Cover: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Combined, 5th Edition by Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson
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Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Combined

Fifth Edition ©2022 Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson

An affordable, brief global narrative that explores broad patterns and nurtures skill development

Praised for its big picture synthesis that helps students discern patterns and variations on both global and regional levels, Ways of the World provides a brief-by-de...

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Cover: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Combined, 5th Edition by Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson

NOW WITH ACHIEVE—Engage every student with Macmillans affordable and easy-to-use digital option

An affordable, brief global narrative that explores broad patterns and nurtures skill development

Praised for its big picture synthesis that helps students discern patterns and variations on both global and regional levels, Ways of the World provides a brief-by-design narrative in a 2-in-1 textbook and reader format available in Achieve, Macmillan’s breakthrough complete course platform, and in print volumes. With a unique personal touch, the authors guide students to consider continuity and change over time as well as interrogate primary and secondary source evidence the way historians do. The new edition has been revised to further foster the development of historical thinking skills, with fresh formative and summative assessments only possible in Achieve. With a wealth of additional primary and secondary sources plus robust insight reports at the ready, Achieve offers the easiest way to engage students, help them build higher-level thinking skills, and tailor teaching to student needs, whether the course is taught online or in person. Achieve can be adopted on its own or in a package with the print book.

Features

The big picture of world history shines through in the thematic and comparative approach of this genuinely global narrative. Brief by design, the narrative avoids the overwhelming detail of many textbooks and emphasizes major developments and the larger contexts in which these developments took place. Broad themes include global commerce, the emergence of major religious traditions, industrialization, the rise and fall of totalitarian systems, technological innovations, and human impact on the environment. Part-opening essays set the stage for the chapters that follow and encourage students to make connections among the worlds cultures.

Achieve’s unique 2-in-1 format of narrative plus chapter source projects with additional reader sources and activities offers opportunities for developing historical thinking skills. This combination of textbook and source book teaches historical thinking and analysis through the inclusion of related written and visual primary and secondary source projects at the end of each chapter. Accompanying the narrative, each chapter concludes with a Working with Evidence project of 5-6 primary sources organized around a particular theme, issue, or question, such as “Perceptions of Outsiders in the Ancient World,” "State Building in the Early Modern Era," “Cultural Encounters in Muslim Spain,” and "Global Feminism." Each is followed by a related Historians’ Voices secondary source feature, which pairs 2 brief excerpts from historians who comment on some aspect of the topics covered in the primary sources. Each source feature is accompanied by incisive questions to guide students’ skillful examination of the sources. Users of Achieve also get access to additional primary and secondary sources for each chapter from the companion reader Thinking through Sources for Ways of the World, along with auto-graded quizzes for all of the book and reader sources and 6 new Building a Historical Argument exercises, which--using a combination of autograded and free response questions--guides students through the process of building a thesis, supporting it with evidence from sources in the book, and writing a brief conclusion.

Curated tools promote historical thinking skills and help students focus on the big picture.

  • Part-opening Big Picture essays preview the major developments that are covered in subsequent chapters, while new Landmarks timelines included in Achieve provide a visual outline of how major events unfolded in relation to each other during that period and promote chronological reasoning.
  • Seeking the Main Point questions and in Achieve Landmarks timelines near the beginning of each chapter help students identify main themes and discern broad patterns.
  • In Achieve, skills-based questions accompanying the narrative ask students to actively describe and compare historical developments, contrast civilizations, connect regions and ideas, assess patterns of continuity and change, and more. The most essential of these questions, labeled “Core Ideas,” are presented again in the concluding chapter review in the “Revisiting Core Ideas” section.
  • Chapter-ending A Wider View questions provide students with opportunities for integration, comparison, analysis, and sometimes speculation about the chapter material.

A thoughtful and reflective approach to the global past challenges the idea that history is static and the textbook is a definitive account. Robert W. Strayer, a pioneer in the field of world history, and Eric W. Nelson, an innovative teacher, muse on the multiple meanings of history and the historians craft. Students experience first-hand the process of reading historical evidence and making historical arguments.

