From the dawn of civilization to the modern dilemmas of nation building in Africa and the Middle East, THE ESSENTIAL WORLD HISTORY offers you a fascinating look at the common challenges and experiences that unite the human past and inform the future. Authors Duiker and Spielvogel use colorful visuals, maps, dramatic first-hand historical accounts and even reviews of popular movies to give you an insightful perspective on the human experience over time. The easy-to-read narrative is organized around seven major themes (Science and Technology, Art and Ideas, Family and Society, Politics and Government, Earth and the Environment, Religion and Philosophy and Interaction and Exchange). Important to all cultures from all time periods, these themes help you understand the course of world history, make connections across chapters and see today's world in a meaningful context.
Record details
ISBN:9781337696456 (paperback)
ISBN:1337696455
Physical Description:xxxix, 855 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 26 cm print
I. The first civilizations and the rise of empires (prehistory to 500 C.E.) -- Early humans and the first civilizations -- Ancient India -- China in antiquity -- The civilization of the Greeks -- The Roman world empire -- II. New patterns of civilization (500 - 1500 C.E.) -- The Americas -- Ferment in the Middle East: the rise of Islam -- Early civilizations of Africa -- The expansion of civilization in South and Southeast Asia -- The flowering of traditional China -- The East Asian rimlands: early Japan, Korea, and Vietnam -- The making of Europe -- The Byzantine empire and crisis and recovery in the West -- III. The emergence of new world patterns (1500 - 1800) New encounters: the creation of a world market -- Europe transformed: reform and state building -- The Muslim empires -- The East Asian world -- The West on the eve of a new world order -- IV. Modern patterns of world history (1800 - 1945) -- The beginnings of modernization: industrialization and nationalism in the nineteenth century -- The Americas and society and culture in the West -- The high tide of imperialism -- Shadows over the Pacific: East Asia under challenge -- The beginning of the twentieth-century crisis: war and revolution -- Nationalism, revolution, and dictatorship: Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America from 1919 to 1939 -- The crisis deepens: World War II -- V. Toward a global civilization? The world since 1945 -- East and West in the grip of a Cold War -- Brave new world: communism on trial -- Europe and the western hemisphere since 1945 -- Challenges of nation building in Africa and the Middle East -- Toward the Pacific century?
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