaRoman Hispania
Six centuries of Roman Hispania: Numantia, the emperors it gave Rome, and the Visigoths who inherited it.
Roman Hispania · 218 BCE – 5th century CE - Regnum GothorumVisigothic Spain
The Visigothic kingdom from Vouillé to Guadalete, where it fell to the armies of Islam.
Visigothic Spain · 5th century – 711 CE - al-AndalusAl-Andalus & the Reconquista
Al-Andalus and the Christian kingdoms, from Covadonga to the fall of Granada in 1492.
Al-Andalus & the Reconquista · 711–1492 CE - Monarchía HispánicaThe Spanish Empire & Golden Age
The empire on which the sun never set: Cortés, Lepanto, Velázquez, and slow decline.
Spanish Empire & Golden Age · 1492–1700 - España BorbónicaBourbon Reforms & Decline of Empire
A new dynasty reforms Spain, from the War of Succession to the uprising of 1808.
Bourbon Spain · 1700–1808 - España LiberalCrisis, Liberalism & Lost Colonies
A century of civil war and lost colonies, ending in the Disaster of 1898.
Crisis, Liberalism & Lost Colonies · 1808–1898 - España en guerraEarly 20th Century & Civil War
From Alfonso XIII to Guernica: the road to and through the Spanish Civil War.
Early 20th Century & Civil War · 1898–1939 - El CaudilloFrancoist Spain
Thirty-six years of dictatorship, from the Years of Hunger to the death of Franco.
Francoist Spain · 1939–1975 - España democráticaDemocratic Spain & the Modern Era
Spain since Franco: a new democracy, Europe, the Barcelona Olympics, and Catalonia.
Democratic Spain · 1975–present