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

by Brian A. Pavlac

Overview

This lively text offers a brief history of Western civilization. Providing a focused narrative and interpretive structure, Pavlac uses the joined terms "supremacies and diversities" to develop themes of conflict and creativity. His easily accessible yet deeply knowledgeable book covers the basic information that all educated adults should know.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538112564
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/17/2019
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	390
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian A. Pavlac has recently retired as 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. He is the author of Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition to the Salem Trials; coauthor with Elizabeth S. Lott of The Holy Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia; translator of A Warrior Bishop of the 12th Century: The Deeds of Albero of Trier, by Balderich; and editor of Game of Thrones versus History: Written in Blood.

Table of Contents

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

Acknowledgments

How to Use This Book

1. History's Story
There's Method
What Is Truth?
Primary Source Project 1: Thucydides versus von Ranke about the Aim of History

9. Making the Modern World: The Renaissance and Reformation, 1400 to 1648
The Purse of Princes
Man as the Measure
Primary Source Project 9: Witch Hunter versus Confessor about Belief in Witches
Heaven Knows
Sources on Families: Martin Luther, Table Talk
Fatal Beliefs
God, Greed, and Glory

10. Liberation of Mind and Body: Early Modern Europe, 1543 to 1815
Lost in the Stars
From the Salons to the Streets
Sources on Families: Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Émile, or On Education
The State Is He (or She)
(Prosperous) People Power
The Declaration of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
Primary Source Project 10: Declaration of the Rights of Man versus Declaration of the Rights of Woman about Human Rights
Blood and Empires

11. Mastery of the Machine: The Industrial Revolution, 1764 to 1914
Facts of Factories
Life in the Jungle
Sources on Families: George Sand on the End of Her Marriage
Cleaning Up the Mess
For the Workers
Primary Source Project 11: Smiles versus Owen about the Good Life
The Machinery of Nature

12. The Westerner's Burden: Imperialism and Nationalism, 1810 to 1918
"New and Improved" Imperialism
From Sea to Shining Sea
Nationalism's Curse
Sources on Families: Ethel Howard, Potsdam Princes
The Balkan Cauldron
The Great War
Primary Source Project 12: "In Flanders Fields" versus "Dulce et Decorum Est" about Death in War

13. Rejections of Democracy: The Interwar Years and World War II, 1917 to 1945
Decline of the West?
Russians in Revolt
Losing Their Grip
Fascist Fury
Hitler's Hatreds
Sources on Families: Joseph Goebbels, "German Womanhood"
The Roads to Global War
Primary Source Project 13: Hitler versus Franklin D. Roosevelt about the Just Society

14. A World Divided: The Early Cold War, 1945 to 1980
From Friends to Foes
Primary Source Project 14: Khrushchev versus Nixon about Competition
Making Money
Sources on Families: Shirley Chisholm, Speech on Equal Rights
To the Brink, Again and Again
Letting Go and Holding On
American Hegemon
The Uneasy Understanding

15. Into the Future: The Contemporary Era, 1980 to the Present
The Walls Come Down
Searching for Stability
Different Folks
Haves and Cannots
Sources on Families: Supreme Court of the United States, Obergefell v. Hodges
Values of Violence
The Walls Go Up Again
Primary Source Project 15: The European Central Bank versus the National Front about the EU

Epilogue: Why Western Civilization?

Timelines

Common Abbreviations

Glossary

Index

About the Author

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"

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

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

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

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

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