Western Civilization
A Brief History
1st Edition
Published on 24. April 2019
Book
Hardback
520 pages
978-1-119-16071-7 (ISBN)
Description
A comprehensive yet concise introduction to Western Civilization, designed to interest and engage contemporary students
Western Civilization: A Brief History is a concise one-volume survey that covers the subject's ancient origins through to the early 21st century. Stressing social and intellectual history, rather than merely listing names and dates, this stimulating resource offers a more consistent and reader-friendly narrative than traditional textbooks. The author, with 40 years' experience teaching college-level Western Civilization and World History courses, emphasizes topics that stimulate student interest and encourage classroom participation.
A mixture of Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman, Germanic traditions, Western Civilization first appeared in Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The text explores key events, figures, themes, and characteristics in the history of Western Civilization. Grouped into six parts, chapters include brief chronologies of events, maps, and illustrations. Topics include Europe in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the rise of medieval Christianity, Darwin and the Theory of Evolution, the Industrial Revolution, imperialism, the World Wars of the 20th century, the Cold War, and many others. Written with the needs of today's students in mind, this textbook:
* Offers accessible and straightforward coverage of the history of Western Civilization
* Provides a consistent style of writing and organizational theme
* Includes chronological overviews of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East
Western Civilization: A Brief History is an ideal introductory textbook for both traditional and non-traditional programs and Western Civilization courses at universities and colleges, as well as for those in dual enrollment and home school settings.
Western Civilization: A Brief History is a concise one-volume survey that covers the subject's ancient origins through to the early 21st century. Stressing social and intellectual history, rather than merely listing names and dates, this stimulating resource offers a more consistent and reader-friendly narrative than traditional textbooks. The author, with 40 years' experience teaching college-level Western Civilization and World History courses, emphasizes topics that stimulate student interest and encourage classroom participation.
A mixture of Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman, Germanic traditions, Western Civilization first appeared in Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The text explores key events, figures, themes, and characteristics in the history of Western Civilization. Grouped into six parts, chapters include brief chronologies of events, maps, and illustrations. Topics include Europe in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the rise of medieval Christianity, Darwin and the Theory of Evolution, the Industrial Revolution, imperialism, the World Wars of the 20th century, the Cold War, and many others. Written with the needs of today's students in mind, this textbook:
* Offers accessible and straightforward coverage of the history of Western Civilization
* Provides a consistent style of writing and organizational theme
* Includes chronological overviews of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East
Western Civilization: A Brief History is an ideal introductory textbook for both traditional and non-traditional programs and Western Civilization courses at universities and colleges, as well as for those in dual enrollment and home school settings.
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02/2020
1st Edition
Wiley
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E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
Wiley
€47.99
Available for download
Person
Paul R. Waibel is Professor of History Emeritus at Belhaven University. He has published numerous articles and reviews in scholarly journals, periodicals, reference works, and anthologies, and is author and co-author of several history texts including Twentieth-Century Europe: A Brief History and Martin Luther: A Brief Introduction to His Life and Works.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I: Ancient and Classical Civilization
Chapter 1: The Cradle of Civilization
The Birth of Civilization
Egypt
The Hebrews
The Hebrew Contribution to Western Civilization
The Later Empires
Chapter 2: The Ancient Greeks and Their World
Bronze Age Greece (c. 2500-c. 1100 BC)
Minoan Civilization
Mycenaean Civilization
Dark Ages (c. 1100-c. 800 BC)
Archaic Age (c. 800-c. 480 BC)
Sparta and Athens
Persian Wars (492-449 BC)
Classical Age (c. 480-338 BC)
Hellenistic Age (323-31 BC)
Greek Society
Women in Greek Society
Slaves in Greek Society
Sex in Greek Society
Greek Philosophy
The Greek Legacy
Chapter 3: The Roman World
The Early Republic
Early Conquest under the Republic
