Customer Reviews

A History of the Modern World (8th Edition)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This classic is a must for everyone who appreciates well-written history books. Palmer and Colton's gargantuan "History of the Modern World" conveys a vast amount of knowledge in an interesting manner (although at times close to unbearably dense)and its ideas and perspectives are always relevant, new and enlightening. This is a great supplementary text for every European history course you may be taking or teaching. It is also a treasure chest of historic personalities, events and a panoply of culure through the ages. And a look at the enormous Bibliography will convince you that this book was indeed written by two first-rate scholars. Don't let the price scare you, it is a tremendous read, wonderfully presented, perfectly readable, and it's about as much fun as 800 pages of history can be!

The Palmer & Colton text is an excellent book. I (an AP European History teacher) found it to be extremely well-written, authoritative, and interesting. Many textbooks are written in such a manner as to put even a history teacher to sleep, or, if they are written in an interesting manner, suffer from shoddy scholarship. "A History of the Modern World" suffers from neither of these flaws. It does, however, have a few weakenesses. As mentioned in other reviews, it has fewer illustrations than most secondary texts, and none of the illustrations are in color, making maps somewhat difficult to read and greatly reducing the value of putting art in the book. Palmer & Colton also spend a bit less time on social history. Finally, though extremely well-written and interesting for the accomplished reader, it is quite heavy reading for even a high-level high school reader. Hence, while some students love "A History of the Modern World," many others dread having to read it. All that said, I believe for sheer volume and quality presentation of information, this is the best AP European Hisory textbook I have read.

{The most valuable aspect of this book is the unique and insightful perspective of the authors. Their ability to see the large world picture and draw parallels see events from different angles makes this work a thought-provoking reference.} {For instance even the horrible Spanish colonization of the America's was placed in a different light when the authors explained that the Native Americans had also been unfree under their local chiefs, and that the Inquisition was mild compared some of the cruelties of the Aztecs and Incas. The European colonization of other continents was explained as being in a continuum with other European expansions including the Crusades. The new religious attitudes brought about by the Renaissance was compared to the new religious adaptations in Confucian, Islamic, and Hindu societies. Even the five page summary of the American Civil War was in many ways more informative than entire documentaries (because of its world perspective).} {This book is also valuable for the minor things it throws in that changes one's whole point of view. It for example pointed out that there really was no such concept as "Europe" in ancient times, and it described the Roman Empire as an "experiment of civilzing the West."} {For me, the book's biggest fault is that it's called "History of the Modern World" and really only deals with European history. However, the authors make note of this at the beginning and explain their rationale. There still is precious little mention of the Ottoman Empire and other nations whom Europeans were in direct contact with.} {Others have complained that this history contains more facts than anyone would care to know, but all the facts are somewhat relevant and are part of the whole picture. It is designed so that it does not need to be read cover to cover, since there are numerous cross references and a comprehensive index. It is definitely more on the political side than the human interest side, but it contains many important underlying facts that I haven't seen in other textbooks like land transfers during revolutions and population growth rates. It is certainly a fascinating book to peruse for anyone intersted in European or World History.}

Palmer's History of the Modern World is truly a masterpiece in historical writing. For a general survey of European history, the text has such impressive depth, it could easily replace dozens of volumes on the broad subject. It is written in an intelligent style with sentence structure that condenses incredibly complex ideas into digestable size. Naysayers who claim this book to be too difficult for high school reading in an AP class should remember that an AP class is college level, and if you should ever hope to understand European history, you're lucky to have it all accurately and concisely given to you in this book. This book has high demands on the reader, but the returns are equally high.

After, reading several of the other reviews, I have decided that the ones that stated that this book was a waste of time have their heads in the clouds. Palmer and Colton have done a great job in this portrail of history. It reads like a novel not a text. As many have said it is hard to follow, but that only applies to those who must be uneducated or under the age of 12. They say that they don't understand the diction. But, in reality, the language is not that hard. This is a great book for anyone interested in European History. It is not as bad as it sounds. Really, I dislike history and I found this book to be most interesting and helpful! I enjoyed reading it and discussing with others, Palmer and Coltons tarin of thought.

Wow, even 8+ years later, I still have fond memories of this work. I am the first to confess that it was dry, mostly tedious, and some of the densest text I have ever had to plow through, but the lessons learned here I have carried with me through the rest of my life. A very traditional approach to teaching history, this is no wimpy handguide to history; the weak of heart would be best to seek out the "... For Dummies" guide or somesuch abbreviating drivel. Upon completion of this gargantuan text, I can virtually guarantee you will have a quiet sense of pride at the very feat, the satisfaction of persevering where MANY others have given up in despair...

I have just almost completed an AP Modern European History class, and the text used was A History of the Modern World. The easiest way to describe the text is extremely dense, but also stuffed with good information. The largest qualm I have with the text is the way it isolates the European countries for the most of history. There is often a long description of the history of one country during a specific period, then a new heading and a long description of the history of a different country during the same period. As there is often no transition whatsoever, this makes for confusing reading, especially at first. However, when the reader finally ploughs through and gets to more modern times, there is much more connection between the countries.

I read this book to prepare for the AP European History Test and it proved quite effective. Reading this as a sophomore in high school was quite difficult, but did allow me to have a better grasp of not only European, but world history. The information is so enriched and is very useful in discussion, yet it is a heavy undertaking for the serious minded only.

This book formed the backbone for my Modern European History class. "A History of the Modern World" is both tedious and informative. It often muddles the vital information within in a sea of trivial knowledge (trivial in the sense that this book is a primer for serious students)but at the same time it provides useful information; facts that tie the strings together.

If one can accept this book for its flaws and wish to become serious history students, this is the book to start with. If you've only a casual interest in history, you'd be better off with a lighter read.

Palmer simply makes history come alive in this exceptional masterpiece. As a professor of European history at the Presbyterian Parochial College of the Divinity in northwestern Nova Scotia, I have run across many texts which, rather then shed any light on this fascinating subject, simply serve to deter prospective young historians from ever realizing how stimulating, nay, dare I say erotic an experience it can provide. The insight and wisdom contained in this beautiful volume will excite and bedazzle anybody thirsty for knowledge. A must read.