Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources

by Robert W. Strayer

A book that helps students see the big picture
Ways of the World has quickly become one of the most widely adopted new world history textbooks and offers a genuine alternative for your world history survey. Designed as a brief text, Ways of the World focuses on the big picture of significant historical trends, themes, and developments. Author Robert W. Strayer, a pioneer in the world history movement with years of classroom experience, provides a thoughtful and insightful synthesis. The brief narrative allows you to supplement with your own readings and course materials and provides an affordable option for your students. The second edition rolls out Bedford/St. Martin's new digital history tools, including LearningCurve, an adaptive quizzing engine that garners over a 90% student satisfaction rate, and LaunchPad, the all new interactive e-book and course space that puts high quality easy-to-use assessment at your fingertips. Easy to integrate into your campus LMS, and featuring video, additional primary sources, a wealth of adaptive and summative quizzing, and more, LaunchPad cements student understanding of the text while helping them make progress toward learning outcomes. It's the best content joined up with the best technology. Available in combined and split volumes and in a variety of electronic formats. Also available in a docutext edition with sources.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Textbooks, World History

1258 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 2010

Reviews

[Andrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

OKAY, OKAY!
It's a history textbook. Well fine. I don't give a flying pigeon as what you think! Not that there is anyone out there reading this review.

Anywho, for a history textbook, this was actually fully enjoyable. It read pretty easily and had a dry sense of humour. Whatever. I don't care. it boosted my page count by quite a bit. So there. HA. IN YOUR FACE.

Is anyone even reading this actually?

[Noah Crocker]

(August 13th, 2020) Well, well, well... AP World History. So it begins.

I can already tell this textbook is going to make my life a living hell.

EDIT: May 9th, 2021
Taking the AP test tomorrow, wish me luck! I'd say for the most part, my prediction was correct.

EDIT: May 10th, 2021
Took it this morning! Gonna get results in July :)

EDIT: July 23rd, 2021
I got a 4 on the AP exam! Very proud of that score, this course kicked my butt, but it all paid off :)

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM GOODBYE THIS BOOK WAS TRASH SORRY STRAYER BUT IM OVER U!!!!!!!!

[Elmira · Rating 2 out of 5]

YOU KNOW THERE’S A PROBLEM WHEN A 16 YEAR OLD (me when I read this) FINDS MISTAKES IN THIS TEXTBOOK!! SO EMBARRASSING FOR STRAYER!! ALSO, SO VAGUE AND A DISGRACE TO ALL HISTORY TEXTBOOKS!!! Strayer used so many words to say NOTHING!!

[Farrah (bookstalgic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my daughter’s textbook for AP History and since I helped her with her homework so much, I’m counting it as read, haha. For a textbook, I found it very well written and really interesting! I’m a little sad she had to give it back to the school :D.

[Abby Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made my life hell. It was good educationally, but a pain to read.

[Ed Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent textbook for AP World History, combines text with primary text and visual sources. Each chapter has a good selection of vocabulary, margin questions to check for comprehension, and ends with a set of "Big Picture Questions" which can be used as comparison, as well as change and continuity over time essays.

This is one AP text that students will actually read.

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great textbook. Easy to read with good spacing and coloring to break up the text. Maps and Illustrations are informative and interesting. Can be read along with the first volume or not.

[Manha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hate ap World 😝😝😝

[Eugene Kernes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This history textbook takes the reader around the world and through time. Going through various concepts such political structure of different regions, how religions changed the world thought time, how cultures adapted or fell with situations, and changing roles of women. Focusing on how situations changed the structure of the world, all the while making comparisons while showing connections. History may be unique and as unpredictable as the future, but knowing how the people of the past handled situations can facilitate an understanding of different paths that current people can take.

Part of the charm of this book is that Strayer challenged the reader to seek out their own understanding. Historical texts are provided with the reader being able to judge how historians judged history. How useful or unreliable historical narratives were. Rather than being dictatorial about the history of event, events are expressed in their variety and the various consequences that they had.