Roman Expansion in the East
Decline of the Republic
Pax Romana
Roman Cultural Life
Rise of Christianity
Decline of the Empire
Part II: Europe in the Middle Ages
Chapter 4: The Birth of Europe
Early Germanic Kingdoms
Goths
Franks
Anglo-Saxons
Disintegration of the Carolingian Empire
New Invasions
Feudalism
Feudal System
Manorial System
Europe's Neighbors
Byzantine Empire
Rise of Islam
Chapter 5: Dawn of the Age of Faith
Rise of the Papacy
Rise of Monasticism
Feudalism and the Church
Church Renewal
Crusades
Feudal Monarchies
England
France
Holy Roman Empire
Chapter 6: The High Middle Ages, 1000-1300
Faith and Reason
Medieval Synthesis
Medieval Model of the Universe
Medieval Art and Literature
The Late Middle Ages, 1300-1500
Famine
Plague
The Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453
Part III: Birth of Modern Europe
Chapter 7: Renaissance and Reformation
Renaissance Italy
Renaissance Humanism
Leading Italian Humanists
Northern Renaissance
Leading Christian Humanists
Renaissance Art and Culture
Protestant Reformation
Background
Mainline and Radical Reformation
Martin Luther
Huldrich Zwingli
John Calvin
Reformation in England
Catholic Reformation
Conflicts among the Protestant Reformers
Assessment
Chapter 8: New Horizons
Spain
France
England
Holy Roman Empire
Exploration and Discovery
Scientific Revolution
From Copernicus to Newton
Bacon and Descartes
Significance of the Scientific Revolution
Chapter 9: Age of Enlightenment and Revolution
Enlightenment
Enlightenment Political Theory
Social Contract Theorists
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Montesquieu
Enlightened Despotism
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Background
The Moderate Phase, 1789-1791
The Radical Phase, 1792-1794
The End of the Terror and Return of the Moderates, 1794-1799
The Napoleonic Period, 1799-1815
Enlightened Despot
Empire
Part IV: Nineteenth Century
Chapter 10: Europe's Great Powers in the Nineteenth Century
Vienna Congress
Concert System
Latin America, Britain, and the United States
Greek War for Independence
Decembrist Revolt
Revolutions of 1830-1832
Revolutions of 1848
France
Germany
Austria
Rome
Why the Revolutions Failed
Unification of Italy and Germany
Italy
Germany
Paris Commune
Chapter 11: Industrial Revolution
Origins
A Second Industrial Revolution
Free Trade
Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Society
Child Labor
Women
Urbanization
Responses to Industrialization
Early Reform Efforts
Marxism and the Working Class
Marxism's Appeal
Orthodoxy and Revision
Socialism in Britain
Anarchism
Chapter 12: Nineteenth-Century Intellectual and Cultural Thought
Romanticism
Immanuel Kant
A Second Scientific Revolution
Darwin and Evolution
Reaction to Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Christian Response to Darwin
Social Darwinism
Positivism
Realism and Naturalism
Revolt Against Reason
Friedrich Nietzsche
Bergson, Sorel, Freud, Einstein
Chapter 13: Nineteenth Century Imperialism
New Imperialism
Motives
Colonial Empires
Scramble for Africa
India
China
Japan
Southeast Asia
American Empire
Part V: The Crisis of Western Civilization
Chapter 14: The Great War, 1914-1918
Prelude to the Great War
Explosion in the Balkans
1914
War in the Trenches
Modern Weapons of War
1915
Sausage Machine, 1916
Home Fronts
War Around the World
Year of Decision, 1917
End of the War, 1918
Chapter 15: Peace and Disillusionment
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
League of Nations
Disillusionment
Interwar Culture
Art
Literature
Popular Culture
Society
Chapter 16: A Failed Peace, 1919-1939
Recovery and Prosperity
Great Britain
France
Weimar Germany
United States
Soviet Russia
Italy
Great Depression
American Connection
Hitler's Rise to Power
Chapter 17: A Second Great War
Road to War in Europe
Totalitarianism
Hitler and the Appeasers, 1933-1939
Blitzkrieg
Road to War in the Pacific
Turning the Tide
Banality of Evil
Holocaust
No Room
Part VI: The End of Europe
Chapter 18: Cold War and Recovery
Origins of the Cold War
1946
Containment
Cold War in Asia
China
Vietnam
Europe
To the Brink of Nuclear War
Postwar Recovery
Rise of Christian Democracy
Building the Welfare State
Postwar America
Chapter 19: Cold War, 1962-1991
The Space Race
Globalizing the Cold War
Vietnam War
Turbulent 1960's
Paris, 1968
Prague Spring, 1968
Economic Slump
Recovery
Revolution of 1989-1991
Chapter 20: A New World Order
Visions of A New World Order
War in the Balkans
Terrorism and War
Afghanistan
Iraq
Arab Spring
World Migration
The Search for Meaning in a Multicultural World
Culture
Popular Culture
2000-2019
Worldwide Internet
Probing the Limits of Space
Human Genome Project
Western Civilization and the world
Index
Acknowledgements
Part I: Ancient and Classical Civilization
Chapter 1: The Cradle of Civilization
The Birth of Civilization
Egypt
The Hebrews
The Hebrew Contribution to Western Civilization
The Later Empires
Chapter 2: The Ancient Greeks and Their World
Bronze Age Greece (c. 2500-c. 1100 BC)
Minoan Civilization
Mycenaean Civilization
