Synopses & Reviews
This brief, best-selling Western civilization text has helped thousands of students learn about the world they live in by exploring the story of its past. Jack Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative weaves the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military aspects of history into a gripping story that is as memorable as it is instructive. Each chapter offers a substantial introduction and conclusion that sparks students' imaginations by giving them a context within which to understand these disparate themes. And while the single-author narrative makes it easy for students to follow the story of Western civilization, Spielvogel has included dozens of maps and primary sources--including official documents, poems, and songs--that enliven the past while introducing students to the challenges involved in interpreting history. This edition includes substantial new material on world history to show students the impact of other parts of the world on Western civilization and is now the BRIEFEST of the leading brief Western civilization texts. Available in the following split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: A BRIEF HISTORY, Third Edition (Chapters 1-29),
Review
"Jackson J. Spielvogel presents a concise and balanced synthesis in this 'Brief Edition' that is eminently readable and informative. This is the first textbook that I have used in twenty years that my students have not only read, but have told me that they enjoy reading."
Review
"à the vision is clear and is implemented well. There is material on all of these aspects of history handled in a nicely balanced way. I really enjoy the introductory material and conclusions which often give me ideas for lecture themes."
Review
"Yes, indeed, the author's vision is compelling and consistent. à I repeatedly hear among colleagues that Spielvogel's text is overtly more consistent than other textbooks, particularly more so than textbooks written by multiple authors or in their eleventh or twelve editions."
Review
"I particularly like his emphasis on narrative history, the providing of continuity from one section to the next and the effort to provide an integrated text."
Review
"I have been very pleased with Spielvogel over the years. It is written in a style that is easily readable for my students, clear, and interesting. The text has always followed very closely my one lecture order, so that makes it very easy for my students."
Synopsis
This brief version of the comprehensive edition of WESTERN CIVILIZATION retains all of the best-selling features of the larger book in a condensed format. Three versions are available: Comprehensive (Chapters 1-29), Volume I: To 1715 (Chapters 1-15), and Volume II: Since 1500 (Chapters 13-29).
About the Author
Jackson J. Spielvogel is associate professor emeritus of history at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he studied Reformation history under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as "Moreana," "Journal of General Education," "Catholic Historical Review," "Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte," and "American Historical Review." He has also contributed chapters or articles to "The Social History of Reformation," THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, "Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual of Holocaust Studies," and "Utopian Studies." His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western civilization courses as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (Fifth Edition, 2005). He is the co-author (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in January 1994 (Fifth Edition, 2007). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the year 1988-1989, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. In 1996, he won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member, and in 2000 received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award.
Table of Contents
1. The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations. 2. The Ancient Near East: Empires and Peoples. 3. The Civilization of the Greeks. 4. The Hellenistic World. 5. The Roman Republic. 6. The Roman Empire. 7. The Passing of the Roman World and the Emergence of Medieval Civilization. 8. European Civilization in the Early Middle Ages, 750-1000. 9. The Recovery and Growth of European Society in the High Middle Ages. 10. A New World of Cities and Kingdoms. 11. The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Disintegration in the Fourteenth Century. 12. Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance. 13. The Age of Reformation. 14. Discovery and Crisis in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 15. Response to Crisis: State Building and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth Century. 16. Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth: The Scientific Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Science. 17. The Eighteenth Century: An Age of Enlightenment. 18. The Eighteenth Century: European States, International Wars, and Social Change. 19. A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon. 20. The Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on European Society. 21. Reaction, Revolution, and Romanticism, 1815-1850. 22. An Age of Nationalism and Realism, 1850-1871. 23. Mass Society in an "Age of Progress," 1871-1894. 24. An Age of Modernity and Anxiety, 1894-1914. 25. The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis: War and Revolution. 26. The Futile Search for a New Stability: Europe Between the Wars, 1919-1939. 27. The Deepening of the European Crisis: World War II. 28. Cold War and a New Western World, 1945-1970. 29. The Contemporary Western World (Since 1970). Glossary. Pronunciation Guide.