The Essential World History [Paperback]

William J. Duiker (Author), Jackson J. Spielvogel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0495902276 | ISBN-13: 978-0495902270 | Publication Date: February 19, 2010 | Edition: 6

Explore common challenges and experiences that unite the human past and identify key global patterns over time with THE ESSENTIAL WORLD HISTORY, 6e. This brief overview of world history covers political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military history integrated into a chronologically ordered synthesis to help you gain an appreciation and understanding of the distinctive character and development of individual cultures in society. You can use the book's global approach and its emphasis on analytical comparisons between cultures to link events together in a broad comparative and global framework that places the contemporary world in a more meaningful historical context.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book’s preface and "Themes for Understanding World History" clearly lay out the authors’ vision, and the authors implement it brilliantly. Duiker and Spielvogel are to be commended for their concise, crisp style and their honest interpretation of evidence. … Duiker and Spielvogel have an innovative and original approach to world history, and the way they portray the gradual shift from isolated societies to a global society works extremely well."

"The author’s approach is consistent throughout the text, and they have achieved their stated goal of adopting a ’global approach to world history while at the same time attempting to do justice to the distinctive character and development of individual civilizations and regions of the world.’"

"I like the book, it has a clear vision of the progress of world history and the combination of text, documents and illustrations is good. The up to date appearance of the later chapters is especially good. In fact, I haven’t seen some of the documents and or text in other texts."

"In looking through the text, it’s clear that the authors and publishers went all-out to give students as broad an exposure to the world as they possibly could, to present the material attractively, and to provide a wide array of useful study aids and supplementary material. I am particularly impressed by the unusually large amount of space devoted to non-Western subjects, particularly as compared with other texts (as above) with which I am familiar. … This particular text comes as close to my ideal as any I have encountered, so I most likely will seriously consider adopting it when a new edition comes out."

"I was impressed by the way the text had been slimmed down. If we could work out a three-semester split, the slimmed own version would give us the ability to use more outside readings, something we like to do. The primary source documents are quite relevant to the text in this edition and I liked them." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

William Duiker is a liberal arts professor Emeritus of East Asian studies at The Pennsylvania State University. A former U.S. diplomat with service in Taiwan, South Vietnam, and Washington, D.C., he received his doctorate in Far Eastern history from Georgetown University in 1968, where his dissertation dealt with the Chinese educator and reformer Cai Yuanpei. At Penn State, he has written widely on the history of Vietnam and modern China, including the widely acclaimed THE COMMUNIST ROAD TO POWER IN VIETNAM (Revised Edition, Westview Press, 1996), which was selected for a Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award in 1982-1983 and 1996-1997. Other recent books written by Duiker include CHINA AND VIETNAM: THE ROOTS OF CONFLICT (Berkeley, 1987) and SACRED WAR: NATIONALISM AND REVOLUTION IN A DIVIDED VIETNAM (McGraw-Hill, 1995). His biography of the revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, HO CHI MINH: A LIFE was published by Hyperion Press in the fall of 2000 and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize the following year. He also is the author of CONTEMPORARY WORLD HISTORY, Fifth Edition (forthcoming; Wadsworth, 2010) and THE WORLD SINCE WORLD WAR II (Wadsworth, 2005). While Duiker's research specialization is in the field of nationalism and Asian revolutions, his intellectual interests are considerably more diverse. He has traveled widely and has taught courses on the History of Communism and non-Western civilizations at Penn State, where he was awarded a Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the spring of 1996.

Jackson J. Spielvogel is associate professor emeritus of history at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he studied Reformation history under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as "Moreana," "Journal of General Education," "Catholic Historical Review," "Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte," and "American Historical Review." He has also contributed chapters or articles to "The Social History of Reformation," THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, "Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual of Holocaust Studies," and "Utopian Studies." His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western civilization courses as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (Fifth Edition, 2005). He is the co-author (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in January 1994 (Fifth Edition, 2007). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the year 1988-1989, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. In 1996, he won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member, and in 2000 received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 844 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 6 edition (February 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0495902276
• ISBN-13: 978-0495902270
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars History bOOk., June 28, 2011

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dudesfordoughnuts - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Essential World History, Enhanced Edition, Volume 2 (Paperback)

This is a somewhat basic book. Not bad by any imagination, but "tell me something I don't know" comes to mind.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast shipping and remarkable product, August 7, 2010

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Turquoise28 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential World History, Enhanced Edition, Volume 2 (Paperback)

The product was in excellent condition. I received it faster than I thought. This was my first time buying anything on amzaon and the experience was great.

22 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars typical inaccuracies, unprofessional, March 16, 2005

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N. Riggs "disappointed reader" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essential World History (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac) (Paperback)

It seems that the closer to modern history this text reaches, the further away from accuracy it strays. I was particularly disappointed when reading that Duiker is considered somewhat of an "expert" on Communism--and, by association, socialism. Alas, his expertise does not mean he can differentiate between basic terms such as "welfare state" and socialism. Furthermore, the later chapters are written from the perspective that socialism (even when wrongly identified) is the scourge of the earth, while capitalism will solve all problems.

Given the fact that the authors incorrectly identify a welfare state as socialism, it seems even stranger that they would characterize such systems, past and future--despite the fact that historical research is a descriptive endeavor rather than prescriptive--as utter failures, even though the nation with the greatest living standard in the world is in fact a welfare state.

I am sincerely disappointed with the skewed perspective the authors impose upon impressionable students that usually don't know any better but to accept it all as fact. Although, if you accept the statements provided in the Essential World History, 2nd edition, such anti-academic practices only happen in non-western, communist and freedom hating countries.

If you're interested in indoctrinating a large audience of students ignorant of history, by all means provide this book as their text. If you want to teach real history, however, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.