A Concise Survey of Western Civilization: Supremacies and Diversities throughout History

by Brian A. Pavlac

Overview

This lively text offers a brief, readable description of our common Western heritage as it began in the first human societies and developed in ancient Greece and Rome, then through the Middle Ages. Providing a tightly focused narrative and interpretive structure, Brian A. Pavlac covers the basic historical information that all educated adults should know. His joined terms “supremacies and diversities” develop major themes of conflict and creativity throughout history. “Supremacies” centers on the use of power to dominate societies, ranging from warfare to ideologies. Supremacy seeks stability, order, and incorporation. “Diversities” encompasses the creative impulse that produces new ideas, as well as the efforts of groups of people to define themselves as “different.” Diversity creates change, opportunity, and individuality.

These themes of historical tension and change—whether applied to political, economic, technological, social, or cultural trends—offer a bridging explanatory organization. The text is also informed by five topical themes: technological innovation, migration and conquest, political and economic decision making, church and state, and disputes about the meaning of life. Throughout, judicious “basic principles” present summaries of historical realities and primary source projects offer students the chance to evaluate differing points of view about the past. Written with flair, this easily accessible yet deeply knowledgeable text provides all the essentials for courses on Western Civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538112533
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/17/2019
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian A. Pavlac is professor of history at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he has served as chair of the department and a Herve A. LeBlanc Distinguished Service Professor.

Table of Contents

List of Diagrams, Figures, Maps, Primary Source Projects, Sources on Families, Tables, and Timelines ix

Acknowledgments xiii

How to Use This Book xv

1 History's Story 1

There's Method 1

What Is Truth? 8

Primary Source Project 1 Thucydides versus von Ranke about the Aim of History 15

2 Wanderers and Settlers: The Ancient Middle East to 400 BC 19

The Apes' Cousins 19

Bound to the Soil 25

The Price of Civilization 30

Sources on Families: Law Code of Hammurabi 37

The Rise and Fall of Practically All Middle Eastern Empires 38

Primary Source Project 2 Xenophon versus Herodotus about Reputation 48

3 The Chosen People: Hebrews and Jews, 2000 BC to AD 135 53

Between and under Empires 53

Primary Source Project 3 Sennacherib's Annalist versus Chronicles Writer about Divine Favor 56

Bound by Law 60

Sources on Family: Deuteronomy 65

4 Trial of the Hellenes: The Ancient Greeks, 1200 BC to AD 146 69

To the Sea 69

The Political Animal 72

Metamorphosis 77

Primary Source Project 4 Athenians versus Melians about the Rules of War 83

The Cultural Conquest 86

Sources on Families: Plato, The Republic 92

5 Imperium Romanum: The Romans, 753 BC to AD 300 95

World Conquest in Self-Defense 95

The Price of Power 101

The Absolutist Solution 104

Primary Source Project 5 Galgacus versus Agricola about Motivations for Battle 112

The Roads to Knowledge 114

Sources on Families: Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Augustus 117

6 The Revolutionary Rabbi: Christianity, the Roman Empire, and Islam, 4 BC to AD 1453 121

The Son of Man 121

Sources on Families: Paul, First Epistle to Timothy 125

The Cultural War 127

Primary Source Project 6 Paul versus Pliny and Trajan about the Value of Christianity 133

Roma Delenda Est 136

Struggle for the Realm of Submission 140

7 From Old Rome to the New West: The Early Middle Ages, AD 500 to 1000 145

Goths in the Garden 145

Primary Source Project 7 Bad Bishops versus Benedict about Moral Rules 152

Sources on Families: Tacitus, Germania 155

Charles in Charge 157

The Cavalry to the Rescue 162

8 The Medieval Mêlée: The High and Later Middle Ages, 1000 to 1500 169

Return of the Kings 169

Discipline and Domination 177

Sources on Families: Jacobus de Voragine, "The Life of Saint Elizabeth" 181

Plenty of Papal Power 184

Primary Source Project 8 Gregory VII versus Henry IV about Church versus State 189

The Age of Faith and Reason 192

A New Estate 198

Not the End of the World 204

9 Making the Modern World: The Renaissance and Reformation, 1400 to 1648 211

The Purse of Princes 211

Man as the Measure 219

Primary Source Project 9 Witch Hunter versus Confessor about Belief in Witches 225

Heaven Knows 229

Sources on Families: Martin Luther, Table Talk 234

Fatal Beliefs 235

God, Greed, and Glory 243

Epilogue: Why Western Civilization? 501

Timelines 509

Common Abbreviations 521

Glossary 523

Index 537

About the Author 563

What People are Saying About This

William A. Paquette

Written with the skill of a novelist, this book guides the reader step by step through the process of what a historian thinks, does, and interprets. Chapter content establishes the foundation for each future chapter with carefully selected questions, key-word definitions, and ideas in bold type. This is the best-written textbook on Western civilization that I have had the pleasure to read in thirty-five years of teaching.

From the Publisher

This is an exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible text. . . . Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout this text that break down complex information into visual and easy digest parts. . . . Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that this text is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization.

Christopher M. Bellitto

Pavlac has come up with an effective comparative approach: what's new, what's different, what's changed, what's distinctive. This way of encountering Western civilization without drowning in details will produce students who are well-grounded for upper-division courses.

Editorial Reviews

Exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible. . . . Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout. . . that break down complex information into visual and easy-to-digest parts. . . . Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that the book is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization. (Previous Edition Praise)

Teaching History: A Journal of Methods

Exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible.. .. Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout.. . that break down complex information into visual and easy-to-digest parts.. .. Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that the book is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization. (Previous Edition Praise)

Teaching History: A Journal of Methods

Written with the skill of a novelist, this book guides the reader step by step through the process of what a historian thinks, does, and interprets. Chapter content establishes the foundation for each future chapter with carefully selected questions, key word definitions, and ideas in bold type. This is the best-written textbook on Western civilization that I have had the pleasure to read in thirty-five years of teaching.

William A. Paquette

The book’s conciseness and reasonable cost are very attractive. For a single-semester course that spans the three millennia, I preferred this book to competing texts, which are just too long, with too many ‘facts.’ Pavlac’s writing is also a plus. His informal tone and his skillful movement from paragraph to paragraph give his work a readability that my students like very much.(Previous Edition Praise)

Robert Good

This book is the way to go for a one-semester course: a text that’s full, but not dense. It’s well-informed and intelligently written, yet still accessible. The big-picture approach combined with guided questions keep students on track, while the writing is lively, anecdotal, and illustrative—a nice balance of the forest and trees. The concise nature of the text makes it particularly suitable for online or condensed semesters.(Previous Edition Praise)

Christopher M. Bellitto

Exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible. . . . Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout. . . that break down complex information into visual and easy-to-digest parts. . . . Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that the book is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization. (Previous Edition Praise)-- "Teaching History: A Journal of Methods"

The book's conciseness and reasonable cost are very attractive. For a single-semester course that spans the three millennia, I preferred this book to competing texts, which are just too long, with too many 'facts.' Pavlac's writing is also a plus. His informal tone and his skillful movement from paragraph to paragraph give his work a readability that my students like very much.(Previous Edition Praise)--Robert Good, Mercer University

This book is the way to go for a one-semester course: a text that's full, but not dense. It's well-informed and intelligently written, yet still accessible. The big-picture approach combined with guided questions keep students on track, while the writing is lively, anecdotal, and illustrative--a nice balance of the forest and trees. The concise nature of the text makes it particularly suitable for online or condensed semesters.(Previous Edition Praise)--Christopher M. Bellitto, Kean University

Written with the skill of a novelist, this book guides the reader step by step through the process of what a historian thinks, does, and interprets. Chapter content establishes the foundation for each future chapter with carefully selected questions, key word definitions, and ideas in bold type. This is the best-written textbook on Western civilization that I have had the pleasure to read in thirty-five years of teaching. (Previous Edition Praise)--William A. Paquette, Tidewater Community College

From the Publisher

This is an exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible text. . . . Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout this text that break down complex information into visual and easy digest parts. . . . Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that this text is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization.

Teaching History