  • At the end of each chapter, a short Conclusions and Reflections section--revised for this edition--revisits the chapter in light of the chapter-opening Seeking the Main Point question and raises provocative, sometimes speculative, questions about the craft of the historian and the unfolding of the human story.
  • Controversies essays highlight debates about key historical issues: the beginnings of history, the origins of major religious traditions, the nature of empires, the idea of the Atlantic World, the Industrial Revolution, and the concept of globalization.
  • In Achieve, the primary source projects in Working with Evidence encourage students to draw their own conclusions from the historical record, and the secondary source excerpts in Historians’ Voices sections help students understand how scholars contribute unique and sometimes conflicting analysis of historical events.

New “Then and Now” features in Achieve promote the skill of connecting with the past. Offered once in each part of the book, these essays examine a particular theme in both historical and contemporary settings. Themes include patriarchy, slavery, science, China’s role on the global stage, and more. The skill of connecting with the past is reinforced at the beginning of each chapter through updated vignettes called Connecting Past and Present that illustrate the continuing relevance of the chapter’s material in today’s world.

"Zooming In" features in Achieve link specific people, places, and events to big themes in world history. Supplied once in every chapter, these features call attention to particular people, places, and events, situating them in a larger global context. Topics include Göbekli Tepe and monumental construction before agriculture (specially updated for this edition), Trung Trac and resistance to the Chinese Empire, gunpowder, the end of the Byzantine Empire, feminism and nationalism in Java, the Cuban Revolution, and many more.

Achieve, Macmillan Learning’s innovative new learning platform, pairs creative new teaching and assessment options with powerful insights into student work, so instructors can do more. Achieve comes loaded with the full-color comprehensive edition e-book, the companion source reader, and abundant formative and summative assessments which are all tagged to learning objectives that are aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy. Drawing on principles of instructional design and popular assignments, Achieve provides customizable pre-built course options and resource filters that help instructors set up their courses with ease, and these courses can be integrated with all major LMS systems. Assignments and activities in Achieve include:

  • LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, which is designed to get students to read the text before class;
  • reflection activities that invite students to reflect on what they have read in each chapter;
  • instructor activity guides that instructors can use in class for either remote or in-person collaborative learning;
  • source and feature quizzes;
  • research and writing tutorials;
  • map quizzes; and
  • Building a Historical Argument activities, which enable students to hone their skills in constructing a thesis, identifying evidence to sustain historical arguments, and writing conclusions.

Robust reports in Achieve give instructors multi-level insights into student progress toward meeting learning objectives as well as how they have progressed on assignments so instructors can give students support where they need it most. Available with training and support, Achieve can help you take your teaching to a new level.

A range of options offers convenience and value. While Achieve offers the most powerful combination of resources and assessments at a low-cost price, it can also be packaged with one of the print versions for a small upcharge. In addition to the standard bound textbook, this edition is also available in convenient, discount-priced loose-leaf and e-book formats. This edition is also available in a comprehensive full-color, full-feature version with sources and abundant visuals. E-books for both book formats provide other low-cost options.  

New to This Edition

More robust options for building historical thinking skills and measuring progress toward learning outcomes.

Achieve, Macmillan Learning’s innovative new learning platform, pairs creative new teaching and assessment options with powerful insights into student work, so instructors can do more. Achieve comes loaded with the full-color comprehensive edition e-book with Working with Evidence and Historians’ Voices primary and secondary source features, the companion source reader, and abundant formative and summative assessments which are all tagged to learning objectives that are aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy. Drawing on principles of instructional design and popular assignments, Achieve provides customizable pre-built course options and resource filters that help instructors set up their courses with ease, and these courses can be integrated with all major LMS systems. Assignments and activities in Achieve include:

  • LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, which is designed to get students to read the text before class;
  • reflection activities that invite students to reflect on what they have read in each chapter;
  • instructor activity guides that instructors can use in class for either remote or in-person collaborative learning;
  • source and feature quizzes;
  • research and writing tutorials;
  • map quizzes; and
  • Building a Historical Argument activities, which enable students to hone their skills in constructing a thesis, identifying evidence to sustain historical arguments, and writing conclusions.

Robust reports in Achieve give instructors multi-level insights into student progress toward meeting learning objectives as well as how they have progressed on assignments so instructors can give students support where they need it most. Available with training and support, Achieve can help you take your teaching to a new level.

In Achieve, primary and secondary sources give fresh options for helping students hone their historical comprehension, empathy, analysis, and interpretation skills. For example, in Chapter 8, the Working with Evidence feature, “Society during China’s Golden Age,” explores the complex social world in Tang and Song China. Likewise, a “Cultural Encounters in Muslim Spain” feature in Chapter 9 explores the long period of cultural interaction between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Spain from the eighth century to the sixteenth century. And Chapter 14’s primary source feature, “Consumption and Culture in the Early Modern World,” examines the cultural implications of consumption during the several centuries after 1500, using clothing, tea, porcelain, and coffee as examples. Finally, the Working with Evidence feature entitled “The Socialist Vision and Its Enemies” in Chapter 17 incorporates documents that illustrate some of the ways that socialism was expressed and contested as it took root in modern Europe. Corresponding Historians’ Voices explore topics such a diverse views on China’s economy (Chapter 8), religious tolerance in Muslim Spain (Chapter 9), and consumer culture in the early modern world (Chapter 14).

Thoroughly revised questions accompanying the narrative in Achieve further students’ critical thinking about history. These questions ask students to actively describe and compare historical developments, contrast civilizations, connect regions and ideas, assess patterns of continuity and change, and more. The most essential of these questions, labeled “Core Ideas,” are presented again in the concluding chapter review in the “Revisiting Core Ideas” section.

New “Then and Now” features in Achieve promote the skill of connecting with the past. Offered once in each part of the book, these essays examine a particular theme in both historical and contemporary settings. Themes include patriarchy, slavery, science, China’s role on the global stage, and more. The skill of connecting with the past is reinforced at the beginning of each chapter through updated vignettes called Connecting Past and Present that illustrate the continuing relevance of the chapter’s material in today’s world.

Narrative updates incorporate the latest scholarship on early humans, environment and disease, the spread of Islam in the Indian Ocean World, and modern science. Updates include:

  • Chapter 1: Revised coverage reflecting new dating for the first emergence of Homo sapiens, new evidence of early failed migrations out of Africa and interactions with other hominid species, new thinking on migration into the Americas,  new discoveries of cave paintings in Indonesia and bone flutes in Germany, updated coverage of the practice of slavery among gatherers and hunters in Alaska, new evidence of the fragility of many early agricultural communities, and updated population estimates for the Neolithic period.
  • Chapter 2: Updated coverage of First Civilizations incorporating new archeological evidence of early trade patterns and recent revisions in the dating of the Indus Valley, Chinese, Oxus, and Nubian civilizations.
  • Part 2 opening: New exploration of the reasons for the collapse of First Civilizations, with special emphasis on climate change, environmental degradation, and migrations.
  • Chapter 7: Revised discussion of the arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia with expanded coverage of Melaka.
  • Chapter 9: New section on Islam’s spread in southern India, especially in the Hindu Vijayanagar empire.
  • Chapter 11: Expanded analysis of the long-term impact of the plague on European society, especially the shift toward laborsaving technologies and the revival of slavery in Europe.
  • Chapter 13: Updated account of the Little Ice Age.
  • Chapter 15: Updated coverage on earlier Chinese and Islamic influences on European science and how the vast flow of knowledge from across the globe impacted the Scientific Revolution in Europe.
  • Chapter 17: New exploration of the links between the Industrial Revolution and our current climate crisis.
  • Chapter 22: New coverage of how twentieth-century scientific profoundly changed our understanding of the cosmos, impacted contemporary culture, and laid the groundwork for technological innovations that have transformed modern life.
  • Chapter 23: New discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of other modern pandemics.

“I have used this textbook for years, and find it just keeps getting better. Not only is it affordable, but it is also engaging, well written, and—dare I say—even sassy in places. My students and I enjoy reading it.”
—Adrianna Ernstberger, Marian University

“It is easily accessible, fluidly written, and I have not found a better book to introduce the general background that I need students to acquire before we deal with more specific evidence and concrete historical questions in the classroom and in their writing assignments.”
—Dorian Borbonus, University of Dayton

“This textbook provides an excellent narrative that drills down on specific cultures and events without getting bogged down in detail....The accompanying electronic resources are useful and appealing to students and instructors.”
—Tara S. Wood, Clemson University

“The main text is well written and very readable, but the Thinking Through Sources companion source reader is the main reason why I would never consider switching to another world history textbook. The selection of primary sources is excellent and I use 2-3 sources every week. They are excellent for class discussion.”
—Andrei Gandila, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Digital Options

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Achieve is a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools that incorporate the most effective elements from Macmillan Learning's market leading solutions in a single, easy-to-use platform.

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E-book

Read online (or offline) with all the highlighting and notetaking tools you need to be successful in this course.

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Table of Contents

The Combined Volume includes all chapters.
Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-12.
Volume 2 includes Chapters 12-23.

NOTE: Achieve for Ways of the World 5e includes additional activities and assessments for the book content. Along with the interactive e-books for the comprehensive edition with special features and primary and secondary sources and the companion source reader, Achieve provides quizzes for the source features in the book and the documents in the companion reader, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, study and writing skills tutorials, and a variety of autograded exercises that help students develop their historical thinking skills. Many of these resources are set up for quick use in the pre-built courses in Achieve, which can be customized easily, and Achieve also allows instructors to create quiz questions and upload their own documents. The table of contents here reflects only what appears in the Value Edition.

 

Preface
Versions and Supplements
Working with Primary Sources
Prologue: From Cosmic History to Human History

 

PART 1 First Things First: Beginnings in History, to 600 b.c.e.

THE BIG PICTURE Turning Points in Early World History

The Emergence of Humankind

The Globalization of Humankind

The Revolution of Farming and Herding

The Turning Point of Civilization

Time and World History

 

1. FIRST PEOPLES; FIRST FARMERS: MOST OF HISTORY IN A SINGLE CHAPTER, to 3500 B.C.E.

Out of Africa: First Migrations

Into Eurasia

Into Australia

Into the Americas

Into the Pacific

Paleolithic Lifeways

The First Human Societies

Economy and the Environment

The Realm of the Spirit

Settling Down: The Great Transition

Breakthroughs to Agriculture

Common Patterns

Variations

The Globalization of Agriculture

Triumph and Resistance

The Culture of Agriculture

Social Variation in the Age of Agriculture

Pastoral Societies

Agricultural Village Societies

Chiefdoms

Conclusions and Reflections: History before Civilization

Revisiting Chapter 1

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

2. FIRST CIVILIZATIONS: CITIES, STATES, AND UNEQUAL SOCIETIES, 3500 B.C.E.–600 B.C.E.

Something New: The Emergence of Civilizations

Introducing the First Civilizations

The Question of Origins

An Urban Revolution

The Erosion of Equality

Hierarchies of Class

Hierarchies of Gender

Patriarchy in Practice

The Rise of the State

Coercion and Consent

Writing and Accounting

The Grandeur of Kings

Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt

Environment and Culture

Cities and States

Interaction and Exchange

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering "Civilization"

Revisiting Chapter 2

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 2 Continuity and Change in the Second-Wave Era, 600 b.c.e.–600 c.e.

