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The Encyclopedia of World History (Hardcover)

~ (Editor) "Human beings have flourished on Earth for at least 2.5 million years..." (more)
Key Phrases: new coalition cabinet, postclassical era, ambassadorial conference, Soviet Union, Great Britain, Middle East (more...)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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  Hardcover, January 16, 2002 $82.43 $82.43 $65.98
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The "Langer Encyclopedia," as the professional academics call The Encyclopedia of World History originally edited by the late William L. Langer, is basically a history of everything--and an outstanding reference volume. Want to know why the English called their 10th-century king Ethelred "the Unready"? See page 181. Or what the Ottoman Empire's constitution of 1876 said? See page 531. Or when women in Honduras got the vote? See page 955. This sixth edition, completely updated and revised by a team of scholars led by George Mason University's Peter N. Stearns, packs all it can into a year-by-year and region-by-region chronicle of human life on planet Earth. The book is big, the type is small, and the maps and genealogical tables are excellent. Stearns has added more material on women, leisure activities, and demographics to this edition, and the sections on Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America are much different from the previous version. As if this weren't enough, the book comes with a CD-ROM featuring the complete text and fantastic search capabilities. The Encyclopedia of World History is highly recommended for serious history buffs. --John Miller


From Booklist

Stearns is provost and professor of history at George Mason University and editor of Encyclopedia of European Social History [RBB My 15 01], among other works. His present effort is a major revision of a classic reference book edited by William Langer that has been around since 1883. The monograph was last published in 1972, so it was in substantial need of revision. This task has taken Stearns and a panel of prominent scholars 10 years to complete.

This book is intended for students, scholars, and amateur historians. It contains more than 20,000 entries covering prehistory through the year 2000. Examples of the currency of this work are the coverage on the 2000 presidential elections and the attack on the USS Cole. Coverage of Western European history has been reduced to make way for additional material on Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In addition, coverage of traditional historical fields like national histories has been updated, and new historical fields such as women's history, social and cultural history, technology, and international government have been added.

Content is divided into broad time periods, from "Prehistoric" to "Contemporary." Each section starts off with a global survey. This is followed by regional divisions within which individual countries or cultures are treated. By and large, information for each region and country is presented chronologically, although there are also some narrative overviews. The extensive table of contents and index are essential tools for finding one's way. Appropriately placed throughout the text are 57 black-and-white maps and 66 genealogy tables of monarchies. The volume comes with a CD-ROM version that installs easily and is very user-friendly. Maps on the CD-ROM are in color, unlike those in the book.

Other recent single-volume world history reference tools are Facts On File's Encyclopedia of World History (2000) and Oxford's Encyclopedia of World History (1998). Both are arranged in A-Z format, and because of its largely chronological organization, the latest Encyclopedia of World History complements rather than competes with them. It would be a useful reference for high-school, public, and academic libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 1057 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Sixth Edition edition (September 24, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0395652375
  • ISBN-13: 978-0395652374
  • Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,407 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Peter N. Stearns
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Human beings have flourished on Earth for at least 2.5 million years. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
new coalition cabinet, postclassical era, ambassadorial conference, regional civilizations, interlacustrine region, grand vezir, postclassical period, manorial dues
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Soviet Union, Great Britain, Middle East, South Africa, League of Nations, New Zealand, North Africa, North America, New York, West Germany, United Nations, Latin America, Buenos Aires, Asia Minor, West Africa, Sierra Leone, Supreme Soviet, Roman Catholic, Labour Party, Persian Gulf, New Guinea, People's Party, Western Hemisphere, South Korea, North Korea
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for both students and professionals, March 7, 2002
By Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
You know you've finally run across an excellent encyclopedia when you pull it off the shelf to look up a specific topic only to find yourself a couple of hours later reading totally unrelated entries for the sheer pleasure of it. This is my experience with this newest edition of Peter Stearns' *Encyclopedia of World History*.

The Encyclopedia's entries, which run from prehistoric to contemporary times, are incredibly detailed, summarizing each periods intellectual, economic, political, social, religious, and military history. They also include features not found in typical historical overviews. One of my favorites is "Global Interaction Networks," a section that ties together causal interactions between different parts of the world at different historical periods. The Global Interaction Networks for Europe, 1479-1675, for example, features mini-essays on emerging world economies, exchange of new agricultural products (such as maize and potatoes discovered in the New World), and worldwide epidemics.

