Long a best-seller in the field, A History of Western Society examines the lives of historic figures and ordinary people from an extraordinary perspective--and sustains that vision with an engaging, lively writing style. While social and economic history are areas of special emphasis, the authors pay careful attention to traditional political and cultural developments, providing a balanced, well-rounded view of Western history as a whole. The Sixth Edition offers a wider geographic/ethnic scope, with added coverage of Eastern Europe, the Celtic region, and Islam and Muslims.
1. Near Eastern Origins
What Is History and Why?
The First Human Beings
Mesopotamian Civilization
The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture
Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs (3100-1200 B.C.)
The Hittite Empire
The Fall of Empires and the Survival of Cultures (ca 1200 B.C.)
2. Small Kingdoms and Mighty Empires in the Near East
Recovery and Diffusion
Egypt, a Shattered Kingdom
The Children of Israel
Assyria, the Military Monarch
Chaldean Babylonia (626-539 B.C.)
The Empire of the Persian Kings
3. The Legacy of Greece
Hellas: The Land
The Minoans and Myceneans (ca 1650-ca 1100 B.C.)
Homer, Hesiod, and the Heroic Past (1100-800 B.C.)
The Polis
The Lyric Age (800-500 B.C.)
The Classical Period (500-338 B.C.)
The Final Act (404-338 B.C.)
4. Hellenistic Diffusion
Alexander and the Great Crusade
Alexander's Legacy
The Spread of Hellenism
The Economic Scope of the Hellenistic World
Religion in the Hellenistic World
Philosophy and the People
Hellenistic Science
Hellenistic Medicine
5. The Rise of Rome
The Land and the Sea
The Etruscans and Rome (750-509 B.C.)
The Roman Conquest of Italy (509-290 B.C.)
The Roman State
Social Conflict in Rome
Roman Expansion
Old Values and Greek Culture
The Late Republic (133-31 B.C.)
6. The Pax Romana
Augustus's Settlement (31 B.C.-A.D. 14)
The Coming of Christianity
The Julio-Claudians and the Flavians (27 B.C.-A.D. 96)
The Age of the "Five Good Emperors" (A.D. 96-180)
Life in the "Golden Age"
Civil Wars and Invasions in the Third Century
Reconstruction Under Diocletian and Constantine (A.D. 284-337)
Classical Antiquity and Late Antiquity
7. The Making of Europe
The Growth of the Christian Church
Christian Attitudes Toward Classical Culture
Christian Monasticism
The Migration of the Germanic Peoples
Germanic Society
The Byzantine East (ca 400-788)
The Arabs and Islam
8. The Carolingian World: Europe in the Early Middle Ages
The Frankish Kingdom and the Emergence of the Carolingians
The Empire of Charlemagne
The Carolingian Intellectual Revival
Health and Medical Care in the Early Middle Ages
Aristocratic Resurgence
Feudalism and the Historians
Great Invasions of the Ninth Century
9. Revival, Recovery, Reform, and Expansion
Political Revival
Revival and Reform in the Christian Church
The Gregorian Revolution
The Crusades
The Expansion of Latin Christendom
10. Life in Christian Europe in the High Middle Ages
Those Who Work
Those Who Fight
Those Who Pray
11. The Creativity and Vitality of the High Middle Ages
Medieval Origins of the Modern State
Towns and Economic Revival
Medieval Universities
Gothic Art
Heresy and the Friars
A Challenge to Religious Authority
12. The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
Prelude to Disaster
Black Death
The Hundred Years' War (ca 1337-1453)
The Decline of the Church's Prestige
The Life of the People
Vernacular Literature
13. European Society in the Age of the Renaissance
The Evolution of the Italian Renaissance
Intellectual Hallmarks of the Renaissance
Art and the Artist
Social Change
The Renaissance in the North
Politics and the State in the Renaissance (ca 1450-1521)
14. Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church
The Condition of the Church (ca 1400-1517)
Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism
Germany and the Protestant Reformation
The Growth of the Protestant Reformation
The Catholic Reformation and the Counter-Reformation
15. The Age of Religious Wars and European Expansion
Politics, Reigion, and War
Discovery, Reconnaissance, and Expansion
Later Explorers
Changing Attitudes
Literature and Art
16. Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe (ca 1589-1715)
Absolutism
Constitutionalism
17. Absolutism in Eastern Europe to 1740
Lords and Peasants in Eastern Europe
The Rise of Austria and Prussia
The Development of Russia
Absolutism and the Baroque
18. Toward a New World-view
The Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment and Absolutism
19. The Expansion of Europe in the Eighteenth Century
Agriculture and the Land
The Beginning of the Population Explosion
The Growth of Cottage Industry
Building the Atlantic Economy
20. The Changing Life of the People
Marriage and the Family
Children and Education
Food and Medical Practice
Religion and Popular Culture
21. The Revolution in Politics, 1775-1815
Liberty and Equality
The American Revolution, 1775-1789
The French Revolution, 1789-1791
World War and Republican France, 1791-1799
The Napoleonic Era, 1799-1815
22. The Revolution in Energy and Industry
The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Industrialization in Continental Europe
Capital and Labor
23. Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815-1850
The Peace Settlement
Radical Ideas and Early Socialism
The Romantic Movement
Reforms and Revolutions
The Revolutions of 1848
24. Life in the Emerging Urban Society
Taming the City
Rich and Poor and Those in Between
The Changing Family
Science and Thought
25. The Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914
Napoleon III in France
Nation Building in Italy and Germany
Nation Building in the United States
The Modernization of Russia
The Responsive National State, 1871-1914
Marxism and the Socialist Movement
26. The West and the World
Industrialization and the World Economy
The Great Migration
Western Imperialism
Responses to Western Imperialism
27. The Great Break: War and Revolution
The First World War
The Home Front
The Russian Revolution
The Peace Settlement
28. The Age of Anxiety
Uncertainty in Modern Thought
Modern Art and Music
Movies and Radio
The Search for Peace and Political Stability
The Great Depression, 1929-1939
29. Dictatorships and the Second World War
Authoritarian States
Stalin's Soviet Union
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
Hitler and Nazism in Germany
Nazi Expansion and the Second World War
30. Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformations, 1945-1985
The Division of Europe
The Western Renaissance, 1945-1968
Soviet Eastern Europe, 1945-1968
Postwar Social Transformations, 1945-1968
Renewed Challenges in the Late Cold War, 1968-1985
The Changing Lives of Women
31. Revolution, Reunification, and Rebuilding, 1985 to the Present
The Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe
The Revolutions of 1989
Building a New Europe in the 1990s
Entering the New Millennium
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Table of Contents
1. Near Eastern Origins
What Is History and Why?
The First Human Beings
Mesopotamian Civilization
The Spread of Mesopotamian Culture
Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs (3100-1200 B.C.)
The Hittite Empire
The Fall of Empires and the Survival of Cultures (ca 1200 B.C.)
2. Small Kingdoms and Mighty Empires in the Near East
Recovery and Diffusion
Egypt, a Shattered Kingdom
The Children of Israel
Assyria, the Military Monarch
Chaldean Babylonia (626-539 B.C.)
The Empire of the Persian Kings
3. The Legacy of Greece
Hellas: The Land
The Minoans and Myceneans (ca 1650-ca 1100 B.C.)
Homer, Hesiod, and the Heroic Past (1100-800 B.C.)
The Polis
The Lyric Age (800-500 B.C.)
The Classical Period (500-338 B.C.)
The Final Act (404-338 B.C.)
4. Hellenistic Diffusion
Alexander and the Great Crusade
Alexander's Legacy
The Spread of Hellenism
The Economic Scope of the Hellenistic World
Religion in the Hellenistic World
Philosophy and the People
Hellenistic Science
Hellenistic Medicine
5. The Rise of Rome
The Land and the Sea
The Etruscans and Rome (750-509 B.C.)
The Roman Conquest of Italy (509-290 B.C.)
The Roman State
Social Conflict in Rome
Roman Expansion
Old Values and Greek Culture
The Late Republic (133-31 B.C.)
