The European Renaissance and Reformation (1350-1600) (World Eras, 1)

World Eras is patterned after the award-winning American Decades series. Covering areas often overlooked by other publications, World Eras provides a multicultural approach that directly reflects changing curriculum standards, with a cross-disciplinary overview of world history and a strong emphasis of daily life and social history.

Each volume in this set contains in-depth coverage of one era and is organized into ten chapters:

• World events -- A Chronology
• Geography
• The Arts -- Sculpture, Architecture, Painting and Music
• Communications, Transportation and Exploration
• Social class Systems and the Economy -- focusing on social-economic hierarchy
• Politics, Law and the Military
• Leisure, Recreation and Daily life -- housing, clothing, food, education, etc.
• Family and Social Trends -- customs, beliefs, roles and responsibilities
• Religion and Philosophy
• Science, Technology and Health

Each volume includes an introductory essay that provides context and overview of the era written by a scholar in the field and will contain 150 photographs, line drawings, diagrams, illustrations and sidebars. Each chapter within a volume includes an introductory essay, a timeline, entries on specific topics, events or movements, biographies of prominent individuals, and important publications of the era. A glossary of subject-specific terms appears at the end

Designed primarily for high-school students and general users, this resource, modeled after the American Decades series, is comprised of 10 chapters. The first two, focusing on world events and geography, respectively, provide users a global perspective and context for the culture and time period in question. Remaining chapters treat other cultural elements, including art, communication, transportation, exploration, social classes, economy, politics, law, military, recreation, family, religion, philosophy, science, technology, and health. Each chapter is subdivided into five types of material: chronological, overview, topical, biographical, and documentary. These first two divisions provide readers a visual time line and brief overview of the area presented. The topical entries that follow these sections convey even more specialized, detailed information. In the "Arts" chapter, for example, readers will find Princely courts and patronage, Sacred art, Sculpture, and Woodcuts, just to name a few. The final two subdivisions in each chapter contain information on significant individuals and annotated checklists of documentary material that served as the principal sources for the material in this work.

This volume, in addition to its fine organization, structure, and arrangement, is equally impressive for its inclusive, well-written content. In choosing material, the editor and compilers endeavored to cover a diverse group of men and women--both well known and lesser known--from a variety of countries, backgrounds, professions, and socioeconomic levels. This choice of material is complemented by balanced, well-articulated prose. Entries are concise, but thorough, straightforward, and highly understandable, all of which should make this work very popular with high-school and undergraduate students. Material is further enhanced by 150 illustrations, maps, diagrams, and drawings, not to mention sidebars that contain interesting tidbits of knowledge.

This valuable reference tool is highly recommended and would greatly enhance not only high-school libraries but public and smaller academic libraries as well. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved