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The Student's Friend Concise World History: Parts 1 and 2
---Current issues updated for 2023---
This student- and teacher-friendly history is designed for classroom and homeschool use, and it’s ideal for remote learning situations. UNLIKE TRADITIONAL TEXTBOOKS that can overwhelm the reader with countless facts to absorb, The Student's Friend Concise World History highlights the most important developments of world history in a clear and concise manner that is capable of being comprehended by the human mind. In comparison to standard thousand-page textbooks, The Student's Friend addresses world history in 127 pages. Since 2001, teachers have successfully used The Student's Friend (updated periodically) in homeschool, middle school, high school, and college in the United States and abroad. COST HAS INTENTIONALLY BEEN KEPT LOW , which makes The Student’s Friend affordable when students need to keep a copy of their history book at home. Low cost also makes it possible to supply a whole classroom of students with their own copies to mark up and keep for future reference. (It would take approximately 8 to 16 years of giving students these books to equal the cost of one classroom set of traditional textbooks.) IN CONTRAST TO STANDARD HISTORY TEXTS , which are limited to describing events of the past, The Student's Friend identifies important Recurring Dynamics of History that can serve to inform judgment in the future. And unlike other concise histories that may focus on impersonal historical processes, The Student's Friend features men and women who helped to shape history and who illustrate timeless aspects of human nature. WHY A CONCISE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE? The Student's Friend is designed to be consistent with findings from cognitive science that emphasize learning the most important principles and concepts of a school discipline, rather than learning large quantities of superficial facts that are likely to be forgotten shortly after the exam is over. The respected Bradley Commission on History in Schools has said, "The amount of time required to achieve student engagement and genuine comprehension of significant issues will necessitate leaving out much that is 'covered' by the usual text." CONCISENESS CAN BRING CLARITY. Cognitive psychologist Frank N. Dempster has written, "Many texts are so packed with facts, names, and details that the real point of the lesson is often obscured." One of the greatest benefits of a concise historical narrative is the clarity it can bring to a student's understanding of history by focusing on essential knowledge rather than on extensive, sometimes confusing, and often-trivial detail. BALANCES BREADTH AND DEPTH . The concise historical narrative leaves time in the curriculum for additional learning activities such as research papers, multimedia presentations, source-analysis activities, and simulations, a practice sometimes called "postholing." The narrative performs a unifying function like a fence that gives shape to the landscape and provides the connecting fabric between events, while postholes are occasions to dig more deeply into the human dimensions of history--to explore how events of the past affected people's lives then and now. The subject matter of world history is so vast that it can be a difficult subject to grasp and to teach. Teachers and students alike can benefit from the understandable picture of history offered by The Student's Friend Concise World History .
- The Student's Friend supplies an unvarnished, evidence-based telling of history useful for educators who wish to address difficult problems faced by society.
- As this is a concise world history, those accustomed to the extensive detail of standard textbooks may wish to click on the "Look Inside" feature to see if this book will meet their needs and expectations.
This student- and teacher-friendly history is designed for classroom and homeschool use, and it’s ideal for remote learning situations. UNLIKE TRADITIONAL TEXTBOOKS that can overwhelm the reader with countless facts to absorb, The Student's Friend Concise World History highlights the most important developments of world history in a clear and concise manner that is capable of being comprehended by the human mind. In comparison to standard thousand-page textbooks, The Student's Friend addresses world history in 127 pages. Since 2001, teachers have successfully used The Student's Friend (updated periodically) in homeschool, middle school, high school, and college in the United States and abroad. COST HAS INTENTIONALLY BEEN KEPT LOW , which makes The Student’s Friend affordable when students need to keep a copy of their history book at home. Low cost also makes it possible to supply a whole classroom of students with their own copies to mark up and keep for future reference. (It would take approximately 8 to 16 years of giving students these books to equal the cost of one classroom set of traditional textbooks.) IN CONTRAST TO STANDARD HISTORY TEXTS , which are limited to describing events of the past, The Student's Friend identifies important Recurring Dynamics of History that can serve to inform judgment in the future. And unlike other concise histories that may focus on impersonal historical processes, The Student's Friend features men and women who helped to shape history and who illustrate timeless aspects of human nature. WHY A CONCISE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE? The Student's Friend is designed to be consistent with findings from cognitive science that emphasize learning the most important principles and concepts of a school discipline, rather than learning large quantities of superficial facts that are likely to be forgotten shortly after the exam is over. The respected Bradley Commission on History in Schools has said, "The amount of time required to achieve student engagement and genuine comprehension of significant issues will necessitate leaving out much that is 'covered' by the usual text." CONCISENESS CAN BRING CLARITY. Cognitive psychologist Frank N. Dempster has written, "Many texts are so packed with facts, names, and details that the real point of the lesson is often obscured." One of the greatest benefits of a concise historical narrative is the clarity it can bring to a student's understanding of history by focusing on essential knowledge rather than on extensive, sometimes confusing, and often-trivial detail. BALANCES BREADTH AND DEPTH . The concise historical narrative leaves time in the curriculum for additional learning activities such as research papers, multimedia presentations, source-analysis activities, and simulations, a practice sometimes called "postholing." The narrative performs a unifying function like a fence that gives shape to the landscape and provides the connecting fabric between events, while postholes are occasions to dig more deeply into the human dimensions of history--to explore how events of the past affected people's lives then and now. The subject matter of world history is so vast that it can be a difficult subject to grasp and to teach. Teachers and students alike can benefit from the understandable picture of history offered by The Student's Friend Concise World History .