In this edition of the Encyclopedia, there's also an accompanying CD which provides, among other things, a wonderful historical atlas. Finally, the index is to die for: over 150 pages of closely-printed text. Wonderful!

An overall reflection of the usefulness of this Encyclopedia is that one needn't be a rocket scientist to find it useful. A high school student can profit from it just as much as a graduate student or history professor. I've frequently referred to past editions of it in preparing for my own classes, and I've never hesitated to refer it to students.

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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Single Volume Reference Available, May 2, 2003
By David R. Bannon, Ph.D. (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
William Langer's original daunting task - to offer a single volume encyclopedia that would be the standard reference volume for historians - was admirably fulfilled in past editions. This sixth edition, with Peter Stearn and his team of scholars of unquestioned authority, continues the tradition. For the layman, this book offers a remarkable brevity and depth. Often within just two or three pages entire significant periods or trends are covered thoroughly. There are rare factual errors, as is the case with any encyclopedic work, but this new edition still delivers the most exhaustive reference with the least errors. For those who love dates and places, people and trends, this is an invaluable reference. For those who hate such detailed information but must keep it around for work or school, this is still the best single volume encyclopedia available. The CD-ROM is painless to install. The integration into MS Word is only mildly quirky - for most terms the desired reference information pops up within seconds and is reasonably relevant. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Updated, May 31, 2002
By A Customer
The 1972 Langer was THE standard reference for history students, as I ws for six years of graduate school. It bailed me out numerous times. It parallels the value of the CRC for chemistry students or the OED for scholars of the English language. This splendid revision and updating belongs in the collection of anyone wanting a handy, convenient reference to all phases of history. It has splendid essays that lay out the basics in many fields, like art, math, science, and culture. It should not be the last word on a topic, which you can get from poking through amazon.com, or visitng your local library. The CD-ROM is a dream, and the maps printed out fine, even though they are just an outline of say, the partition of Africa. As for Lindbergh, the error was perpetuated from the 1972 book, but that should not detract from the overwhelmingly excellent job. Any general reference work that cites my obscure dissertation hero, even thought it is spelled in the English and not the Polish style, is truly remarkable!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Easy to Read
There is a lot of information in this encyclopedia, but it is not easy to read. If you need an immediate answer at a glance it is helpful but I think it is not fluent in language... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Sulen Sarioglu

5.0 out of 5 stars First rate quick reference
Not for reading, but for looking up details while reading other materials or quick confirmation of background information that comes up in discussion or newspaper/magazine... Read more
Published on November 9, 2005 by Christopher D. Junker

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Teaching Resource
I teach a 100 level art history at a univeristy and this is an excellent resource to accompany my lectures. Read more
Published on October 24, 2005 by N. Cardassilaris

5.0 out of 5 stars Leave this one at the library.
This is a wonderful encyclopedia, but it's so packed with general information that I believe it would be best kept at the library for a quick reference to dates and events. Read more
Published on September 21, 2005 by Maritsa

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully detailed but not for kids
This book was incredibly detailed. If you want a year by year reference, this is for you. However, we needed a family general history encyclepedia and this wasn't that. Read more
Published on August 9, 2005 by JN Turner

5.0 out of 5 stars Massive source of history knowledge
The best part about this book is the CD that comes with it. Anytime I come across someone or something I don't know much about, I just type it in and get all related entries... Read more
Published on July 4, 2005 by Pistol Pete

1.0 out of 5 stars Typical ivory tower academic bias
Don't look to this book for a balanced even-handed look at history. It has the unfortunately all-too-typical biases now running rampant on cloistered university campuses. Read more
Published on November 20, 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars An Encyclopedia of World History
I'm a history buff and I have been using this reference book since 1972. It's the best book of its kind. Whether you want facts, maps, or genealogical tables; it's all there.
Published on April 4, 2002 by Brigitte Gager

3.0 out of 5 stars How many more errors are there?
This volume is very handsome--beautifully typeset. And the illustrations are nicely done, too. However, the very first person I looked up, Charles A. Read more
Published on March 8, 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Single-Volume History Reference I have Ever Used
I have eagerly awaited the publication of the sixth edition. It's unique style and flow are what have made it a true classic. Read more
Published on February 5, 2002 by Fred B. Folsom

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