Study Guide for Spielvogels's Western Civilization; Volume II Since 1550

by Jackson J. Spielvogel

Join over one million students who have used Spielvogel's texts to be successful in their Western Civilization course! There's a reason WESTERN CIVILIZATION is the best seller: it makes the "story of history" come alive. Spielvogel's text is also loaded with extras, like "Film and History" features that show you a new approach to studying history. Colorful maps and visuals, plus dramatic first-hand historical accounts, combine to bring to life the stories of the people and events that have shaped Western civilization.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, School, Reference, High School, Education

392 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 1962

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 2 out of 5]

History is history.

Mandatory read for Universal History classes during university. Two volumes: A-To 1500 and B-Since 1500.

Man this was heavy as hell. Longest book ever. Highly informational. Very interesting; and very boring.

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PERSONAL NOTE : [TW: Information overload.]
[2011] [1200p+] [History] [2.5] [Conditional Recommendable]
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Historia es historia.

Lectura obligatoria para clases de Historia Universal durante la universidad. Dos volúmenes: A-Hasta 1500 y B-Desde 1500.

Dios esto era jodidamente pesado. El libro más largo jamás. Altamente informacional. Muy interesante; y muy aburrido.

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NOTA PERSONAL : [TW: Sobrecarga de información.]
[2011] [1200p+] [Historia] [2.5] [Recomendable Condicional]
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[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read a textbook on world history to give myself a refresher, it having been about 14 years since I've read my way through a big overview of history. Spielvogel's book was probably the best textbook of its kind I've ever seen. It has numerous passages from primary sources throughout the book and good resources linked throughout. There's even an accompanying cd with maps and images. I felt a little disappointed a couple of times at his treatment of the Middle Ages. I also have the same problem with this textbook that I have with all world history textbooks regarding ancient times; textbooks always race through millennia of ancient civilizations at breakneck speed, slow down progressively beginning in the Roman Empire and Middle ages, and eventually end up spending a couple hundred pages on the last century.

These common complaints aside, this is the best history survey book I've read. I remember thinking that the author did an especially good job on the Reformation, and I found out later that the Reformation is his area of expertise. I recommend this highly as a spine book for high school history students or as a good crash course for those who feel they've forgotten a little too much from their college/high school years.

[Melina Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This textbook was actually a lot more fun to read than I thought it would be. Despite all the work I had to do in the class this book was used in, I enjoyed the project I did. I could actually read the primary sources for fun, because they were picked out very well. The wording this textbook used was easy to follow. I'm almost sad to leave it after all the work it has helped me accomplish. Some parts of the book even made me laugh. This textbook has really contributed to making me like European history.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished Volume 1 of this survey of the history of western civilization. It is a textbook, so is more of a superficial and sweeping overview than an in-depth analysis. However, I am finding it fascinating. On to Volume 2.
Just finished Volume 2. It took me two years to read the set. Edifying, but a few pages at a time was about all I could manage. Dense.

[Ben Daghir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first history text I had to read in my college career. I then reused this book again in my junior year of college. Spielvogel does a fantastic job of outlining the history of Europe. A continent with rich history from diverse perspectives and an impact, literally, throughout the entire world.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will correctly review this later with the score I got on the test

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read most of this for history class, and I didn't really like it. In my opinion, it was a bit boring, but that's just me. :)

[Essie-Marie F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a school book. It wasn't super boring and I enjoyed reading it.

[Emre Çetin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good both for students who want to go into Western civilization and experienced individuals who want to refresh information. The book is contained by very beautiful maps and images. Personally, I did not find the book boring, the language is quite fluent and informative. This is a history book, It doesn't have to be like a literary work, It just gives you decent and valid information.

[readwithriley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the WORST, most COMPLICATED textbook I’ve ever read and has caused me to hate European history. The pages are so damn long and RIDDLED with run-on sentences that are so difficult to read that I have to spend at least 10 minutes per paragraph. This book was TERRIBLE for my ADHD and had caused me to have at least 10 mental breakdowns because of it. The information is written boringly, and even events such as the French Revolution, a topic I’m interested in, made me literally fall asleep in boredom. The writing is as if Jackson J. Spielvogel RAIDED a thesaurus and purposefully chose the most uncommon, unused, and unknown synonyms to ever exist. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made up words himself just to be difficult and waste my time to try and “challenge” the reader. Piss off Jackson. I hate this damn textbook with a burning passion and would like to personally apologize to anyone who has the DISPRIVILEGE of reading this burden to society book. I am literally going to throw a party and celebrate after my AP Euro class is over just because I won’t have to be forced to read this god-awful piece of literature (if you can even call it that). This book should be burned forever and no one should have to go through the TRAUMA of reading this garbage-can terrible disgusting “work”.

