Customer Reviews

The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures

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

 

 

Hunt's "The Making of the West" concise edition is a good value. Coming in at under $40 used, it is easily $20 cheaper than the competition... and it's worth the money.

The good: Like the price, this textbook has some things going for it. Unlike larger, wider and weightier "doorstop" textbooks, its "regular book size" and weight fit easily in a backpack, under your arm, or when reading in your easy chair. Color maps, pictures, good online resources, and its general survey of western history make this book a "four star" value.

The bad. This text is general and best suited for AP or college undergraduate survey classes, and not for advanced readers or upper level courses. The suggested readings section doesn't give a historiography of the books it recommends. And, what I find unforgivable is that it doesn't give an introductory essay defining what "the west" is. Also, the accompanying source reader is terrible--poor document selection and too few sources used. Avoid it.

The text is heavy on social and cultural history, and uses lots of art to teach it. It lacks a lot of the standard political/great man treatments of the west that young undergraduates might need. So, if you're looking for a more traditional political/military narrative, you're not going to like this book.

In the final analysis--an OK book for the money, (Lynn Hunt is an excellent scholar) but if you want more weighty, traditional material look elsewhere.

A textbook that keeps my interest. It is easy to read and understand, the authors haven't dumbed it down just explained things better. The pictures, charts and time lines are wonderful and very helpful. Could even be used for high school, will recommend this to home schoolers.

This is an extremely nice book for people who want to explore the western history, culture, and historical trends. Besides detailed, well-written chapters the book is full of visuals that I found to be particularly helpful in understanding the discussed concepts.

For a history book this one is actually pretty interesting. I like how everything is organized and the detail that it is described in.

This is the required text for a course I'm taking. I know that it's a monumental task for an author to write comprehensively about history covering many thousands of years. Unfortunately, I'm finding the book confusing and difficult to follow. The organizational structure within chapters is unclear. The layout, which is crowded, does not adequately convey historical progress or the relationships among/between events. Perhaps more white space or a larger format would help--tho that might raise the price of the book.

This is a great text book. The information is interesting, unlike many history books I've previously read. It is beautifully illustrated. And the 1000+ pages will help you exercise.