Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0495913243 ISBN 13: 9780495913245

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011

Best-selling book WESTERN CIVILIZATION has helped over one million users learn about the present by exploring the past. Jackson Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative 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. The clear narrative of a single gifted author makes it easy to follow the story of Western civilization.

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:

"[Spielvogel's text] is very well organized and contains rich detail that really explains events, people, and historical forces. . . . The graphics are great and I love the inclusion of film."

"Too many textbooks . . . read as little more than a piling on of recent scholarship with little attempt to integrate this into a larger narrative framework. Spielvogel integrates this scholarship into a very well written textbook that . . . kept me engaged. . . . When the author writes in the preface, 'That story is an exciting one; yet many textbooks fail to capture the imagination of their readers,' I was initially skeptical. But I found that he delivered on his promise, a pleasant surprise . . . ! Chapters on Napoleon, for instance, made for gripping reading."

"I have had occasion through the years either to critique or review . . . a number of Western Civilization texts. Few, if any, equal this text for comprehensive coverage of the subject; none surpass it. This is a quality text in every sense of the word."

". . . it is clear to the reader that Spielvogel has an expert knowledge of the material, which he presents in a fluid and insightful narrative. I really appreciate the balance of political, social, economic, religious, and cultural history. . . . This is difficult to achieve when writing a textbook. The scholarship is up-to-date, accurate, and presented in a cogent, concise manner."