What do you think?
Rate this book
Western Civilization from 1500
Prepared for students by renowned professors and noted experts, here are the most extensive and proven study aids available, covering all the major areas of study in college curriculums. Each guide up-to-date scholarship; an easy-to-follow narrative outline form; specially designed and formatted pages; and much more.
- GenresHistory
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
15 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 25, 2012
It is difficult for any book to try to summarize Western Civilization in 370 pages. The task is still tricky even when starting in 1500. Kirchner writes with a clear style that is easily digested. His organization is superb and consistent. Students can quickly locate a specific era and locate political, societal, scientific, religious, and cultural phenomena from that time.
There is an attempt to balance the political with other aspects. Further distinguishing this book from traditional college text books is a lack of illustrations. There are some crude charts that display political alliances; but their utility and inclusion are awkward and probably hurt the flow of reading.
The sheer breadth of the book means that there is a general lack of analysis in place of cold dates and hard facts. Bias creeps in at a few spots. Kirchner tells his audience in a 10-page chapter on Ancient Greece and Rome that the speeches of Cicero pale in comparison to Demothenes; but does not further elaborate. As one can guess, Kirchner tends to breeze through the earlier parts of his timeline and really begins expanding in the 18th Century. The brevity of his discussion means that readers are overwhelmed with persons, places, dates, and events so they blur together. When he slows down, he does much better. His discussion on the events leading up to WWI and WWII are surprisingly excellent considering his cursory treatment of earlier epochs.
There is an attempt to balance the political with other aspects. Further distinguishing this book from traditional college text books is a lack of illustrations. There are some crude charts that display political alliances; but their utility and inclusion are awkward and probably hurt the flow of reading.
The sheer breadth of the book means that there is a general lack of analysis in place of cold dates and hard facts. Bias creeps in at a few spots. Kirchner tells his audience in a 10-page chapter on Ancient Greece and Rome that the speeches of Cicero pale in comparison to Demothenes; but does not further elaborate. As one can guess, Kirchner tends to breeze through the earlier parts of his timeline and really begins expanding in the 18th Century. The brevity of his discussion means that readers are overwhelmed with persons, places, dates, and events so they blur together. When he slows down, he does much better. His discussion on the events leading up to WWI and WWII are surprisingly excellent considering his cursory treatment of earlier epochs.
January 13, 2008
I picked up this book from the library in order to familiarize myself with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Yet I found myself skipping around to read about other eras that interested me, such as the Roaring Twenties, the Era of Bismarck, England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, and so on. This book presents overviews of every era that are very easy to absorb.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews