The Penguin Encyclopedia of Classical Civilizations by Arthur Cotterell
This companion to the editor's "Penguin Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations" goes beyond the misleading definition of "classical" civilization, which is traditionally reserved for Greco-Roman antiquity, and examines the five great civilizations which were at their height between 550BC and 600AD: the Chinese, the Indians, the Persians, the Greeks and their Roman heirs.