"Best books on earliest civilisations " Topic

As the title says, what are the best books for an introduction to the earliest civilisations?

I just read 1177 BC The Year Civililization Collapsed by Erich H. Cline and I enjoyed it.

I was looking at they one, but I'd like to go back another three and a half thousand odd years. What's the Michael Woods book, 'In search of the First Civilisations' like?

Europe Before the Rome covers the paleolithic through the early Iron Age. It has good sections on the Mediterranean civilizations.

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And another good one on Europe is Bronze Age Warfare
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For the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations I'm not sure which is the best, but I myself am looking for a definitive work or works on Chinese civilization from the Shang through the establishment of the Qin.

Price's book looks to be just what I'm after, thanks.

'Egypt to the end of the Old Kingdom' Cyril Aldred
'Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History' Postgate

Based on the literal interpretation of the question. Most of the above noted were not even close to the "earliest" civilizations.

A good discussion of the earliest ones can be found at:

At David W. Anthony's The Horse, the Wheel, and Language

Jean Manco's Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings covers more ground, but with much less detail.

Which would you recommend to read first, Anthony or Manco's? Remembering I'm a neophyte when it comes to such matters!

Hamblin's "Warfare in the Ancient Near East" is a great (if a little dense) introduction to the military side of things during this period. Covers Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor and the Holy Land pretty well.