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History of Europe & the Middle East: Course Companion
Ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the modern nation state and cementing source evaluation skills, this course book is packed with primary sources from across the entire region, preparing learners for top achievement. Written with an IB Assessment Consultant and matched to the IB approach to learning, it supports exceptional performance.
. Completely covers 7 units for higher level history option 5
. Includes difficult to find material on the Middle East
. Numerous exercises and activities with exam question guidance from IB examiners
. Essay guidance with practical suggestions for writing requirements
. Material for visual analysis with a lively approach
About the Series:
Oxford's IB Diploma Course Books are essential resource materials designed in cooperation with the IB to provide students with extra support through their IB studies. Course Books provide advice and guidance on specific course assessment requirements, mirroring the IB philosophy and providing opportunities for critical thinking.
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. Completely covers 7 units for higher level history option 5
. Includes difficult to find material on the Middle East
. Numerous exercises and activities with exam question guidance from IB examiners
. Essay guidance with practical suggestions for writing requirements
. Material for visual analysis with a lively approach
About the Series:
Oxford's IB Diploma Course Books are essential resource materials designed in cooperation with the IB to provide students with extra support through their IB studies. Course Books provide advice and guidance on specific course assessment requirements, mirroring the IB philosophy and providing opportunities for critical thinking.
"
448 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2010
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 10, 2016
I present to you, a number of (informal) complaints my classmates and I have made about this book.
(NOTE: We can't speak on behalf of the entire book, only the topics we've read. Not all topics are written by the same authors.)
(2ND NOTE: This review started out concise and to the point, and got increasingly rant-y. Sorry.)
1) Incredibly text-heavy
Yes, I am aware of the fact that this is a history textbook. Yes, I am aware of the fact that history is a text heavy subject. But it is possible to make history textbooks more easily read, and more comprehensive.
2) Bad layout and formatting
Endlessly long paragraphs – sometimes they surpass entire pages – without any breaks. This makes it hard to see which sentence is which, not to mention to find a sentence you're looking for.
3) THE MAPS
This book has A FEW photos and pictures. While my class has agreed that we prefer to have them, they are not a necessity in a subject such as history.
MAPS, on the other hand. They are quite useful in history, no?
Especially when you have about, say, the unification processes of Italy and Germany. Literally how a bunch of states became one nation.
And, yes, this book HAS maps. There's just one really annoying thing about them...
They're all in different hues of blue.
In other words, they might as well be black and white. That, I would say, is a major disadvantage. No colouring of economic or political spheres of influence. No distinction between states by giving them different colours. Hell, sometimes it's even pretty damn hard to see where the borders are. Can you see how this makes the book a whole lot hard to use?
4) Overly complicated and/or ambiguous sentences
I'm all for interjections and long sentences in, say, essays. Even creative writing if it's done well and suits the story.
But in a history textbook, sometimes about themes that may be though to grasp in the first place? HELL NO.
On several occasions, I (and many of my classmates) will have to re-read a sentence up to several times in order to actually catch the message it is trying to communicate.
And as mentioned in point number 2: Once you've had to re-read a sentence and gotten out of the loop, the formatting makes it unnecessarily hard to get back to where you left off.
Conlusion: If our homework is to read 10 pages in any other of our history coursebooks, that is no big deal. Child's play. If our homework is to read 10 pages in THIS book, it is inexplicably labourious and frustrating.
(NOTE: We can't speak on behalf of the entire book, only the topics we've read. Not all topics are written by the same authors.)
(2ND NOTE: This review started out concise and to the point, and got increasingly rant-y. Sorry.)
1) Incredibly text-heavy
Yes, I am aware of the fact that this is a history textbook. Yes, I am aware of the fact that history is a text heavy subject. But it is possible to make history textbooks more easily read, and more comprehensive.
2) Bad layout and formatting
Endlessly long paragraphs – sometimes they surpass entire pages – without any breaks. This makes it hard to see which sentence is which, not to mention to find a sentence you're looking for.
3) THE MAPS
This book has A FEW photos and pictures. While my class has agreed that we prefer to have them, they are not a necessity in a subject such as history.
MAPS, on the other hand. They are quite useful in history, no?
Especially when you have about, say, the unification processes of Italy and Germany. Literally how a bunch of states became one nation.
And, yes, this book HAS maps. There's just one really annoying thing about them...
They're all in different hues of blue.
In other words, they might as well be black and white. That, I would say, is a major disadvantage. No colouring of economic or political spheres of influence. No distinction between states by giving them different colours. Hell, sometimes it's even pretty damn hard to see where the borders are. Can you see how this makes the book a whole lot hard to use?
4) Overly complicated and/or ambiguous sentences
I'm all for interjections and long sentences in, say, essays. Even creative writing if it's done well and suits the story.
But in a history textbook, sometimes about themes that may be though to grasp in the first place? HELL NO.
On several occasions, I (and many of my classmates) will have to re-read a sentence up to several times in order to actually catch the message it is trying to communicate.
And as mentioned in point number 2: Once you've had to re-read a sentence and gotten out of the loop, the formatting makes it unnecessarily hard to get back to where you left off.
Conlusion: If our homework is to read 10 pages in any other of our history coursebooks, that is no big deal. Child's play. If our homework is to read 10 pages in THIS book, it is inexplicably labourious and frustrating.
Displaying 1 of 1 review