★ Subvert traditional cognition! The book reveals dozens of overlooked historical details such as the Egyptian pharaoh being a "cat slave" and Newton's dominance in the financial industry, rigorously verifying and reshaping the worldview.

★ Read history with diverse perspectives such as war, technology, and celebrities, and let stories like "The Origin of Marathon" and "Orange Juice Saves the Sea" shine again on the dim stars.

★ Reject fast food style knowledge! By connecting fragmented truths from ancient Babylon to contemporary times, cultivate dialectical thinking that penetrates through the fog of history.

★ Micro-narratives open the vast panorama of civilization—Louis XIV and Kangxi as pen-pals, and other episodes so vivid they feel like time travel.

★ A global panorama of civilizations rising and falling, giving readers a systematic mental map in the age of information overload.

Approaching world history from fresh angles—war, civilization, technology, celebrities—this book recounts little-known turning points, overlooked details and quirky stories: Egyptian pharaohs were “cat slaves,” Louis XIV and Emperor Kangxi exchanged letters, Newton dominated English finance, Edison and Tesla became arch-rivals over electricity, and more. Written in captivating language, it uncovers the secrets hidden behind “well-known” facts and reveals the true face of history.

WAR & MYSTERY
• Marathon: a battle that literally ran into history
• Troy: a city undone by a wooden horse
• Alexander’s secret weapon: the Macedonian phalanx
• “Yankee Doodle”: originally a British insult
• History’s shortest war—less than an hour
• One stray shell that swayed Verdun
• Why it took the Seventh Coalition to finish Napoleon
• Christmas truce on the WWI front line
• A submarine sunk by a tank (yes, really)
• How winter twice saved Russia
• The crisis that nearly ended the world

CIVILIZATION IN PROGRESS
• Babylon already had the world’s first written law code
• Pharaohs: cat-obsessed rulers
• Ancient Greeks voted guilt or innocence with pottery shards
• Archimedes, scientist turned city-defender
• Alexander’s dream of a universal library
• “Arabic” numerals were invented in India
• Buddhism was founded by a prince
• Byzantium almost bought the great Orban cannon
• Fascism’s roots in ancient Rome
• Maya astronomers had observatories centuries ago
• The Knights Hospitaller: a “quasi-state” at sea
• Louis XIV and Kangxi: pen-pals across continents
• Darwin’s pet tortoise only died recently
• Racial segregation in the U.S. lasted into the 1960s
• Coca-Cola is over a century old
• Dinosaurs became famous barely 200 years ago
• A president who created the Secret Service was later assassinated
• Nintendo existed in the Qing dynasty
• France guillotined its last criminal in 1977

AGE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Orange juice: the miracle cure of the Age of Sail
• The world’s first female programmer
• Selfies were already a thing 200 years ago
• Pirates didn’t wear eyepatches for missing eyes
• Gatling gun: invented by a doctor
• Surgical antisepsis is surprisingly recent
• The first X-ray photo (late 19th c.)
• Radium once glowed on watch dials
• The very first 3-D movie, 1922
• Malaria used to treat syphilis
• Fighter jets made of stainless steel

HISTORY IN ANECDOTES
• Cleopatra: femme fatale or political genius?
• Julius Caesar, prolific author
• The Erfurt latrine disaster
• Playing cards once served as legal tender
• Every face card has a historical prototype
• The star of the first World Expo? The building itself
• Sagrada Família: three centuries and still rising
• Edison vs Tesla: the war of currents
• Picasso’s brush against Nazi Germany
• The first astronaut was a dog

CELEBRITIES & CURIOSITIES
• Leonardo da Vinci: far more than a painter
• Louis XIV invented high heels—for himself
• Newton, the stock-market wizard
• George Washington: death by bloodletting
• Bismarck, fired by his own emperor
• Göring should have been named Meyer
• Einstein chronically forgot his keys
• Fidel Castro: the man who survived everything

Preface

In the vast galaxy of world history every star is a fragment of the past; together they compose the grand panorama of human civilization. From the first sparks in ancient cradles to the global networks of today, countless moments have been etched into memory through documents, ruins and legend. Yet many stars remain dim or unseen, leaving us with distorted impressions. History has many faces, for it is boundless while our knowledge is finite. This book stitches fragmentary truths into a coherent tapestry—from Babylon to the present, across war, civilization, technology and celebrity—inviting the reader on an eye-opening journey.

While consulting a wide range of sources, the author has chosen micro-narratives to illuminate a world that feels unfamiliar yet is undeniably real. Should any inaccuracies remain, corrections from readers are warmly welcomed. Let us grasp the threads of history, enter its depths, and touch its true face.