The Western Experience, with Primary Source Investigator and PowerWeb [Hardcover]

Mortimer Chambers (Author), Barbara Hanawalt (Author), Theodore Rabb (Author), Isser Woloch (Author), Raymond Grew (Author), Lisa Tiersten (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0073331651 | ISBN-13: 978-0073331652 | Edition: 9

The Western Experience offers a thorough, analytical overview of Western civilization, giving students an introduction to the major achievements in Western thought, art, and science--as well as the social, political, and economic context for understanding those developments. To help readers develop their reasoning and writing skills, each chapter is constructed to serve as an example of a historical essay: A historical problem is presented, and arguments are developed using historical evidence.

Available in a single volume as well as two-volume and three-volume formats, The Western Experience now devotes an entire chapter to empires in the nineteenth-century. Based on the work of Lisa Tiersten, Chapter 26 “Nineteenth-Century Empires” has impressive breath and depth of coverage both chronologically (nineteenth century, 1780-1914) and geographically. The chapter also includes exciting new illustrations and photographs and new primary source material.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lisa Tiersten is Associate Professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University. She received her Ph.D. at Yale University and has taught at Wellesley College and Barnard College. She has been the recipient of a Chateaubriand Fellowship, a French Historical Studies Society Fellowship, and a Getty Fellowship. She also received the Emily Gregory Teaching Award at Barnard College in 1996. Her publications include Marianne in the Market: Envisioning Consumer Society in Fin-de-siècle France (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001). She is currently at work on a history of bankruptcy and the culture of credit in modern France, entitled Terms of Trade: The Capitalist Imagination in Modern France, and on an edited volume on the comparative history of children’s rights in twentieth-century Europe. Her research interests include modern France, gender, consumer culture, empire, and the comparative culture of capitalism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 982 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 9 edition (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0073331651
• ISBN-13: 978-0073331652
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nice 1000-page synopsis of the European Culture, but..., May 11, 2001

By 

C. Doke "crayt1024" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Experience (Hardcover)

"The Western Experience" edited by Chambers covers a massive range of topics in a manner that is conducive to the understanding of the material. The book discusses many Social, Political and economic trends for each respective time frame. However, there are some glaring omissions as a historical text. The book will state for example, that a certain organization was established in a certain year, however, nothing further is mentioned. No explanations as to why or as to what purpose said organization ultimately served. Further, the text becomes, at times, difficult to follow, as things are not discussed in chronological order. The reader often has difficulty in distinguishing the year and what specific events where happening elsewhere at the same time. But it must be noted here that the reader most certainly does recognize parallelism within history, as the result of its interconnected, yet non-chronological, organization scheme.

If must be noted, however, that while it is at times difficult to follow, the book, especially in the more modern history parts, does a relatively good job of remaining objective.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Western Experience" a good experience, September 8, 2005

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RJ The Great "The RJ" (Fairfield, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Western Experience, Volume I, with Powerweb (Paperback)

This book covers everything I needed for my high school sophomore AP European History class. Though it is at a college freshman level, and I found the reading tedious sometimes because of the information, it is, all in all, no more and no less than the history scholar would need. The authors did a superb job of tying everything together and explaining not only the "when", but the "why" and the "how" of the events covered. No irrelevant information is presented; it is all important to the study of European History. Plus, there is a bibliography in the back of each chapter for further reading and information sources. There is a list of maps, an introduction, and an epilogue, all of which are helpful.

The book has many helpful maps, charts, and boxes with the chronology of certain important events (i.e. the "fall" of Rome and the Persian Wars.) There are also pale yellow boxes throughout containing sections of literature and poetry from or about the time period that is being covered. The text not only covers major battles and people, but a bit about the lifestyles of the people being studied.

In short, this book is a wonderful resource for all those learning about European History.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review, September 27, 2007

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snapy48 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Western Experience, with Primary Source Investigator and PowerWeb (Hardcover)

This book is very broad and does not go in great detail. Good for overviews, or a teacher who is not looking to press you for details. Is written quite simply and plainly for anyone to understand. Keep in mind the viewpoint of the authors when reading this...