In this Section:
1) Brief Table of Contents
2) Full Table of Contents
1) Brief Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Civilization, 10,000—1150 B.C.E.
Chapter 2: The Age of Empires: The International Bronze Age and Its Aftermath, ca. 1500—550 B.C.E.
Chapter 3: Greek Civilization
Chapter 4: Hellenistic Civilization
Chapter 5: The Roman Republic
Chapter 6: Enclosing the West: The Early Roman Empire and Its Neighbors, 31 B.C.E.—235 C.E.
Chapter 7: Late Antiquity: The Age of New Boundaries, 250—600
Chapter 8: Medieval Empires and Borderlands: Byzantium and Islam
Chapter 9: Medieval Empires and Borderlands: The Latin West
Chapter 10: Medieval Civilization: The Rise of Western Europe
Chapter 11: The Medieval West in Crisis
Chapter 12: The Italian Renaissance and Beyond: The Politics of Culture
Chapter 13: The West and the World: The Significance of Global Encounters, 1450—1650
Chapter 14: The Reformations of Religion
Chapter 15: The Age of Confessional Division
Chapter 16: Absolutism and State Building in Europe, 1618—1715
Chapter 17: The Scientific Revolution
Chapter 18: The West and the World: Empire, Trade, and War, 1650—1815
Chapter 19: Eighteenth-Century Society and Culture
Chapter 20: The Age of the French Revolution, 1789—1815
Chapter 21: The Industrial Revolution
Chapter 22: Ideological Conflict and National Unification, 1815—1871
Chapter 23: The Coming of Mass Politics: Industrialization, Emancipation, and Instability, 1870—1914
Chapter 24: The West and the World: Cultural Crisis and the New Imperialism, 1870—1914
Chapter 25: The First World War
Chapter 26: Reconstruction, Reaction, and Continuing Revolution: The 1920s and 1930s
Chapter 27: World War II
Chapter 28: Redefining the West After World War II
Chapter 29: The West in the Contemporary Era: New Encounters and Transformations
2) Full Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Civilization, 10,000—1150 B.C.E.
Defining Civilization, Defining Western Civilization
Mesopotamia: Kingdoms, Empires, and Conquests
Egypt: The Empire of the Nile
Chapter 2: The Age of Empires: The International Bronze Age and Its Aftermath, ca. 1500—550 B.C.E.
The Dynamism of the International Bronze Age
Recovery and Rebuilding: Empires and Societies in the Aftermath of the International Bronze Age
The Civilization of the Hebrews
Chapter 3: Greek Civilization
Greece Rebuilds, 1100—479 B.C.E.
The Greek Encounter with the Persian Empire
The Classical Age of Greece, 479—336 B.C.E.
Chapter 4: Hellenistic Civilization
The Impact of Alexander the Great
Hellenism in the East and West
Hellenistic Society and Culture
Hellenistic Philosophy and Science
Chapter 5: The Roman Republic
The Nature of the Roman Republic
Roman Territorial Expansion
The Culture of the Roman Republic
Social Life in Republican Rome
The End of the Roman Republic
Chapter 6: Enclosing the West: The Early Roman Empire and Its Neighbors, 31 B.C.E.—235 C.E.
