Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence: Vol 1: To 1650

by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, William Bruce Wheeler

This successful world history version of the popular Discovering series contains a multi-part pedagogical framework that guides students through the process of historical inquiry and explanation. The text emphasizes historical study as interpretation rather than memorization of data. The Third Edition integrates new documents and revised coverage throughout, while the comparative chapters contribute to a more thorough and balanced examination of global history. Each chapter is organized within the same pedagogical framework: The Problem, Background, The Method, The Evidence, Questions to Consider, and Epilogue.

Genres: History

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) taught first at Augustana College in Illinois, and since 1985 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she is currently UWM Distinguished Professor in the department of history. She is the coeditor of the Sixteenth Century Journal and the author or editor of more than twenty books, most recently The Marvelous Hairy Girls: The Gonzales Sisters and Their Worlds and Gender in History. She is the former Chief Reader for Advanced Placement World History.

Reviews

[Hotavio]

An investigation of a bevy of historical topics such as the possibility of America's discovery by Polynesians, the impact of the Mongolians, effects of the Black Death, the origins of cultural bias, a view of Tenoctitlan and Constantinople, et al.

The book uses several sources from varied accounts as contemporary to the events as possible, so it is a refreshing classroom departure from the typical text. Being that the I have been out of the class for some time and that not all the material was covered, I tried to scramble backwards and read the rest of it. This approach was not suitable for truly enjoying this book. The book demands much time and thought (not to mention a pen and paper to record observations). Without such energies expended and the discussion that inevitably follows, I decided it was pretty much futile to read the few chapters I had left, however interesting the topics.

[Nachillo]

For history class.