Dark Ages (c. 1100-c. 800 BC)
Archaic Age (c. 800-c. 480 BC)
Sparta and Athens
Persian Wars (492-449 BC)
Classical Age (c. 480-338 BC)
Hellenistic Age (323-31 BC)
Greek Society
Women in Greek Society
Slaves in Greek Society
Sex in Greek Society
Greek Philosophy
The Greek Legacy
Chapter 3: The Roman World
The Early Republic
Early Conquest under the Republic
Roman Expansion in the East
Decline of the Republic
Pax Romana
Roman Cultural Life
Rise of Christianity
Decline of the Empire
Part II: Europe in the Middle Ages
Chapter 4: The Birth of Europe
Early Germanic Kingdoms
Goths
Franks
Anglo-Saxons
Disintegration of the Carolingian Empire
New Invasions
Feudalism
Feudal System
Manorial System
Europe's Neighbors
Byzantine Empire
Rise of Islam
Chapter 5: Dawn of the Age of Faith
Rise of the Papacy
Rise of Monasticism
Feudalism and the Church
Church Renewal
Crusades
Feudal Monarchies
England
France
Holy Roman Empire
Chapter 6: The High Middle Ages, 1000-1300
Faith and Reason
Medieval Synthesis
Medieval Model of the Universe
Medieval Art and Literature
The Late Middle Ages, 1300-1500
Famine
Plague
The Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453
Part III: Birth of Modern Europe
Chapter 7: Renaissance and Reformation
Renaissance Italy
Renaissance Humanism
Leading Italian Humanists
Northern Renaissance
Leading Christian Humanists
Renaissance Art and Culture
Protestant Reformation
Background
Mainline and Radical Reformation
Martin Luther
Huldrich Zwingli
John Calvin
Reformation in England
Catholic Reformation
Conflicts among the Protestant Reformers
Assessment
Chapter 8: New Horizons
Spain
France
England
Holy Roman Empire
Exploration and Discovery
Scientific Revolution
From Copernicus to Newton
Bacon and Descartes
Significance of the Scientific Revolution
Chapter 9: Age of Enlightenment and Revolution
Enlightenment
Enlightenment Political Theory
Social Contract Theorists
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Montesquieu
Enlightened Despotism
The French Revolution and Napoleon
Background
The Moderate Phase, 1789-1791
The Radical Phase, 1792-1794
The End of the Terror and Return of the Moderates, 1794-1799
The Napoleonic Period, 1799-1815
Enlightened Despot
Empire
Part IV: Nineteenth Century
Chapter 10: Europe's Great Powers in the Nineteenth Century
Vienna Congress
Concert System
Latin America, Britain, and the United States
Greek War for Independence
Decembrist Revolt
Revolutions of 1830-1832
Revolutions of 1848
France
Germany
Austria
Rome
Why the Revolutions Failed
Unification of Italy and Germany
Italy
Germany
Paris Commune
Chapter 11: Industrial Revolution
Origins
A Second Industrial Revolution
Free Trade
Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Society
Child Labor
Women
Urbanization
Responses to Industrialization
Early Reform Efforts
Marxism and the Working Class
Marxism's Appeal
Orthodoxy and Revision
Socialism in Britain
Anarchism
Chapter 12: Nineteenth-Century Intellectual and Cultural Thought
Romanticism
Immanuel Kant
A Second Scientific Revolution
Darwin and Evolution
Reaction to Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Christian Response to Darwin
Social Darwinism
Positivism
Realism and Naturalism
Revolt Against Reason
Friedrich Nietzsche
Bergson, Sorel, Freud, Einstein
Chapter 13: Nineteenth Century Imperialism
New Imperialism
Motives
Colonial Empires
Scramble for Africa
India
China
Japan
Southeast Asia
American Empire
Part V: The Crisis of Western Civilization
Chapter 14: The Great War, 1914-1918
Prelude to the Great War
Explosion in the Balkans
1914
War in the Trenches
Modern Weapons of War
1915
Sausage Machine, 1916
Home Fronts
War Around the World
Year of Decision, 1917
End of the War, 1918
Chapter 15: Peace and Disillusionment
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
League of Nations
Disillusionment
Interwar Culture
Art
Literature
Popular Culture
Society
Chapter 16: A Failed Peace, 1919-1939
Recovery and Prosperity
Great Britain
France
Weimar Germany
United States
Soviet Russia
Italy
Great Depression
American Connection
Hitler's Rise to Power
Chapter 17: A Second Great War
Road to War in Europe
Totalitarianism
Hitler and the Appeasers, 1933-1939
Blitzkrieg
Road to War in the Pacific
Turning the Tide
Banality of Evil
Holocaust
No Room
Part VI: The End of Europe
Chapter 18: Cold War and Recovery
Origins of the Cold War
1946
Containment
Cold War in Asia
China
Vietnam
Europe
To the Brink of Nuclear War
Postwar Recovery
Rise of Christian Democracy
Building the Welfare State
Postwar America
Chapter 19: Cold War, 1962-1991
The Space Race
Globalizing the Cold War
Vietnam War
Turbulent 1960's
Paris, 1968
Prague Spring, 1968
Economic Slump
Recovery
Revolution of 1989-1991
Chapter 20: A New World Order
Visions of A New World Order
War in the Balkans
Terrorism and War
Afghanistan
Iraq
Arab Spring
World Migration
The Search for Meaning in a Multicultural World
Culture
Popular Culture
2000-2019
Worldwide Internet
Probing the Limits of Space
Human Genome Project
Western Civilization and the world
Index