0 STARS.

[Ellie]

This textbook was extremely helpful in the process of preparing the AP European History test. The questions at the beginning of each chapter allowed for review that pointed out the main, important parts of each period. In addition, the textbook contained multiple primary sources that related to the test, therefore if you read them all, it saved you time when answering the multiple choice questions. Furthermore, the addition of a glossary was an extreme help, due to the fact that it contained all the words that would be addressed in the test. For example, any word that ended in "ism" was important towards the test, and were each defined at the end of the book. Consequently, when the test addressed main concepts shown throughout history, you would be able to know what they were addressing, since you studied all the "ism" words in the glossary. Overall, this textbook was a thorough guide that helped to prepare for the AP European History test.

[Dominique Saxey-Santillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western Civilization is a textbook full of interesting information. It is a very good textbook for the AP European History class. Western Civilizations also contains many sources, in order to get a viewpoint of the people who lived at that time. For every chapter section, there is a well thought out review question that focusses on the main idea of that section. Although it is a large amount of information, if read diligently the information can be remembered. With such a large textbook with a large amount of context, you cannot procrastinate. If given an assignment with this book, you should start it immediately.

[Joseph Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This textbook is well organized. It is easy to follow and the information is well layed out. The information is simple and helpful. This was really helpful in taking the AP test. The test was easier than I expected because of this book. I knew all of the information and the test was all layed out on a silver plate for me.

[Chul · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you manage to finish reading this, it is extremely helpful in taking the AP Euro test. The test was not as stressful after reading this. With the addition of the review questions at every chapter, this textbook has a bonus. It is well organized and the information is easy to follow. There are logical time periods and breaks in the book which make it easy to use to your advantage.

[JR Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINALLY!!! I began reading this book because I had to teach from the 1st third of it to HS students back in 2014. I continued to read it for fun and to help me study for my Western Civ. CLEP last year. I then stopped reading and began listening to a GC lecture on the subject from audible, and finished the whopping 25-hour series this morning during my walk!

[Ryan Lee]

A really good book if you are taking the AP European History. It has all the information you need and with dedication and time, you can become an expert in European History, starting from the Middle Ages to now. Extremely fascinating and makes you want to keep on reading.

[D]

Gotta love your college western civ textbook.

[LaToya Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!

[Kellie]

I'm a sophomore in high school talking an AP Euro Test & this book is very high-level and hard to understand. Especially for me!

[Mills College Library]

909.09821 S7555w 2011

[Quynh Ngo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful historical background for a Western Art class.

[nat]

it's really weird to have read a whole textbook.

[Jasper · Rating 3 out of 5]

AP Euro was amazing. I should have practiced DBQ writing though because I got a 3 on the ap exam.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic reference work with extensive scope and accessible style.

[Greta Yeager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Would not read again.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, informative book that helped me get a 5 on the AP Exam. I would totally recommend this to anyone looking for an AP Euro textbook. :)

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I'm totally adding this to my 2020 reading challenge. This was a great textbook! I read this sophomore year for AP European History and I learned a lot from it. I liked how it included connections to movies or books for certain historical events. That was a nice touch. It offered really great information and it piqued my interest in Art History as well! I totally recommend this if you're taking AP Euro.

[Xinyan Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

had a grand mission to keep reading this and finish it after i finished the parts i needed to read for ap euro but that was last year and i've resigned myself to the fact that i'm too lazy and burnt out to finish but i got close lmao

[Kaylee]

YES I FINISHED IT. TAKE THAT AP EURO

It’s a history book. I think it’s better-written than most of the others I’ve read, but I’m not rating this because I didn’t read it willingly and rating history is very weird to me.

[Savannah Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

look I did not technically read all 1000 pages... or even 100 pages.... but the emotional toll of the class was more than any amount of pages goodreads could ever document