The book does problematize the concept of the "West" in the introduction, which is important and necessary, but it would be stronger if it followed though more completely on the promises that section seems to make. The text is very comprehensive in terms of the number of civilizations and cultures covered.
In fact, I wonder if even a week semester would suffice to cover them. It is gratifying to see a fairly detailed chapter on Islamic civilization. The text is also quite comprehensive in its survey of political and military events. Empires like those of the ancient Hittites receive more coverage than would be typical in a Western Civilization survey. However, to little attention is given to artistic, literary, and cultural life in general.
Brief thumbnail sketches of topics like Greek art and drama just don't go far enough. The lives of ancient women are mentioned in a number of places, but without enough detail. The orientation of the text is clearly from the top on down, with an emphasis on dynasties, rulers, and their wars and conquests. One example is the list of Egyptian rulers and their accomplishments, which are important, to be sure, but daily life, while mentioned in various cultures, is given too little attention, as are topics like the construction of the pyramids.
One example is the statement that slaves probably didn't build the pyramids of Giza, which is accurate, but substantially more information than that is now available regarding the lives of workers. Another example is how the rise of Hebrew monotheism receives a fair summary, but almost entirely from biblical texts, without much reference to archaeology.
The lack of even short excerpts from key primary documents is also a problem, as is the need for more maps. The text was quite accurate in most regards, though the statement in the introduction about most histories of Western Civilization starting with the Greeks doesn't match my experience. I don't think I have ever seen a text which doesn't begin with Neolithic events and then moves to Mesopotamian civilizations.
Recent archaeology also should be reflected more often in the text. For example, the work at Gobleki Tepe in Turkey has challenged traditional explanations of how the rise of farming and civilization arose in sequence. Another problem area was the description of the life of Jesus as having been miraculous based on statements of some gospels. The earliest gospel, that of Mark, does not include any of the legends of the nativity, and historians don't describe events like the visitation and annunciation as historical.
The statement that the young Jesus showed great aptitude for theology is likewise not historically responsible. We really know nothing of Jesus' early life. The author would do well to consult the work of the Jesus Seminar, whose founder, Dr. The problematic nature of the gospels as historical sources needs some attention in the text. There is a need to incorporate recent archaeological evidence and the work of other social sciences in order to bring the text truly up to date.
One example is the area of Biblical archaeology, which has challenged the traditional explanation of the rise of Hebrew monotheism in interesting ways, most importantly the notion that Yahweh was worshiped with Asherah as a consort. These discoveries are now decades old. I also think the text needs a substantial increase in the coverage of gender and class, with more attention paid to the daily lives and contributions of women, workers, and slavery.
I found no problems with the clarity and style of the text, and especially appreciated the lack of jargon. Although I have problems with the degree to which the text centers historical events from a ruling class perspective, I must agree that the approach is consistent.
I would recommend much more of a "people's history" approach. Sections of the text could easily be assigned in smaller sections without losing a sense of clear organization. Chapter subheadings are clear and there are rarely more than pages assigned to each subheading. Topics are generally listed clearly; the chronology works well. However, I think the text would more effective with blocks of primary documents to break up the narrative. More charts and maps would also relieve the flow of one page full of text after another.
Images are critical to a students' grasp of major themes, not just one the flow of events. I was pleased with the easy interface of mostly maps in the text, though at least one map lacked a key to the expansion of an empire. Grammar and style are generally not a problem, and the book seems to be at an appropriate level for college readers. However, a few sentences could raise problems, such as this one from page "Christianity united self-understood "Western Civilization" just as Roman culture had a few centuries earlier.
The text's problems with cultural relevance do not stem from dismissive or insensitive references, but much more from its default perspective: that of male rulers with exceptions of course and how history is grouped around their actions. Despite some shortcomings, the author certainly deserves praise for a highly readable and accurate survey of a vast period of history.
The comprehensiveness of this work is somewhat uneven. Some topics, such as ancient Sumeria and the Greeks resemble similar treatments in other concise editions. Other topics, such as the medieval religion, medieval state building, and the Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less. Other topics, such as the medieval religion, medieval state building, and the defining features of Germanic and Celtic cultures are noticeably weak or absent.
The author acknowledged that his background in the history of political theory influenced his focus on political history. Although it has been traditional to provide an index in paper textbooks, it seems less necessary in an electronic source that one can easily search.