- The Student's Friend supplies an unvarnished, evidence-based telling of history useful for educators who wish to address difficult problems faced by society.
- As this is a concise world history, those accustomed to the extensive detail of standard textbooks may wish to click on the "Look Inside" feature to see if this book will meet their needs and expectations.
- GenresWorld HistoryHistory
130 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2018
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 5, 2022
I was lured in by the high reviews and praise for this book. At best it's a quick checklist or review but your core or meat of your studies must come from somewhere else. You can get this checklist from any textbook that properly highlights its sections. At the end of each short chapter are questions for you to consider-these are worth reading and they make great jumping off points(The 3 stars ride completely on this). I would have given a higher rating if each topic listed had a relevant question immediately following it.
As a concise reader for a student this fails as a stand alone. A new student to world history concepts would still be confused as to how these topics relate to each other. In Maxwell's other book he talks about why he finds understanding history important. One of the first things he mentions is history allows us to understand God's purpose. Outside of the occasional inclusion of things like Jericho, which he introduces as the world's first known city ( It is not. It is the first known walled city), it appears to be for the most part even handed with the Christian narrative presented on the sly. However, it doesn't actually reveal how history serves that purpose and quite frankly I would have rated it higher for demonstrating it. In many ways this exactly like any other student's textbook.
Here is why I can't recommend it. The value you are supposed to get is to "gain useful insights into human nature and the workings of the world that can inform the reader's judgement in the important realm of human affairs." This is a skeleton book which means you will find none of that kind of narrative present in this book. The best use is for the teacher as a checklist or a jumping off point to organize their own materials.
As a concise reader for a student this fails as a stand alone. A new student to world history concepts would still be confused as to how these topics relate to each other. In Maxwell's other book he talks about why he finds understanding history important. One of the first things he mentions is history allows us to understand God's purpose. Outside of the occasional inclusion of things like Jericho, which he introduces as the world's first known city ( It is not. It is the first known walled city), it appears to be for the most part even handed with the Christian narrative presented on the sly. However, it doesn't actually reveal how history serves that purpose and quite frankly I would have rated it higher for demonstrating it. In many ways this exactly like any other student's textbook.
Here is why I can't recommend it. The value you are supposed to get is to "gain useful insights into human nature and the workings of the world that can inform the reader's judgement in the important realm of human affairs." This is a skeleton book which means you will find none of that kind of narrative present in this book. The best use is for the teacher as a checklist or a jumping off point to organize their own materials.
May 21, 2023
Brilliant! This book could be used either as an outline or a springboard to historical topics. BUT, you could also read it as a stand alone book and learn a great deal about all of the overwhelmingly mass topics of world history. It really sums things up beautifully and clearly. I love history, and I still felt like this cleared up some things that I wasn’t sure about. It just makes history so clear and simple. Not an easy thing to do considering how absolutely complicated history can be with endless information, events, dates and names!
I like how the text is written, too. It’s like sitting with your grandfather and listening to him tell you all about history… a grandfather that has been there and knows his history well! (My grandfather used to sit in is chair and tell me about his experiences in WWII as a lieutenant commander in the navy.)
We used this in our homeschool as a springboard to historical topics that interest my daughter. That’s the beauty of it; you can pick and choose which historical events that interest you and dig deeper through other projects, books, etc. The Student’s Friend website also has a ton of resources such as lesson plans, map work (there are maps at the beginning of each chapter), films, projects, discussion questions, and so much more, and we used most of it. There are a ton of ways to use this book! We did add other books as well, and my daughter has already learned a ton of history over the years. Highly recommend this book. Also, if it helps, our homeschool is secular and eclectic, and this was an appropriate resource for our studies (non-biased, just facts, non-religious).
I like how the text is written, too. It’s like sitting with your grandfather and listening to him tell you all about history… a grandfather that has been there and knows his history well! (My grandfather used to sit in is chair and tell me about his experiences in WWII as a lieutenant commander in the navy.)
We used this in our homeschool as a springboard to historical topics that interest my daughter. That’s the beauty of it; you can pick and choose which historical events that interest you and dig deeper through other projects, books, etc. The Student’s Friend website also has a ton of resources such as lesson plans, map work (there are maps at the beginning of each chapter), films, projects, discussion questions, and so much more, and we used most of it. There are a ton of ways to use this book! We did add other books as well, and my daughter has already learned a ton of history over the years. Highly recommend this book. Also, if it helps, our homeschool is secular and eclectic, and this was an appropriate resource for our studies (non-biased, just facts, non-religious).
