v. 1. Hammurabi and Moses: law as a mirror of civilization
Zoroaster and Buddha: explaining suffering
Confucius and Plato: a few really good people
Mahavira and Diogenes: unconventional men
Thucydides and Sima Qian: learning from the past
Asoka and Shi Huangdi: honey and vinegar
Irene and Wu Zhao: two iconoclasts
Genghis Khan: incomparable nomad conqueror
Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta: the merchant and the pilgrim
Mansa Musa and Louis IX: pilgrims and state-builders
Prince Henry and Zheng He: sailing south
Erasmus and Luther: the reformer's dilemma
Elizabeth and Akbar: the religion of the ruler?
Kangxi and Louis XIV: dynastic rulers, east and west.
