The Essential World History (Available Titles CengageNOW) - Softcover

Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0495097292 ISBN 13: 9780495097297

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2006

Synopsis

Explore common challenges and experiences that unite the human past and identify key global patterns over time with THE ESSENTIAL WORLD HISTORY. This brief overview of world history covers political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military history integrated into a chronologically ordered synthesis to help you gain an appreciation and understanding of the distinctive character and development of individual cultures in society. You can use the book's global approach and its emphasis on analytical comparisons between cultures to link events together in a broad comparative and global framework that places the contemporary world in a more meaningful historical context.

About this title

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. 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 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.

Review:

"This text is very readable, even for the student who knows very little history and is not a strong reader. However, the text is not "watered-down." It still provides the critical information that all of the students need; it is simply stated in language that all of our students can read and understand. ... Our previous text was full of facts and in-depth discussions. However, the chapters were long and dry, and the students simply would not read it! This text is short enough that the single mom with four kids who has gone back to school after fifteen years can actually find the time to read the chapters. I do not need a text that contains all of the information about a particular subject. Instead, I need a text that gives a general overview, and I can then elaborate on selected topics and fill in the gaps through lecture and other activities."

"I was looking for a concise, visually engaging, and comprehensive (more global) text. These are strengths of [Duiker and Spielvogel]."

"[Strengths:] Breadth of coverage, primary source inclusion, and Internet supplement."

"I think that thematic approaches to world history are becoming more and more common. ... There are certainly certain themes--role of women, literacy and development of writing, changes in technology, role of the environment, role of religion in society--that would be very interesting. Indeed, my colleagues and I are using this approach already and so it would be nice to have a book that meets these needs."

"I think this is a great plan. I am more likely to re-adopt the book in a 3rd edition with these changes."

About this edition

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0495097292
• ISBN 13: 9780495097297
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 738