Realms of gold : From distant ophir -- In the shadow of olympus -- The silk road and the monsoon wind -- The fertile centuries : The funeral of the world -- The triumph of the Son of God -- Ancient wisdom and foreign riches -- The augmentation of the Indies : The opening door -- The face and state of things -- The dream of Cathay : Confucius conquers Europe -- The Chinese madness -- A floating world -- The crescent and the lotus : Out of the Arabian nights -- The fatal ring -- The discovery of the West : The Kingdom of Christ -- The empire of learning -- The republic of man Postscript -- A common heritage

1. East and West