Sources of World Civilization: Connections and Conflict, Volume 2 (3rd Edition) - Softcover

Johnson Deceased, Oliver A.; Halverson, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 013183505X ISBN 13: 9780131835054

Publisher: Pearson, 2003

Synopsis

This two volume reader spans the world and its history from the third millennium B.C. to the late 20th century. The illuminating anthology examines significant documents that will acquaint students with major world civilizations and help them understand the historical forces and ideas that have shaped the world in which they live.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This two-volume reader spans the world and its history from the third millennium B.C. to the late 20th century. The illuminating anthology examines significant documents that will acquaint students with major world civilizations and help them understand the historical forces and ideas that have shaped the world in which they live.

Selections in this reader include documents that represent people's attitudes toward history, literature, science, philosophy, religion, politics, economics, law, biography, and mythology, and which are either of major significance to that particular civilization during their period of history, or give substantial insights into the nature of the society from which they sprang. Informative introductions to each of the six sections, as well as individual readings, summarize the world events of a particular period to facilitate a more meaningful understanding, and to give students added insight on a document's origin and author.

New to this edition:

• Pre-reading questions for each selection to help students identify the critical themes within each document.
• Integrative questions at the end of each section that prompt students to compare and contrast sources from within a particular culture or across cultures.
• More emphasis on non-Western civilizations, making the text more global in its approach.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Those familiar with previous editions of this book will immediately notice some significant changes. First, the number of selections has been greatly reduced. Second, sources from Western civilization are less predominant. Finally, study questions have been added before each selection and at the end of each major section of the book. These changes reflect my desire to update the book and at the same time remain true to the vision of previous editions. For this edition, the total length of the book needed to be reduced, while the geographic scope needed to be widened. This could have been done by either shortening the selections or by eliminating entire selections. I chose to keep the selections relatively long. There are other world history readers on the market that include a great number of brief excerpts. I have found this to be bewildering to my own students. Thus, this edition continues to affirm that any document significant enough to be included in an anthology such as this deserves to be excerpted in such a way that it retains some of its integrity and meaning. To make room for a broader scope of sources, I eliminated many of the documents pertaining to Western civilization. Even so, there is still a bias toward Western sources in this volume. As in previous editions, the assumption is that North American college students not only should be introduced to a variety of world cultures but also should dig more deeply into the origins of the culture in which they find themselves.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 013183505X
• ISBN 13: 9780131835054
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 384