Synopses & Reviews
A bestseller in its field, A History of Western Society examines the lives of both historical figures and ordinary people, using an engaging, lively writing style to capture students' interest. The authors pay careful attention to traditional political and cultural developments, providing a balanced, well-rounded view of Western history as a whole. Designed to appeal to a more visual student body, the Seventh Edition devotes increased attention to cultural history. The text's photo and map programs have been enhanced, with a stronger relationship between the narrative and illustrations. Scholarly updates throughout the text include new information on Egyptian religion; a revised discussion of the polis and Greek democracy; new material on the origins of Christian sacraments; an expanded discussion on the Peace of God; a new exploration of the cultural consequences of the Crusades; updated scholarship on the Atlantic slave trade; and a revised discussion of nationalism.
About the Author
John P. McKay, Professor of History at the University of Illinois, received his Ph.D. from the University of Columbia, Berkeley in 1968. Author of three books, he won the Herbert Baxter Adams Award from the American Historical Association with his Pioneers for Profit. He is a Senior Fulbright Fellow and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.Bennett D. Hill (deceased), a former Chairman and Professor of History at the University of Illinois, received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1963. He taught at the University of Maryland and was most recently a visiting professor at Georgetown University. He published two books and many journal articles.John Buckler, a Professor of History at the University of Illinois, earned his doctorate at Harvard University in 1973. He has published numerous journal articles and written a monograph, The Theban Hegemony, published by Harvard University Press.
Table of Contents
1. Origins What Is History and Why? From Caves to Towns Mesopotamian Civilization The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture Egypt, The Land of the Pharaohs (3100-1200 B.C.) The Hittites The Fall of Empires and the Survival of Cultures (ca 1200 B.C.) 2. Small Kingdoms and Mighty Empires in the Near East Recovery and Diffusion A Shattered Egypt and a Rising Phoenicia The Children of Israel Assyria, the Military Monarch The Empire of the Persian Kings 3. The Legacy of Greece Hellas: The Land The Polis The Archaic Age (800-500 B.C.) The Classical Period (500-338 B.C.) The Final Act (404-338 B.C.) 4. Hellenistic Diffusion Alexander and the Great Crusade Alexander's Legacy The Spread of Hellenism The Economic Scope of the Hellenistic World Hellenistic Intellectual Advances 5. The Rise of Rome The Land and the Sea The Etruscans and Rome (750-509 B.C.) The Roman Conquest of Italy (509-290 B.C.) The Roman State Social Conflict in Rome Roman Expansion Old Values and Greek Culture The Late Republic (133-31 B.C.) 6. The Pax Romana Augustus's Settlement (31 B.C.-A.D. 14) The Coming of Christianity The Julio-Claudians and the Flavians (27 B.C.-A.D. 96) The Age of the "Five Good Emperors" (A.D. 96-180) Life in the "Golden Age" Civil Wars and Invasions in the Third Century Reconstruction Under Diocletian and Constantine (A.D. 284-337) From the Classical World to Late Antiquity (ca. A.D. 200-700) 7. The Making of Europe The Growth of the Christian Church Christian Attitudes Toward Classical Culture Christian Monasticism The Migration of the Germanic Peoples Germanic Society The Byzantine East (ca 400-788) The Arabs and Islam 8. The Carolingian World: Europe in the Early Middle Ages The Frankish Kingdom and the Emergence of the Carolingians The Empire of Charlemagne The Carolingian Intellectual Revival Aristocratic Resurgence Feudalism and the Historians Great Inventions of the Ninth Century 9. Revival, Recovery, Reform, and Expansion Political Revival Population, Climate, and Mechanization Revival and Reform in the Christian Church The Gregorian Revolution The Crusades The Expansion of Latin Christendom 10. Life in Christian Europe in the High Middle Ages Those Who Work Those Who Fight Those Who Pray 11. The Creativity and Vitality of the High Middle Ages Medieval Origins of the Modern State Unification and Communication Finance Law and Justice Towns and Economic Revival Medieval Universities Gothic Art Heresy and the Friars A Challenge to Religious Authority 12. The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages Prelude to Disaster The Black Death The Hundred Years' War (ca 1337-1453) The Decline of the Church's Prestige The Life of the People Vernacular Literature 13. European Society in the Age of the Renaissance The Evolution of the Italian Renaissance Intellectual Hallmarks of the Renaissance Art and the Artist Social Change The Renaissance in the North Politics and the State in the Renaissance (ca 1450-1521) 14. Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church The Condition of the Church (ca 1400-1517) Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism Germany and the Protestant Reformation The Growth of the Protestant Reformation The Catholic Reformation and the Counter-Reformation 15. The Age of Religious Wars and European Expansion Politics, Religion, and War Discovery, Reconnaissance, and Expansion Later Explorers Changing Attitudes Literature and Art 16. Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe (ca 1589-1715) Absolutism Constitutionalism 17. Absolutism in Eastern Europe to 1740 Lords and Peasants in Eastern Europe The Rise of Austria and Prussia The Development of Russia Absolutism and Baroque Architecture 18. Toward a New World-View The Scientific Revolution The Enlightenment The Enlightenment and Absolutism 19. The Expansion of Europe in the Eighteenth Century Agriculture and the Land The Beginning of the Population Explosion The Growth of Cottage Industry Building the Atlantic Economy 20. The Changing Life of the People Marriage and the Family Children and Education Food and Medical Practice Religion and Popular Culture 21. The Revolution in Politics, 1775-1815 Liberty and Equality The American Revolution, 1775-1789 The French Revolution, 1789-1791 World War and Republican France, 1791-1799 The Napoleonic Era, 1799-1815 22. The Revolution in Energy and Industry The Industrial Revolution in Britain Industrialization in Continental Europe Capital and Labor 23. Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815-1850 The Peace Settlement Radical Ideas and Early Socialism The Romantic Movement Reforms and Revolutions The Revolutions of 1848 24. Life in the Emerging Urban Society Taming the City Rich and Poor and Those in Between The Changing Family Science and Thought 25. The Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914 Napoleon III in France Nation Building in Italy and Germany Nation Building in the United States The Modernization of Russia The Responsive National State, 1871-1914 Marxism and the Socialist Movement 26. The West and the World Industrialization and the World Economy The Great Migration Western Imperialism Responses to Western Imperialism 27. The Great Break: War and Revolution The First World War The Home Front The Russian Revolution The Peace Settlement 28. The Age of Anxiety Uncertainty in Modern Thought Modern Art and Music Movies and Radio The Search for Peace and Political Stability The Great Depression, 1929-1939 29. Dictatorships and the Second World War Authoritarian States Stalin's Soviet Union Mussolini and Fascism in Italy Hitler and Nazism in Germany Nazi Expansion and the Second World War 30. Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformations, 1945-1985 The Division of Europe The Western Renaissance, 1945-1968 Soviet Eastern Europe, 1945-1968 Postwar Social Transformations, 1945-1968 Conflict and Challenge in the Late Cold War, 1968-1985 31. Revolution, Rebuilding, and New Challenges: 1985 to the Present The Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe The Revolutions of 1989 Building a New Europe in the 1990s New Challenges in the Twenty-first Century The Future in Perspective