Making Sense of World History

ISBN-13: 9780367820886 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 1424 str.

Rick Szostak

Opis

This is a comprehensive and accessible textbook that helps students understand the key themes of world history within a chronological framework stretching from ancient times to the present day. Written in a unified authorial voice, it is the go-to textbook for World History courses and students.

Spis treści

PART I: Organizing world history  1. Making sense of world history  PART II: Prehistory and ancient history  2. The Big History prelude: From the Big Bang to hominids  3. Evolution of human nature itself in early human history  4. A critical transformation: The development of agriculture, nomadism, and fishing  5. Some early impacts of agriculture: Key technologies and trade practices  6. Grappling with “civilization”: The development of cities, states, and writing  7. Early civilizations around the world  8. Belief systems: The nature and development of early religions  PART III: Classical history  9. Political organization on an unprecedented scale: The classical empires  10. Similarities and differences: The Roman and Chinese Empires compared 11. The birth of missionary religions: Why and how did the world’s major religions emerge?  12. A new force in world history: The Islamic conquests  13. Eurasia in the centuries after the fall of the classical empires  PART IV: The Middle Ages  14. Seeking global commonalities: Some key thematic trends 900–1500 and beyond  15. Regional developments: Eurasia after 900  16. Regional developments: Polynesia, the Americas, and Africa  17. The Mongols and the largest ever contiguous empire  PART V: The Early Modern period  18. Thematic developments in the Early Modern period 1450–1800  19. Exploration and trade: Linking the continents  20. Comparing new empires in Asia  21. It seems so natural now: The emergence of the modern nation state  22. The Great Divergence: The rise of the European economy and military  PART VI: The nineteenth and twentieth centuries  23. Key thematic transformations of the long nineteenth entury  24. Industrial revolutions: Innovation, factories, and economic growth  25. Political revolutions around the world: A diverse set of experiences with important commonalities  26. A unique historical transformation: The abolition of slavery and serfdom  27. Key thematic transformations of the twentieth century  28. Devastation and fear: War in the twentieth century  29. The worst of times and the best of times: The Great Depression and postwar recovery  30. An unprecedented development: Postwar decolonization  31. Population movements: Dramatic changes in the numbers, location, and health of humans  PART VII: Drawing lessons  32. Drawing lessons from history: Why, how, and what

O autorze

Rick Szostak is a professor at the University of Alberta, Canada. He is the author of eighteen books and sixty journal articles spanning the fields of world history, economic history, history of technology, methodology, interdisciplinary studies, and knowledge organization.