History of Western Civilization: A Handbook

by William H. McNeill

Renowned historian William H. McNeil provides a brilliant narrative chronology of the development of Western civilization, representing its socio-political as well as cultural aspects. This sixth edition includes new material for the twentieth-century period and completely revised bibliographies. An invaluable tool for the study of Western civilization, the Handbook is an essential complement to readings in primary and secondary sources such as those in the nine-volume University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization .

Genres: History, Reference, Textbooks

704 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

William Hardy McNeill was a historian and author, noted for his argument that contact and exchange among civilizations is what drives human history forward, first postulated in The Rise of the West (1963). He was the Robert A. Milikan Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1947 until his retirement in 1987.
In addition to winning the U.S. National Book Award in History and Biography in 1964 for The Rise of the West, McNeill received several other awards and honors. In 1985 he served as president of the American Historical Association.
In 1996, McNeill won the prestigious Erasmus Prize, which the Crown Prince of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander presented to him at Amsterdam's Royal Palace.
In 1999, Modern Library named The Rise of the West of the 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th century.
In 2009, he won the National Humanities Medal. In February 2010, President Barack Obama, a former University of Chicago professor himself, awarded McNeill the National Humanities Medal to recognize "his exceptional talent as a teacher and scholar at the University of Chicago and as an author of more than 20 books, including The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (1963), which traces civilizations through 5,000 years of recorded history".

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought a used copy of McNeill's book which is the 1953 edition listed here. I was spurred to read it because Professor McNeill had been one of my instructors at the University of Chicago, actually a tutor referred by another tutor, upon which he kindly accepted my request for an interview. We sat together for about an hour in his study on campus and he answered my prepared questions about the history of higher education in modern Greece, namely the disproportionately inverted triangle of studies for law over the much more needed subjects in all aspects of technology needed to improve the welfare of Greeks, a phenomenon akin to similar scenarios in much of the quasi-developing democracies of this era. Mr. Cyril Houle (University of Chicago professors were not referred to as doctor but as 'mister') was impressed by what I had written with the depth that my tutors had provided me, saying that at the moment I was one of maybe three or four experts in the US that knew enough to call myself an expert on my subject.

I finished reading it in Saudi Arabia several years after my interview with McNeill. It is dry but important reading; after all, it is called a "handbook". I had to force myself through the book, but my interview was a little more meaty, since he was on the board of Athens College. Some of the students of Athens College I had tutored myself while living in Athens. Many Athens College graduates later went on to become major figures in Greece, such as prime ministers Andreas Papandreou, George Papandreou and currently Kyriakos Mitsotakis--as of the writing of this review. McNeill's helping me gave substantial heft to the paper I was writing for Mr. Houle.

I recommend this book as an outline to Western European history before one jumps into histories about England, France, Germany, Italy, etc. or as a review, but I don't recommend it with gusto, until something better comes around or until one goes to a much later edition than the 1953 edition which I read and which hopefully Mr. McNeill got a chance to revise.

[edwardtone · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no mention of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Mk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I have the old edition. Why was it not on my GoodReads list?

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

gives a great overview of Western Civ