Point taken on board, Merzbow, but it's possible to have a structure that is both chronological and geographic. Either main headings are time periods and subheadings are regions. Or main headings are regions and subheadings are time periods. Albert Hourani does approximately the first option in A History of the Arab Peoples, regarded as a standard text. I'm not categorical about what structure is best. I just think that the existing one gives the impression that the whole history was just one injustice after another, which does not chime well with the consensus of historians.     