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 | | Western Civilization: Comprehensive Volume by Jackson J. Spielvogel ISBN-10: 9780534568351 ISBN-10: 0-534-56835-1 ISBN-13: 9780534568351 ISBN-13: 978-0-534-56835-1 Hardcover 1999-08-09 Wadsworth Publishing Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description There are many reasons why this is the number one selling Western Civilization text in the country. The clear, single-author narrative by Jackson Spielvogel presents history in an appealing and accessible manner. This text truly tells a story that students will understand. WESTERN CIVILIZATION strikes a true balance and provides a synthesis of political, economic, social, religious, military, cultural, and intellectual history. This balance gives students a solid foundation for further study in history. Chapter 29, The Contemporary Western World Since 1970 is a particularly good illustration of the text's balance. The book's documents and maps are useful and superb. | ||
Reviews | ||
WONDERFUL TEXTBOOK! I READ THIS BOOK FOR WESTERN CIV I & II AND I LOVED IT! NOT TO MENTION THAT I RECEIVED AN A ON BOTH TESTS. EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ IT FOR COLLEGE, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. IT IS SUCH A TREAT TO READ AND I BELIEVE IT BELONGS IN EVERY HOME. EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW WHERE THE CRADLE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION BEGAN, AND HOW THE PEOPLE LIVED AND PROGRESSED THROUGHOUT THE AGES. I CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE THIS BOOK WITH MY CHILDREN SOMEDAY. HAPPY READING! | ||
Western Civilization Book is well designed; choice of content is good. Historical selections are given a tan background which is dark enough to make the text more difficult to read than it might be. This also could be 'old' eyes. Book seems well copy-edited for textual errors. The long lists of primary and secondary sources seems to be a 'feature' of history texts these days. Rather intimidating, particularly for the beginning history student. A shorter list might be more helpful and appropriate. Problems: If you cannot pronounce a word, you cannot learn it. Some of this may be due to my 'studying at home', but even the student who attends a regular class will be left at a loss on how to pronounce many, many words. More help is needed. The ancilliary materials, Map Workbook and Original Document Workbook, are not up to the level of the main text. The Map Workbook uses muddy, black and white versions of the colored text maps, and answer some of their own questions, while some of the cities which the student is asked to identify are 'off the map'. The Original Document workbook is a joke. Few selections, 18pt type, lots of white space, typos, layout poor at times. Junk. There are numerous instances in the main text of clumsy English. One example will have to do: P.160 "Although the cultural and social developments of the Early Empire were similar to those of the last century of the Republic, there were also significant changes as a result of the new imperial order." Are they similar or are they different? 'Developments' is the wrong word. 'Also' is a junk word. 'There were significant changes' is weak (intransitive). Better: "Although some cultural and social features of the Early Empire were similar to those of the last century of the Republic, the new imperial order brought significant changes." Good transition sentence. -17% word count from original. | ||
West.Civ. Textbook The text is easy to read and the book has just the right amount of pictures co-ordinating with the subject matter. A perfect book to study from. On the down side, the book is a very thick and heavy book, but history is massive. | ||
It's Just A Textbook?!? I am taking the class AP European History, and I have to admit it is a very comprehensible textbook. However, it is just a TEXTBOOK! The other people that have written reviews of this book need to be locked up! I mean one girl said she begged her parents to get it for her for Christmas, and another guy said this book was better than sex! Judging by where these people are from I can see they should be easily amused. I can't understand what these people are getting at. If you take the European History class, this book is a requirment. Unless you're taking the class I can't imagine anybody buying this thick book. And if you are a person that likes to read textbooks for fun you should have yourself committed! | ||
If you happen to like miniscule details... I personally disliked the book, but as a history book I admit it rates 5 stars. Spielvogel is the master of all impertinent details and sometimes goes too deeply into what is essentially a dead end in history, as it doesn't connect to anything else; it just sits there for no reason except to be memorized and tested on later. He is also sometimes too politically correct, 'unpaid forced laborer' = 'slave' in one sentence. Furthermore, he picks on Italy, in practically each chapter after the end of the Renaissance to WWI he points out a negative thing or two about it, while ignoring other depressed and turmoiled countries. But at least he has some original sources--it was a good idea of his to put them in the book. One other thing, he also spelled Anchorage, AK, as Ankorage. | ||