Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1715 - Softcover

Spielvogel, Jackson J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1133607926 ISBN 13: 9781133607922

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2013

Synopsis

Put the world today into context by learning about the past through this brief, best-selling Western Civilization text that has helped thousands of students succeed in the course. Jack Spielvogel's engaging style of writing 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. You will also be exposed to primary source documents--actual historical documents that are the foundation for the historical analysis you read in the chapter. These documents include letters, poems, and songs through history--documents that enliven the past. Throughout the book there are also helpful tools to help you digest the reading, including outlines, focus questions, chronologies, numerous maps, and boldface key terms with definitions.

About this title

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 specialized in 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 also has contributed chapters or articles to THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, the 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 course, as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (7th Edition, 2014). He is the author of WESTERN CIVILIZATION, first published in 1991 (10th Edition, 2017), and the coauthor (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in 1994 (8th Edition, 2016). 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.

Review:

"[T]his is an excellent text. The coverage is comprehensive (unusual for a brief text!) and the writing is engaging and clear. I have seen other brief texts that read like compressed versions of the full text that are impossible for students to 'unpack' and difficult to slog through. This brief text will be very appealing for students."

"The layout is superb. Spielvogel sticks to his outline format, then works his way through the material. Certain [other] textbooks today waver along the way, then leave me a bit confused (I can only imagine what my students feel)."

About this edition

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1133607926
• ISBN 13: 9781133607922
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432