World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis

It will be immediately apparent to anyone familiar with the full-length or even so-called concise world history surveys currently on the market that this book stands alone: its interesting and recurrent themes—conceptual bridges that span the many centuries—give it a unique voice. Its format helps the reader see the larger picture, to conceptualize patterns over time by importing concepts from one unit to another. And while this book might not offer flashy four-color maps and illustrations, its price and length speak for themselves. Too often students are required to pay a great deal of money for books they have no hope of finishing, let alone comprehending or remembering much longer than a day after turning in the last exam.

With decades of combined experience teaching World History—in community colleges and four-year institutions—our team of authors has witnessed firsthand the frustration instructors and students of world history experience with current survey textbooks. Deeming a new approach necessary, they have spent the last several years conceiving of and writing World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis.

Whether you are new to the field of world history or have taught the subject for years, we think you will find this new approach both refreshing and effective, and that you will agree that a thematic analysis goes a long way toward making a complicated compendium of human numbers, economies, and cultures—the “one darn thing after another” phenomenon that gives World history a bad name—meaningful to student readers.

Steven Wallech is the senior Professor of World History at Long Beach City College. He developed the world history program there, integrated the world history curriculum with Community Colleges and Universities throughout California, and has authored Synopsis of World History: A Study in Culture and World History and Comparative Cultures: A Thematic Analysis.

Craig Hendricks is Professor of history at Long Beach City College. He has written on Latin America for history journals and edited four books of American social history readings.

Touraj Daryaee was born in Tehran, Iran. His elementary and secondary schooling took place in Tehran, Iran, and Athens, Greece. Daryaee took his Ph.D. in History at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999. He specializes in the history and culture of Ancient Persia. He has written many articles for scholarly journals. His books include S-ahresta-ni-ha- i-E-ra ns-ahr, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History; History & Culture of the Sasanians; and Me-no-g i- Xrad: The Spirit of Wisdom, Essays in Memory of Ahmad Tafazzoli. He is also the editor of the Na-me-ye Ira-n-e Ba-sta-n, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies.

Anne Lynne Negus received a Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, specializing in Egyptology. Currently she is Professor of History at Fullerton College and Co-Coordinator of the Honors Program. Since birth she has enjoyed extensive residence and travel in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America.

Peter P. Wam was born in China, where he received his B.A. from East China Normal University and taught American literature until he came to the United States on a Harvard Yanching fellowship. He received his Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from Harvard University. His major interests are American history, East Asian history, and U.S. -China relations.

Gordon Morris Bakken earned his degrees at the University of Wisconsin and joined the faculty of California State University---Fullerton in 1969. He teaches American Legal and Constitutional History, Westward Movement, American Military Heritage, Women of the American West, Women and American Law, as well as Historical Thinking and Historical Writing. He is the author of sixteen books, thirty-nine articles and law reviews, sixteen book chapters and encyclopedia entries, and numerous book reviews.