THE BIG PICTURE The Globalization of Civilization

 

3. STATE AND EMPIRE IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 C.E.

Empires and Civilizations in Collision: The Persians and the Greeks

The Persian Empire

The Greeks

Collision: The Greco-Persian Wars

Collision: Alexander and the Hellenistic Era

Comparing Empires: Roman and Chinese

Rome: From City-State to Empire

China: From Warring States to Empire

Consolidating the Roman and Chinese Empires

The Collapse of Empires

Intermittent Empire: The Case of India

Conclusions and Reflections: Enduring Legacies of Second-Wave Empires

Revisiting Chapter 3

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

4. CULTURE AND RELIGION IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 C.E.

China and the Search for Order

The Legalist Answer

The Confucian Answer

The Daoist Answer

Cultural Traditions of Classical India

South Asian Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation

The Buddhist Challenge

Hinduism as a Religion of Duty and Devotion

Toward Monotheism: The Search for God in the Middle East

Zoroastrianism

Judaism

The Cultural Tradition of Classical Greece: The Search for a Rational Order

The Greek Way of Knowing

The Greek Legacy

The Birth of Christianity . . . with Buddhist Comparisons

The Lives of the Founders

The Spread of New Religions

Institutions, Controversies, and Divisions

Conclusions and Reflections: Religion and Historians

Revisiting Chapter 4

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

5. SOCIETY AND INEQUALITY IN EURASIA / NORTH AFRICA, 600 B.C.E.–600 C.E.

Society and the State in China

An Elite of Officials

The Landlord Class

Peasants

Merchants

Class and Caste in India

Caste as Varna

Caste as Jati

The Functions of Caste

Slavery: The Case of the Roman Empire

Slavery and Civilization

The Making of Roman Slavery

Comparing Patriarchies

A Changing Patriarchy: The Case of China

Contrasting Patriarchies: Athens and Sparta

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering Inequality

Revisiting Chapter 5

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

6. COMMONALITIES AND VARIATIONS: AFRICA, THE AMERICAS, AND PACIFIC OCEANIA, 600 B.C.E.–1200 C.E.

Continental Comparisons

Civilizations of Africa

Meroë: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization

Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom

Along the Niger River: Cities without States

Civilizations of Mesoamerica

The Maya: Writing and Warfare

Teotihuacán: The Americas’ Greatest City

Civilizations of the Andes

Chavín: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement

Moche: A Civilization of the Coast

Wari and Tiwanaku: Empires of the Interior

Alternatives to Civilization

Bantu Africa: Cultural Encounters and Social Variation

North America: Ancestral Pueblo and Mound Builders

Pacific Oceania: Peoples of the Sea

Conclusions and Reflections: One History...or Many?

Revisiting Chapter 6

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 3 Civilizations and Encounters during the Third-Wave Era, 600–1450

THE BIG PICTURE Patterns and Processes of the Third-Wave Era

Third-Wave Civilizations

The Ties That Bind: Transregional Interaction in the Third-Wave Era

 

7. COMMERCE AND CULTURE, 600–1450

Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia

The Growth of the Silk Roads

Goods in Transit

Cultures in Transit

Diseases in Transit

Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean

Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World

Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia

Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa

Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara

Commercial Beginnings in West Africa

Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West Africa

An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere

Conclusions and Reflections: Globalization — Ancient and Modern

Revisiting Chapter 4

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

8. CHINA AND THE WORLD: EAST ASIAN CONNECTIONS, 600–1300

Together Again: The Reemergence of a Unified China

A Golden Age of Chinese Achievement

Women in the Song Dynasty

China and the Northern Nomads: A Chinese World Order in the Making

The Tribute System in Theory

The Tribute System in Practice

Cultural Influence across an Ecological Frontier

Interacting with China: Comparing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan

Korea and China

Vietnam and China

Japan and China

China and the Eurasian World Economy

Spillovers: China’s Impact on Eurasia

On the Receiving End: China as Economic Beneficiary

China and Buddhism

Making Buddhism Chinese

Losing State Support: The Crisis of Chinese Buddhism

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering Change in China

Revisiting Chapter 8

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

9. THE WORLDS OF ISLAM: AFRO-EURASIAN CONNECTIONS, 600–1450

The Birth of a New Religion

The Homeland of Islam

The Messenger and the Message

The Transformation of Arabia

The Making of an Arab Muslim Empire

War, Conquest, and Tolerance

Conversion

Divisions and Controversies

Women and Men in Early Islam

Islam and Cultural Encounter: A Four-Way Comparison

The Case of India

The Case of Anatolia

The Case of West Africa

The Case of Spain

The World of Islam as a New Civilization

Networks of Faith

Networks of Exchange

Conclusions and Reflections: The Islamic World and the Uses of History

Revisiting Chapter 9

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

10. THE WORLDS OF CHRISTENDOM: CONTRACTION, EXPANSION, AND DIVISION, 600–1450

Christian Contraction in Asia and Africa

Asian Christianity

African Christianity

Byzantine Christendom: Building on the Roman Past

The Byzantine State

The Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence

Byzantium and the World

The Conversion of Russia

Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the Wake of Roman Collapse

Political Life in Western Europe

Society and the Church

Accelerating Change in the West

Europe Outward Bound: The Crusading Tradition

The West in Comparative Perspective

Catching Up

Pluralism in Politics

Reason and Faith

Conclusions and Reflections: Remembering and Forgetting

Revisiting Chapter 10

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

11. PASTORAL PEOPLES ON THE GLOBAL STAGE: THE MONGOL MOMENT, 1200–1450

The Long History of Pastoral Peoples

The World of Pastoral Societies

Before the Mongols: Pastoralists in History

Breakout: The Mongol Empire

From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire

Explaining the Mongol Moment

Encountering the Mongols in China, Persia, and Russia

China and the Mongols

Persia and the Mongols

Russia and the Mongols

The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network

Toward a World Economy

Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale

Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm

The Plague: An Afro-Eurasian Pandemic

Conclusions and Reflections: Historians, Bias, and the Mongols

Revisiting Chapter 11

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

12. THE WORLDS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Societies and Cultures of the Fifteenth Century

Paleolithic Persistence: Australia and North America

Agricultural Village Societies: The Igbo and the Iroquois

Pastoral Peoples: Central Asia and West Africa

Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: Comparing China and Europe

Ming Dynasty China

European Comparisons: State Building and Cultural Renewal

European Comparisons: Maritime Voyaging

Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: The Islamic World

In the Islamic Heartland: The Ottoman and Safavid Empires

On the Frontiers of Islam: The Songhay and Mughal Empires

Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: The Americas

The Aztec Empire

The Inca Empire

Webs of Connection

After 1500: Looking Ahead to the Modern Era

Conclusions and Reflections: Perspectives on Turning Points

Revisiting Chapter 12

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 4 The Early Modern World, 1450–1750

THE BIG PICTURE Toward Modernity . . . or Not?

Sprouts of Modernity?

Continuing Older Patterns?

 

13. POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS: EMPIRES AND ENCOUNTERS, 1450–1750

European Empires in the Americas

The European Advantage

The Great Dying and the Little Ice Age

The Columbian Exchange

Comparing Colonial Societies in the Americas

In the Lands of the Aztecs and the Incas

Colonies of Sugar

Settler Colonies in North America

The Steppes and Siberia: The Making of a Russian Empire

Experiencing the Russian Empire

Russians and Empire

Asian Empires

Making China an Empire

Muslims and Hindus in the Mughal Empire

Muslims and Christians in the Ottoman Empire

Conclusions and Reflections: The Importance of Context

Revisiting Chapter 13

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

14. ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATIONS: COMMERCE AND CONSEQUENCE, 1450–1750

Europeans and Asian Commerce

A Portuguese Empire of Commerce

Spain and the Philippines

The East India Companies

Asians and Asian Commerce

Silver and Global Commerce

"The World Hunt": Fur in Global Commerce

Commerce in People: The Transatlantic Slave System

The Slave Trade in Context

The Slave Trade in Practice

Consequences: The Impact of the Slave Trade in Africa

Conclusions and Reflections: Global Trade and Moral Complexity

Revisiting Chapter 14

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

15. CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS: RELIGION AND SCIENCE, 1450–1750

The Globalization of Christianity

Western Christendom Fragmented: The Protestant Reformation

Christianity Outward Bound

Conversion and Adaptation in Spanish America

An Asian Comparison: China and the Jesuits

Persistence and Change in Afro-Asian Cultural Traditions

Expansion and Renewal in the Islamic World

China: New Directions in an Old Tradition

India: Bridging the Hindu/Muslim Divide

A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science

The Question of Origins

Science as Cultural Revolution

Science and Enlightenment

European Science beyond the West

Looking Ahead: Science in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond

Conclusions and Reflections: Many Ways of Cultural Borrowing

Revisiting Chapter 15

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 5 The European Moment in World History, 1750–1900

THE BIG PICTURE European Centrality and the Problem of Eurocentrism

 

16. ATLANTIC REVOLUTIONS, GLOBAL ECHOES, 1750–1900

Atlantic Revolutions in a Global Context

Comparing Atlantic Revolutions

The North American Revolution, 1775–1787

The French Revolution, 1789–1815

The Haitian Revolution, 1791–1804

Latin American Revolutions, 1808–1825

Echoes of Revolution

The Abolition of Slavery

Nations and Nationalism

Feminist Beginnings

Conclusions and Reflections: Pondering the Outcomes of Revolutions

Revisiting Chapter 16

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

17. REVOLUTIONS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1750–1900

Industrialization: The Global Context

The First Industrial Society

The British Aristocracy

The Middle Classes

The Laboring Classes

Social Protest

Europeans in Motion

Variations on a Theme: Industrialization in the United States and Russia

The United States: Industrialization without Socialism

Russia: Industrialization and Revolution

The Industrial Revolution and Latin America in the Nineteenth Century

After Independence in Latin America

Facing the World Economy

Becoming like Europe?

Conclusions and Reflections: Reflecting on the Industrial Revolution

Revisiting Chapter 17

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

18. COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS IN ASIA, AFRICA, AND OCEANIA, 1750–1950

Industry and Empire

A Second Wave of European Conquests

Under European Rule

Cooperation and Rebellion

Colonial Empires with a Difference

Ways of Working: Comparing Colonial Economies

Economies of Coercion: Forced Labor and the Power of the State

Economies of Cash-Crop Agriculture: The Pull of the Market

Economies of Wage Labor: Migration for Work

Women and the Colonial Economy: Examples from Africa

Assessing Colonial Development

Believing and Belonging: Identity and Cultural Change

Education

Religion

"Race" and "Tribe"

Conclusions and Reflections: Who Makes History?

Revisiting Chapter 18

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

19. EMPIRES IN COLLISION: EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND EAST ASIA, 1800–1900

Reversal of Fortune: China’s Century of Crisis

The Crisis Within

Western Pressures

The Failure of Conservative Modernization

The Ottoman Empire and the West in the Nineteenth Century

"The Sick Man of Europe"

Reform and Its Opponents

Outcomes: Comparing China and the Ottoman Empire

The Japanese Difference: The Rise of a New East Asian Power

The Tokugawa Background

American Intrusion and the Meiji Restoration

Modernization Japanese-Style

Japan and the World

Conclusions and Reflections: Success and Failure in History

Revisiting Chapter 19

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

PART 6 The Long Twentieth Century, 1900–present

THE BIG PICTURE The Long Twentieth Century: A New Period in World History?

 

20. WAR AND REVOLUTION, 1900–1950

The First World War: A European Crisis with a Global Impact, 1914–1918

Origins: The Beginnings of the Great War

Outcomes: Legacies of the Great War

The Russian Revolution and Soviet Communism

Capitalism Unraveling: The Great Depression

Democracy Denied: The Authoritarian Alternative

European Fascism

Hitler and the Nazis

Japanese Authoritarianism

A Second World War, 1937–1945

The Road to War in Asia

The Road to War in Europe

Consequences: The Outcomes of a Second Global Conflict

Communist Consolidation and Expansion: The Chinese Revolution

Conclusions and Reflections: Historical Intersections and Their Implications

Revisiting Chapter 20

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

21. A CHANGING GLOBAL LANDSCAPE, 1950–PRESENT

Recovering from the War

Communism Chinese-Style

Building a Modern Society

Eliminating Enemies

East versus West: A Global Divide and a Cold War

Military Conflict and the Cold War

Nuclear Standoff and Third-World Rivalry

The Cold War and the Superpowers

Toward Freedom: Struggles for Independence

The End of Empire in World History

Toward Independence in Asia and Africa

After Freedom

The End of the Communist Era

Beyond Mao in China

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

After Communism

Conclusions and Reflections: Twentieth-Century Communism

Revisiting Chapter 21

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

22. GLOBAL PROCESSES: TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMY, AND SOCIETY, 1900–PRESENT

Science and Technology: The Acceleration of Innovation

A Second Scientific Revolution

Fossil Fuel Breakthroughs

Transportation Breakthroughs

Communication and Information Breakthroughs

Military Weapons Breakthroughs

The Global Economy: The Acceleration of Entanglement

Industrial Globalization: Development in the Global South

Economic Globalization: Deepening Connections

Growth, Instability, and Inequality

Pushback: Resistance to Economic Globalization

Producing and Consuming: The Shapes of Modern Societies

Life on the Land: The Decline of the Peasantry

The Changing Lives of Industrial Workers

The Service Sector and the Informal Economy

Global Middle Classes and Life at the Top

Getting Personal: Transformations of Private Life

Modernity and Personal Life

The State and Personal Life

Feminism and Personal Life

Conclusions and Reflections: On Contemporary History

Revisiting Chapter 22

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

23. GLOBAL PROCESSES: DEMOGRAPHY, CULTURE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 1900–PRESENT

More People: Quadrupling Human Numbers

People in Motion: Patterns of Migration

To the Cities: Global Urbanization

Moving Abroad: Long-Distance Migration

Microbes in Motion: Disease and Recent History

Cultural Identity in an Entangled World

Race, Nation, and Ethnicity

Popular Culture on the Move

Religion and Global Modernity

The Environment in the Anthropocene Era

The Global Environment Transformed

Changing the Climate

Protecting the Planet: The Rise of Environmentalism

Conclusions and Reflections: World History and the Making of Meaning

Revisiting Chapter 23

Revisiting Specifics

Revisiting Core Ideas

A Wider View

 

For Further Study

Glossary

Headshot of Robert W. Strayer

Robert W. Strayer

Robert W. Strayer (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) brings wide experience in world history to the writing of Ways of the World. His teaching career began in Ethiopia where he taught high school world history for two years as part of the Peace Corps. At the university level, he taught African, Soviet, and world history for many years at the State University of New York-College at Brockport, where he received Chancellors Awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Excellence in Scholarship. In 1998 he was visiting professor of world and Soviet history at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Since moving to California in 2002, he has taught world history at the University of California, Santa Cruz; California State University, Monterey Bay; and Cabrillo College. He is a long-time member of the World History Association and served on its Executive Committee. He has also participated in various AP® World History gatherings, including two years as a reader. His publications include Kenya: Focus on Nationalism, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa, The Making of the Modern World, Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?, and The Communist Experiment.

Headshot of Eric W. Nelson

Eric W. Nelson

Eric W. Nelson (D.Phil., Oxford University) is a professor of history at Missouri State University. He is an experienced teacher who has won a number of awards, including the Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2011 and the CASE and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Professor of the Year Award for Missouri in 2012. He is currently Faculty Fellow for Engaged Learning, developing new ways to integrate in-class and online teaching environments. His publications include The Legacy of Iconoclasm: Religious War and the Relic Landscape of Tours, Blois and Vendôme, and The Jesuits and the Monarchy: Catholic Reform and Political Authority in France.

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Cover: Achieve for Ways of the World with Sources (1-Term Access), 5th Edition by Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson

Achieve for Ways of the World with Sources (1-Term Access)

Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson | Fifth Edition | 2022 | ISBN:9781319381691

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Cover: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 2, 5th Edition by Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson

Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 2

Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson | Fifth Edition | 2022 | ISBN:9781319340704

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Cover: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 1, 5th Edition by Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson

Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 1

Robert Strayer; Eric Nelson | Fifth Edition | 2022 | ISBN:9781319340636

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