The Imperial Center
Life in the Roman Provinces: Assimilation, Resistance, and Romanization
The Frontier and Beyond
Society and Culture in the Imperial Age
Chapter 7: Late Antiquity: The Age of New Boundaries, 250—600
Crisis and Recovery in the Third Century
Toward a Christian Empire
New Christian Communities and Identities
The Breakup of the Roman Empire
Chapter 8: Medieval Empires and Borderlands: Byzantium and Islam
Byzantium: The Survival of the Roman Empire
The New World of Islam
Chapter 9: Medieval Empires and Borderlands: The Latin West
The Birth of Latin Christendom
The Carolingians
Invasions and Recovery in the Latin West
The West in the East: The Crusades
Chapter 10: Medieval Civilization: The Rise of Western Europe
Two Worlds: Manors and Cities
The Consolidation of Roman Catholicism
Strengthening the Center of the West
Medieval Culture: The Search for Understanding
Chapter 11: The Medieval West in Crisis
A Time of Death
A Cold Wind from the East
Economic Depression and Social Turmoil
An Age of Warfare
A Troubled Church and the Demand for Religious Comfort
The Culture of Loss
Chapter 12: The Italian Renaissance and Beyond: The Politics of Culture
The Cradle of the Renaissance: The Italian City-States
The Influence of Ancient Culture
The Early Modern European State System
Chapter 13: The West and the World: The Significance of Global Encounters, 1450—1650
Europeans in Africa
Europeans in the Americas
Europeans in Asia
The Beginnings of the Global System
Chapter 14: The Reformations of Religion
Causes of the Reformation
The Lutheran Reformation
The Diversity of Protestantism
The Catholic Reformation
Chapter 15: The Age of Confessional Division
The Peoples of Early Modern Europe
Disciplining the People
Hunting Witches
The Confessional States
States and Confessions in Eastern Europe
Chapter 16: Absolutism and State Building in Europe, 1618—1715
The Nature of Absolutism
The Absolutist State in France and Spain
Absolutism and State Building in Central and Eastern Europe
Resistance to Absolutism in England and the Dutch Republic
Chapter 17: The Scientific Revolution
The Discoveries and Achievements of the Scientific Revolution
The Search for Scientific Knowledge
The Causes of the Scientific Revolution
The Intellectual Consequences of the Scientific Revolution
Humans and the Natural World
Chapter 18: The West and the World: Empire, Trade, and War, 1650—1815
European Empires in the Americas and Asia
Warfare in Europe, North America, and Asia
The Atlantic World
Encounters Between Europeans and Asians
The Crisis of Empire and the Atlantic Revolutions
Chapter 19: Eighteenth-Century Society and Culture
The Aristocracy
Challenges to Aristocratic Dominance
The Enlightenment
The Impact of the Enlightenment
Chapter 20: The Age of the French Revolution, 1789—1815
The First French Revolution, 1789—1791
The French Republic, 1792—1799
Cultural Change in France during the Revolution
The Napoleonic Era, 1799—1815
The Legacy of the French Revolution
Chapter 21: The Industrial Revolution
The Nature of the Industrial Revolution
Conditions Favoring Industrial Growth
The Spread of Industrialization
The Effects of Industrialization
Industry, Trade, and Empire
Chapter 22: Ideological Conflict and National Unification, 1815—1871
New Ideologies in the Early Nineteenth Century
Ideological Encounters in Europe, 1815—1848
National Unification in Europe and America, 1848—1871
International Conflict and Domestic Politics, 1853—1871
Chapter 23: The Coming of Mass Politics: Industrialization, Emancipation, and Instability, 1870—1914
Economic Transformation
Defining the Nation
The New Mass Politics
The Women’s Revolt
Chapter 24: The West and the World: Cultural Crisis and the New Imperialism, 1870—1914
Scientific Transformations
Cultural Crisis: The Fin-de-Siècle and the Birth of Modernism
The New Imperialism
Chapter 25: The First World War
The Origins of the First World War
The Experience of Total War
The Home Fronts
War and Revolution
Chapter 26: Reconstruction, Reaction, and Continuing Revolution: The 1920s and 1930s
Cultural Despair and Desire
The Appeal of Authoritarianism and the Rise of Fascism
Nazism and the Defeat of Democracy in Germany
The Soviet Alternative and the Democracies’ Response
The Reconstruction of Gender
The West and the World: Imperialism in the Interwar Era
Chapter 27: World War II
The Coming of War
Europe at War, 1939—1941
The World at War, 1941—1945
The Wars Within the War
The Home Front: The Other Wars
Chapter 28: Redefining the West After World War II
A Dubious Peace, 1945—1949
The West and the World: Decolonization and the Cold War
The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s
The West: Consensus, Consumption, and Culture
Chapter 29: The West in the Contemporary Era: New Encounters and Transformations
Economic Stagnation and Political Change: The 1970s and 1980s
Revolution in the East
In the Wake of Revolution
Rethinking the West
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Notes
Photo Credits
Index