Beignning with the early Middle Eastern civilizations of Sumer, and continuing right through to the Islmic invasions and the birth of modern Europe after the collapse of the Roman empire, the book ranges beyond political history to cover art and architecture, philosophy, literature, society, and economy. A wide range of maps, illustrations, and photographs complements the text.
This third edition has been extensively revised to appeal to the general reader with several chapters completely rewritten and a great deal of new material added, including a new selection of images.
In recent years, he has developed a study tour programme of Italy, including Sicily. He has now led twelve tours, the latest to Friuli, with Turin on the schedule for 2013. In 2005 Charles was appointed to the Editorial Board of the Blue Guides as Historical Consultant and he has written the historical introductions to several volumes of the new editions including Rome, Florence, Venice, and Mainland Greece. He is also the author of The Blue Guide Sites of Antiquity: Fifty Sites that Explain the Classical World (2009) which has been widely praised.