Nevertheless, a glossary with hyperlinks to somewhat specialized terms, such as a redistributive economy, would be a benefit for many students. Any textbook that covers the scope of material included in these volumes will have a few inaccuracies, or it will offer explanations that cause a specialist to cringe.
On a few topics, this mastery of the material was not as evident, especially in matters medieval: the use of Latin was not confined to written communications between intellectuals in Europe during the Middle Ages; scholars across Europe continued to speak Latin into the early modern period. Similarly, the only impact of the Fourth Crusade was not the weakening of Byzantium; the Venetians carved out a trade empire that lasted for centuries.
One of the strengths of OER textbooks is that the author can allow derivative publications with acknowledgement. Similar to most texts in this genre, this concise history begins in the ancient Near East, where the first agricultural revolution or farming package transformed human material and social conditions.
It then proceeds from the dawn of civilization around 3, BCE to cover Ancient Greece and Rome before covering medieval and early modern Europe in volume 2. Because the presentation of material in these volumes resembles the standard canon for Western Civilization textbooks, it is likely to attract supporters who seek to transform this first edition into an even stronger revision.
In some regards the terminology used is quite clear. Overall, the writing is generally clear and efficient in its coverage of the material. However, in some passages the language could be clearer, more formal, more concise, and more precise. Finally, the text refers to medieval peasants as "farmers," a term that is somewhat anachronistic for the period.
Although the coverage of the ancient world was fairly robust, coverage of early medieval Europe was too cursory. This uneven coverage limited the continuity of the analysis. For example, the text mentioned the importance of bureaucracy in maintaining political stability in the ancient world but failed to note the significance of its development within medieval Europe in general or in Anglo-Saxon England or in the Ottonian empire in particular.
While Anglo-Saxon history has arguably occupied too large a position in previous accounts of Western Civilization, the diminution to just two paragraphs appears to be an over-correction, especially to this English medievalist. When one considers that the textbook is essentially an introduction to European history, it is hard to understand why the Mongol Empire, fascinating as it is, receives more attention than the Anglo-Saxon or Ottonian states.
The chapter headings and foci are excellent. The tripartite division of the volumes makes lots of sense, even though most Western Civilization courses have two parts, one modern and one pre-modern. It seems that if one is going to employ this tripartite division of periods that the divisions would fall along the lines of ancient, medieval, and modern.
Given that the early Middle Ages functioned as a sort of crucible for European Civilization that fused the Greco-Roman, barbarian, and Christian customs and traditions, it would make sense to begin volume 2 there instead of the period around when that medieval culture started to transform into a civilization.
The organizational structure of this Western Civilization textbook is in some ways superior to many of the more elaborate textbooks. The chapters on the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate, for example, address these entities over the course of several centuries without interrupting their development to focus on other polities.
Consequently, the narrative and analysis remain unbroken in contrast to some books that jump back and forth between the Byzantines, the Muslims, and the barbarian successor states during the Middle Ages.
With that back and forth approach, students often lose some of the continuity of the Byzantines and the Muslims. The PDF version of the textbook worked very well. Students were able to access it without issues. Although the number of grammatical errors was fairly small, the prose periodically borders on wordy or unclear forms of expression. A more thorough editing could improve the quality of the prose quite a bit.
Since the s introductory courses in European history often address the racist and imperialist assumptions that initially fashioned the concept of Western Civilization. Brooks addresses this unfortunate legacy in the first dozen pages of volume 1.
In addition, Brooks pointed out that his own background in intellectual political history has limited his ability to address cultural history and gender relations adequately.
Admitting that his treatment of these issues might fall short for some readers, he has given permission to use this work as a foundation for derivative works according to OER guidelines. Reviewed by Nicole V. The text includes an introduction and thirteen chapters covering the history of Western Civilization from the Origins of civilization in Mesopotamia through the era of the Viking invasions in Western Europe.
The introduction frames the The introduction frames the entirety of the text as if the reader were going to use all three volumes. As the title indicates, the text is concise. There is no index or glossary for this text. The content of this text appears to be accurate and in-line with the narrative of published works on this subject, which usually begin with early hominids and the rise of agriculture, though some subjects are treated with more detail than others.
One example that shows that this material is up to date is the reference to recent changes in our understanding of early hominids, for instance. Errors mentioned by a reviewer of the first edition have been corrected in the February edition. Since this is a concise history, some topics necessarily are treated in very short form. As with all survey texts, the story is presented a bit too much as a narrative with most of the questions already answered, and little references to sources, but this is more a problem of the genre of survey textbooks than with this textbook in particular.
