Synopses & Reviews
Based on its parent text, TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY, THE WORLD SINCE WORLD WAR II is a comprehensive and balanced history of the world since World War II. William Duiker's text not only chronicles the key events in this revolutionary century, but also examines the underlying issues that have shaped the times. THE WORLD SINCE WORLD WAR II takes a global approach to the subject while doing justice to the distinctive character of individual civilizations and regions. Duiker integrates political, economic, social, and cultural history, creating a chronologically ordered synthesis that gives students the true flavor of the most decisive moments in recent world history. In addition, Duiker's own photographs and selection of primary source documents, which illustrate much of the book, are especially effective in illustrating key points in the narrative. TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY is available in the following volume options: TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY, Third Edition
Review
"Duiker does an excellent job of presenting a country and regionally based history of the twentieth century. He follows through on his conviction that what is most important is presenting particular national histories in order to give students basic knowledge about how different other cultures and histories are from our own."
Review
"I use the Duiker book and am quite pleased with it. The primary reason is that the book is one of the most truly global texts I have encountered. Too many world civilization texts are not well balanced in their coverage of the world."
Review
"Let me say first that this is the best text on the 20th century that I have read or reviewed. This author has hit just the right level and tone for most undergraduate students in a history survey course. His writing style is active and succinct. He offers just the right amount of information so that each event or trend is clear but he does not overwhelm the reader with detail (there are other sources if instructors need more background). Moreover, his laying out of different perspectives (Soviet and American in the Cold War, for instance) and his adept handling of a truly global insights (African and Asian perspectives as legitimate on their own, for another instance) simply do not appear in such fine style in the other texts now on the market. His attention to social history and, especially, to cultural history is superb."
Review
"I like this book more than any other one. Bulliet's The Earth and Its Peoples is aesthetically unpleasing, too general about too many topics, and is too focused on environment rather than politics."
Review
"I use the Duiker book and am quite pleased with it. The primary reason is that the book is one of the most truly global texts I have encountered. Too many world civilization texts are not well balanced in their coverage of the world."
Review
"From the beginning it is clear that Professor Duiker sees the world as a 'global village' as he says in the Preface. He integrates this theme intelligently and consistently. 'Reflections' is an excellent means for placing the material of the chapter in a context and drawing it all together in a summary." "One of the reasons why I and others chose this text was its clearness which makes it student friendly. This is consistent throughout the text. The author has the ability to synthesize complex historical developments into readable, short narratives that are rich in information and analysis."
Synopsis
A comprehensive and balanced history of the world in the twentieth century, William Duiker's text not only chronicles the key events in this revolutionary century, but also examines the underlying issues that have shaped the times. TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY takes a global approach to the subject while doing justice to the distinctive character of individual civilizations and regions. Duiker integrates political, economic, social, and cultural history, creating a chronologically ordered synthesis that gives students the true flavor of the most decisive moments in recent world history. In addition, Duiker's own photographs and selection of primary source documents, which illustrate much of the book, are especially effective in illustrating key points in the narrative. TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY is available in the following volume options: TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD HISTORY, Third Edition
About the Author
William J. Duiker is liberal arts Professor Emeritus of East Asian studies at The Pennsylvania State University. A former U.S. diplomat with service in Taiwan, South Vietnam, and Washington, D.C., he received his doctorate in Far Eastern history from Georgetown University in 1968, where his dissertation dealt with the Chinese educator and reformer Cai Yuanpei. At Penn State, he has written extensively on the history of Vietnam and modern China, including the highly acclaimed COMMUNIST ROAD TO POWER IN VIETNAM (revised edition, Westview Press, 1996), which was selected for a Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award in 1982--1983 and 1996-1997. Other recent books are CHINA AND VIETNAM: THE ROOTS OF CONFLICT (Berkeley, 1987), U.S. CONTAINMENT POLICY AND THE CONFLICT IN INDOCHINA (Stanford, 1995), SACRED WAR: NATIONALISM AND REVOLUTION IN A DIVIDED VIETNAM (McGraw-Hill, 1995), and HO CHI MINH (Hyperion, 2000), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. While his research specialization is in the field of nationalism and Asian revolutions, his intellectual interests are considerably more diverse. He has traveled widely and has taught courses on the history of communism and non-Western civilizations at Penn State, where he was awarded a Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the spring of 1996. In 2002, the College of Liberal Arts honored him with an Emeritus Distinction Award.
Table of Contents
Part I: NEW WORLD IN THE MAKING. 1. The Rise of Industrial Society in the West. 2. High Tide of Imperialism: Africa and Asia in an Era of Western Dominance. 3. Shadows over the Pacific: East Asia Under Challenge. Part II: CULTURES IN COLLISION. 4. War and Revolution: World War I and Its Aftermath. 5. Nationalism, Revolution, and Dictatorship: Africa, Asia, and Latin America from 1919 to 1939. 6. The Crisis Deepens: The Outbreak of World War II. Part III: ACROSS THE IDEOLOGICAL DIVIDE 7. In the Grip of the Cold War: The Breakdown of the Yalta System. 8. Brave New World: The Rise and Fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. 9. Postwar Europe: On the Path to Unity? 10. The United States, Canada, and Latin America. 11. The East Is Red: China Under Communism. Part IV: THIRD WORLD RISING. 12. Emerging Africa. 13. Ferment in the Middle East. 14. Nationalism Triumphant: The Emergence of Independent States in South and Southeast Asia. 15. Toward the Pacific Century? Part V: BEGINNING A NEW MILLENNIUM. 16. Constructing a New World Order. Suggested Readings. Photo Credits. Index.