Walls: a history of civilization in blood and brick

Introduction: A wall against the wasteland

Part one: Builders and barbarians

Midwife to civilization: wall builders at the dawn of history: the ancient Near East, 2500-500 BC

To wall or not to wall?: Greece, 600-338 BC

"Cries of pain and sadness": China, 214 BC

Wallers and warriors: life outside the walls: Eurasia, 2000 BC-AD 1800

Part two: The great age of walls

Prologue to the great age of walls: Alexander's gates: timeless folklore

Walls connect Eurasia: China and central Asia, c. 100 BC

Hadrian's walls: the Roman Empire, AD 117-38

Paradise lost: The Roman Empire, c. AD 300

Defenseless behind walls: The Roman and Byzantine Empires, AD 400-600

Cycles of walls and despots: China, AD 280-1600

Walls and the Apocalypse: Western and Central Asia, AD 500-1300

Part three: The world in transition

The horrible bombard: Constantinople, AD 1453

Beyond the pale: Ireland, Scotland, and the Russian Empire, AD 1494-c. 1800

Fort Brokenheart: South, Central, and North America, prehistory-AD 1800

Part four: A clash of symbols

The last battles: China and France, 1933-40

"A hell of a lot better than a war": Berlin, 1961-89

Epilogue: "Love your neighbor, but don't pull down your hedge": Earth, 1990-present.