November 7, 2020
The Student's Friend Concise World History Parts I and 2 Prehistory to the Present is a great summary of events that have evolved the global community from prehistory to the present time. There are two sections to the text; Part I or prehistory through 1500 and Part 2 or 1500 to the present. Approximately 7 chapters to each section cover the big events and themes in during each time period. The best thing about this book by Mike Maxwell from Maxwell Learning Inc. is the questions at the end of each chapter that encourage the reader to think about the events and use reason to consider the possible answers to the issues. Just challenging enough to keep the reader turning the pages, this format and succinct summary brings history we may have explored in high school and beyond in focus thus crystallizing understanding. Recommended for history lovers of all ages.
June 25, 2019
A great tool for any world history student! Be wary of overly-complex textbooks; students often don’t read textbooks closely, and when they do, too much information at once can lead to confusion. Maxwell writes a wonderfully concise world history primer that all ages can understand!
September 21, 2023
Hello-
Because I am the author of the “Student’s Friend Concise World history,” I’m not certain if I am permitted to comment here. However, I would like to clear up a couple of misconceptions that may affect readers’ perceptions of this book.
First, one Goodreads reviewer appeared to believe the purpose of this book is—or should be—to "understand God’s purpose.” Two people commented that this review discouraged them from reading the book due to its supposed religious orientation.
To be clear, this book absolutely DOES NOT promote any religious or philosophical position. It factually describes the history and beliefs of five major world religions and two philosophical systems (Confucianism and humanism), but none is promoted or favored in any way.
Another reviewer complained that this book is being marketed as a “textbook,” and it apparently did not meet this person’s expectations of what a textbook should be.
However, the book’s description identifies the Student’s Friend as a “history,” a “history book,” and a “historical narrative.” Nowhere is it identified as a textbook, a term that conjures up images of big, heavy, expensive, overstuffed, boring, thousand-page tomes, which are essentially the opposite of the Student’s Friend. The book description repeatedly attempts to contrast this book's concise and understandable historical content with that of “traditional” or “standard” textbooks.
Readers who are satisfied that traditional textbooks are effective teaching and learning tools—or who believe that history should be shaped to reflect a particular religious viewpoint—will want to look elsewhere for their historical narrative. Others may find the Student's Friend a rewarding read.
One other thing: The Goodreads website shows me as the author of 29 books. Actually, I'm not. I am the Mike Maxwell who writes about history education. Regrettably, I’m not the Mike Maxwell who writes about purchasing gold and silver, performing magic tricks, or achieving success at speyfishing (whatever that might be).
Cheers, Mike
Because I am the author of the “Student’s Friend Concise World history,” I’m not certain if I am permitted to comment here. However, I would like to clear up a couple of misconceptions that may affect readers’ perceptions of this book.
First, one Goodreads reviewer appeared to believe the purpose of this book is—or should be—to "understand God’s purpose.” Two people commented that this review discouraged them from reading the book due to its supposed religious orientation.
To be clear, this book absolutely DOES NOT promote any religious or philosophical position. It factually describes the history and beliefs of five major world religions and two philosophical systems (Confucianism and humanism), but none is promoted or favored in any way.
Another reviewer complained that this book is being marketed as a “textbook,” and it apparently did not meet this person’s expectations of what a textbook should be.
However, the book’s description identifies the Student’s Friend as a “history,” a “history book,” and a “historical narrative.” Nowhere is it identified as a textbook, a term that conjures up images of big, heavy, expensive, overstuffed, boring, thousand-page tomes, which are essentially the opposite of the Student’s Friend. The book description repeatedly attempts to contrast this book's concise and understandable historical content with that of “traditional” or “standard” textbooks.
Readers who are satisfied that traditional textbooks are effective teaching and learning tools—or who believe that history should be shaped to reflect a particular religious viewpoint—will want to look elsewhere for their historical narrative. Others may find the Student's Friend a rewarding read.
One other thing: The Goodreads website shows me as the author of 29 books. Actually, I'm not. I am the Mike Maxwell who writes about history education. Regrettably, I’m not the Mike Maxwell who writes about purchasing gold and silver, performing magic tricks, or achieving success at speyfishing (whatever that might be).
Cheers, Mike
February 4, 2022
If this were listed as a “cheat sheet” or “précis” or something other than a textbook, I would give it a higher rating. Basically this is a barebones outline of major periods in world history. There is no narrative meat, no direction for seeking deeper understanding, no examination of the kinds of personal experience that might allow students to connect their own personal experiences with those of humans in other time periods. It could be useful as an outline to supplement other readings or a traditional textbook. But, Maxwell markets this as a textbook to be supplemented with “visual materials” without any reference to how students or teachers might evaluate the accuracy or bias of such materials. There are also areas that are covered so briefly as to be actually incorrect, the fossil record of early man being an early example.
June 24, 2022
Good for what it is: A super-concise overview of world history. Useful for tent-staking dates and events and basic time-line building.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews