The two chapters in this section serve as the prelude to the discussion of the transition towards modernity that occupies the bulk of the book. In order to understand modernity, it is necessary to understand the cumulative building of global society over the two eras that preceded it: what each did and did not contribute to the one that followed it. Without understanding the material conditions and social structures of each era, it is not possible to get a clear view of the transitions between them, what got carried forward and what not, and what the changes were. These two eras are, of course, interesting in themselves when viewed in this perspective, but the immediate purpose of analysing them here is to set up the historical flows that led to, and into, the transition towards modernity. A second purpose is to lay the groundwork for the comparative study of eras, though that is only lightly followed-through in this book.