6. The Pax Romana
Augustus's Settlement (31 B.C.-A.D. 14)
The Coming of Christianity
The Julio-Claudians and the Flavians (27 B.C.-A.D. 96)
The Age of the "Five Good Emperors" (A.D. 96-180)
Life in the "Golden Age"
Civil Wars and Invasions in the Third Century
Reconstruction Under Diocletian and Constantine (A.D. 284-337)
Classical Antiquity and Late Antiquity
7. The Making of Europe
The Growth of the Christian Church
Christian Attitudes Toward Classical Culture
Christian Monasticism
The Migration of the Germanic Peoples
Germanic Society
The Byzantine East (ca 400-788)
The Arabs and Islam
8. The Carolingian World: Europe in the Early Middle Ages
The Frankish Kingdom and the Emergence of the Carolingians
The Empire of Charlemagne
The Carolingian Intellectual Revival
Health and Medical Care in the Early Middle Ages
Aristocratic Resurgence
Feudalism and the Historians
Great Invasions of the Ninth Century
9. Revival, Recovery, Reform, and Expansion
Political Revival
Revival and Reform in the Christian Church
The Gregorian Revolution
The Crusades
The Expansion of Latin Christendom
10. Life in Christian Europe in the High Middle Ages
Those Who Work
Those Who Fight
Those Who Pray
11. The Creativity and Vitality of the High Middle Ages
Medieval Origins of the Modern State
Towns and Economic Revival
Medieval Universities
Gothic Art
Heresy and the Friars
A Challenge to Religious Authority
12. The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
Prelude to Disaster
Black Death
The Hundred Years' War (ca 1337-1453)
The Decline of the Church's Prestige
The Life of the People
Vernacular Literature
13. European Society in the Age of the Renaissance
The Evolution of the Italian Renaissance
Intellectual Hallmarks of the Renaissance
Art and the Artist
Social Change
The Renaissance in the North
Politics and the State in the Renaissance (ca 1450-1521)
14. Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church
The Condition of the Church (ca 1400-1517)
Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism
Germany and the Protestant Reformation
The Growth of the Protestant Reformation
The Catholic Reformation and the Counter-Reformation
15. The Age of Religious Wars and European Expansion
Politics, Reigion, and War
Discovery, Reconnaissance, and Expansion
Later Explorers
Changing Attitudes
Literature and Art
16. Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe (ca 1589-1715)
Absolutism
Constitutionalism
17. Absolutism in Eastern Europe to 1740
Lords and Peasants in Eastern Europe
The Rise of Austria and Prussia
The Development of Russia
Absolutism and the Baroque
18. Toward a New World-view
The Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment and Absolutism
19. The Expansion of Europe in the Eighteenth Century
Agriculture and the Land
The Beginning of the Population Explosion
The Growth of Cottage Industry
Building the Atlantic Economy
20. The Changing Life of the People
Marriage and the Family
Children and Education
Food and Medical Practice
Religion and Popular Culture
21. The Revolution in Politics, 1775-1815
Liberty and Equality
The American Revolution, 1775-1789
The French Revolution, 1789-1791
World War and Republican France, 1791-1799
The Napoleonic Era, 1799-1815
22. The Revolution in Energy and Industry
The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Industrialization in Continental Europe
Capital and Labor
23. Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815-1850
The Peace Settlement
Radical Ideas and Early Socialism
The Romantic Movement
Reforms and Revolutions
The Revolutions of 1848
24. Life in the Emerging Urban Society
Taming the City
Rich and Poor and Those in Between
The Changing Family
Science and Thought
25. The Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914
Napoleon III in France
Nation Building in Italy and Germany
Nation Building in the United States
The Modernization of Russia
The Responsive National State, 1871-1914
Marxism and the Socialist Movement
26. The West and the World
Industrialization and the World Economy
The Great Migration
Western Imperialism
Responses to Western Imperialism
27. The Great Break: War and Revolution
The First World War
The Home Front
The Russian Revolution
The Peace Settlement
28. The Age of Anxiety
Uncertainty in Modern Thought
Modern Art and Music
Movies and Radio
The Search for Peace and Political Stability
The Great Depression, 1929-1939
29. Dictatorships and the Second World War
Authoritarian States
Stalin's Soviet Union
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
Hitler and Nazism in Germany
Nazi Expansion and the Second World War
30. Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformations, 1945-1985
The Division of Europe
The Western Renaissance, 1945-1968
Soviet Eastern Europe, 1945-1968
Postwar Social Transformations, 1945-1968
Renewed Challenges in the Late Cold War, 1968-1985
The Changing Lives of Women
31. Revolution, Reunification, and Rebuilding, 1985 to the Present
The Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe
The Revolutions of 1989
Building a New Europe in the 1990s
Entering the New Millennium