Even though the book is very lengthy, each topic is given only a brief overview. This is compensated by the diverse content and sources for topics. The reader will find many ideas in the book which will inspire a hunt for more information about the topics. The content in this book does not cover just the famous peoples, but also covers many underrepresented regions and peoples within history.

[Anna Kefalas · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOOM

[Morgan Schramm · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some interesting in this book, but some of it is pretty boring. I feel like I have learned a good amount from this book. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand what Strayer is saying. But I'm reading it for ap world and ap world makes me sad, so it's kind of ruined the text for me. Smh Martin

[Zoë Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a school AP class, I was really into this textbook. The reflections at the end of each chapter provide some really interesting moral and ethical questions that we must evaluate knowing what we do about the past. Written in a way that made sense to me with providing some though provoking concepts about human nature.

[Cian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hell, this book was hell.

[Nazlee Hasan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I echo most of the sentiments of most other reviews. It had good information, but would ABSOLUTELY NOT recommend it for AP World History classes because it takes forever to get through and is so hard to read. The information is unnecessarily verbose. However, I loved at the beginning of every chapter pieces of art were discussed which really helped when preparing for the Document Based Questions (DBQs) on the AP exam. So glad the AP World History curriculum is changing and my school won't be using them anymore. Glad to sell it. Glad to be done with it. No offense Strayer, but I'm over you. I'm soooooo done with you.

[Isra · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was the single worst piece of “literature” (if you can even call it that) that has ever existed, the dude who made this book, i wish you nothing but the worst in this life and i also hope you rot in hell. the maps were fucking pointless, and half the shit didn’t make any fucking sense, and quite honestly over half this book of as full of useless crap that no one gives a shit about. i wanted to fucking kill myself, and the author of this book after reading one chapter. you suck robert fucking strayer. die.

[Saanvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated the first 16 chapters because that part of history just does not stick in my brain, but I had to read it anyways or I would fail AP world history. Chapter 17-23 is the part of history that actually interests me, so it was ok to get through and I enjoyed it since I had learned that time period of history starting middle school. Overall, I would never pick this book up again even if I got paid a million dollars for it, but it did help me take aesthetic notes that I WILL be charging for if anyone else asks me. (just kidding i give my notes for free)

[Ayaan Shah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Nowhere near as good as America's History, the textbook I used for APUSH. Strayer writes poorly, and includes excerpts that are not as relevant to overall understanding as other texts that could have been chosen. It idolizes Mahatma Gandhi while barely acknowledging the perseverance and foresight of Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I've read, lit so confusing, could've used simpler language and still got the point across, but chose not to. Also, why were there 15 chapters for 9 units of AP Modern World History? It doesn't make sense. There are better textbooks for self-studying or just studying modern world history; this one is not good.

[Jessup Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my introduction to world history and greatly shaped how I was beginning to see the world. I read the whole thing and really enjoyed it, despite not showing up to class at all. Inspired me to start other books on history like 1491, 1493, and Why the West Rules for Now.

[Nathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a disaster. Strayer is a terrible writer and it is almost as if he doesn't want us to learn or understand what he writes. He writes a WHOLE LOT of NOTHING. Strayer, never write another book again. No one is learning from this book.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative, but also a pain to read. I didn’t quite read all of it — just most of it. I’m not sure if I hate this book or if I actually think it’s decent. I liked it a lot less for the first half of hundreds of pages, but then liked it more for the second half of hundreds of pages.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

reeally good

[Meral Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was what inspired my deep love with world history.Strayer's texbook is ideal for start in world history,especially for it's very good job at avoiding eurocentrism

[Mya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as white/preachy as I was expecting.

[ashton · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book drained all of my energy, but i managed to read the whole thing. wasn't that bad in comparison to most textbooks--actually learned something and enjoyed it a little bit.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No. More. Strayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Emilio, I Guess · Rating 3 out of 5]

God, I hate this book.

That being said, it is a good textbook and does its job effectively.

[em · Rating 2 out of 5]

my parents when i die: heaven has gained another angel today ❤️
me in hell: WHERE THE HELL IS ROBERT STRAYER (two stars because i respect the grind)

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring and Strayer makes literally no sense sometimes. Finally done with this thing.