Contemporary World History

by William J. Duiker

Duiker's comprehensive, balanced history of the world in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries provides you with context for interpreting the events that you hear about in the news each day. You'll view history from the broader global perspective, while at the same time gaining insight into the distinct character of individual civilizations and regions. To ensure that you'll have a well-rounded understanding of the most decisive moments in recent times, Duiker integrates political, economic, social, and cultural history into a smoothly written narrative. The Fifth Edition text includes a special insert that guides you in using the text's many detailed maps and helps you learn how to make important connections between geography and the turn of historic events. Additional tools include timelines that highlight and contrast different cultures and nations--giving you an "at-a-glance," holistic perspective on eras and their defining events; photos from William Duiker's own collection for a closer, more personal look at the world we live in; and primary-source documents that illustrate and clarify key points.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Read For School, School, World History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

William J. Duiker is a former United States Foreign Service officer and Professor of History at Penn State University. His area of expertise is East Asia; while in the Foreign Service he spent several years in Vietnam, where an injury left him with partial hearing in one ear. Duiker is the author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life, published in 2000, which was the first comprehensive biography of Ho Chi Minh using sources from Vietnam. He recently retired from teaching.

Reviews

[Dwight · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like history this is a very good book for it. Starting from the industrial revolution until some aspects of present day, the subjects and topics covered (and the movie references) within the book is simply amazing and mind opening.

[Verity Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not everything is in here, but the language is easy to digest.

[alicja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duikers book provides solid explanations, but misses A LOOOT of events (usually ones like genocides or mass killings, rape etc that are „tabooed” for some reason… which i believe to be the triumph of a discourse of the majority unfortunately).
Its pretty detailed and provides text that makes the reader have a deeper understanding of the present, yet at the same time fails to go deeper into certain subjects.
I learned so much, but still im disappointed with a lack of certain mentions.
Ofc we cant expect a guy (who has a certain non objective viewpoint, as everybody) to create and write history with every single narrative included, full intersectionality and descriptions of how each event shapes memory and identity… but this book just lacked ones that i consider to be important in narrating history.
Also wth i mean why shouldn’t we expect that from historians!?!
Duiker, get your game up-this certainly was a good story tell, but not the most reliable one for many.

[Tashana Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. I enjoyed the writing style :)