About View from Today. Each Web site has its own View from Today section. Here, you'll find out what's real and what's imaginary and get today's perspective on the events, people, and places described. In each View box, you'll also find links to lots of additional information in World Book articles.

World Book Articles. View from Today tells you of World Book articles with more information about the real events you've discovered in Surf the Ages. Clicking on one of the article titles in View from Today will make the article appear on your screen. To extend the information they give you, many World Book articles list other related World Book articles, books to read, or links to relevant real Web sites.

Why Three Ages? Surf the Ages is divided into three ages representing the three main parts of an English-language, or European view of history. About 5,500 years ago, history began with the development of writing which enabled people to record events, or to write history. In Ancient Times, civilizations and knowledge developed and spread in all parts of the world. Much of those civilizations' knowledge is recorded in stone. The Roman Empire which covered most of Europe, became fragmented in the A.D. 400's. European historians call the period after that, from about A.D. 500 to 1500, the Middle Ages. During this period, written learning grew in importance, and universities were founded in the Arab world, and later in Europe. After about 1500, Europeans increasingly explored the world and traded with distant lands, and this period is called Modern Times. In Modern Times, the written word has become much more widespread through printing and computerization.