A bibliography or indications for further reading would help to flesh out the sense that the information in the text is well researched which it appears to be and provide the message more clearly to students that works such as this are based on research, not just a retelling of static, uninterpreted facts. The reading level is appropriate for entry-level college students and the material is consistent with the subject areas typically covered in the beginning portion of the survey course.
In order to use this text in a semester-based course, a portion of Volume 2 would also be necessary. It is clear that the author has made some attempt to bring in new scholarship where relevant and on a limited basis. This is not usually something that is done on a large scale except with major revisions to traditional Western Civilization texts every few years.
Here, the author has already completed one revision since the original publication of the text a year or so ago. The language is clear and accessible. Students are introduced to new terms and concepts in ways that make meanings clear. Highlighting terms that are likely to be unfamiliar, or providing a vocabulary list at the end of each chapter might increase this accessibility further, but the text itself does provide good cues.
The text is consistent in terminology, focus, and framework. Chapters follow similar patterns as the text moves through its chronological narrative. The organizational structure is built on a chronological narrative that would make taking chapters out of order somewhat nonsensical.
That being said, if an instructor was teaching a version of the course where certain topics were not included or that extended beyond the end of the text, it would be fairly easy to take chapters out or add some from the next volume to achieve the desired coverage. At the chapter level, more subheadings would be helpful.
The sequencing is logical and consistent with other introductory texts in the field, though occasionally the flow within a section is a bit disrupted. For instance, in the section on Egypt, the political chronology of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom is divorced from the discussion of continuity mostly cultural that follows in a way that some historians might find less than optimal.
The selection of maps and photographs is well chosen to illustrate the chapters, though a few more illustrations would be welcome. While these maps and photos are clearly labeled, citation of sources for each item clearly visible in the descriptive text with the titles would be welcome.
Right now the citation list appears at the end of each chapter which makes it less integral and less visible to students who need to learn about proper citation both in OER and for other formats. Marriages were based on love and personal attraction. The upper classes devoted much time to entertainment. Polygamy was the rule. In general, during the imperialistic New Kingdom, Egyptian government changed by a. Invasions in the twelfth century by which of the following people ended Egyptian power in Canaan?
Sumerians b. Babylonians d. Hyksos e. Akhenaten is best known for his unsuccessful attempt to lessen the power of the a. One of the few female pharaohs was a. In the first century B. The Hittites a. The Hittites played an important role in the history of the Middle East because they a.
Growing appreciation of astronomy among European peoples after B. The most famous of the megalithic constructions of Europe is a. The original Indo-Europeans possibly came from a. Sanskrit b. Babylonian c. German d. Latin e. Hittites Copyright Cengage Learning. Essay Compare and contrast the role of women and families in Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies. In the modern Western world, we often draw a distinction between religion and secular society. Would this distinction have made sense to the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt?
Discuss some of the similarities and the differences between the religions and religious practices of the Mesopotamian region and those of Egyptian civilization.
The Code of Hammurabi was one of the first of all ancient legal codes. How was it different from modern day Western legal codes?
Discuss the possible reasons why early Mesopotamia saw so many different civilizations and empires, from the Sumerians to the Akkadians and the Babylonians, while civilization in the Nile Valley remained essentially unchanged for three millennia. Why begin the history of Western Civilization with a study of ancient societies in Mesopotamia and Egypt? What were the causes and the consequences of the migration of Indo-European speakers into the Near East during the second millennium B.
Please discuss the military and political relations between the Egyptian Empire and the Hittite New Kingdom. Are you tolerant of other religions or is this the one true faith? Are you focused on Gold, Arts or Military? Beliefs can even unlock custom buildings that only people of your religion can construct. Great prophets, missionaries and inquisitors help you spread your beliefs to other lands and gain the alliances of City States, and like-minded civilizations. Curse of the Dead Gods. Why do you think that?
Does your everyday life confirm that fact? Explore the. Delivered by FeedBurner. Telephone Your telephone number is opetional. Search for:. Download Here Help Center.
Veterans will appreciate the depth, detail and control that are highlights of the series. City States become a new resource in your diplomatic battleground. An improved diplomacy system allows you to negotiate with fully interactive leaders.
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