Customer Reviews

The West and the World: A History of Civilization : From the Ancient World to 1700 (The West & the World)

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Reilly's book is a quite serviceable introduction to modern world history. It is not a conventional survey text (you know, the kind with 4 authors, 8 editions, and precious little pizzazz), but rather an interpretive study comprising a series of closely linked essays on key historical issues: industrialization, racism, individualism, nationalism, etc. The author's deft explication of political ideas is probably his strongest suit. Still, there's plenty of facts and data here, so it can be used in college courses or read with profit by the educated public. Uncluttered, well-drawn maps help students locate places mentioned in the text, and the illustrations are also valuable. The cost is very reasonable, about $50 less than the average survey text. The publisher has kept the price down by reducing production costs; this shows in the absence of color pictures, and the index is so skimpy that it's not really adequate. A more serious flaw is the overall neglect of gender, and women's history in general. Though the book has been updated since the last edition in 1989, it has a vaguely archaic feel to it now, as if the perspective hasn't changed much since the Cold War despite the added detail. Still, it has many merits, not least an accessible style and the author's willingness to offer boldly-stated opinions. On balance, Markus Weiner has done well to make this new version available.

"Reilly's text is the most teachable . . . one of the best conceived chronological narratives of world history . . . leaves students with a much more sophisticated vision of the global past and present."
-Lynda Schaffer (Tufts University)