The Western Heritage Since 1300

by Donald Kagan, Steven E. Ozment, Frank M. Turner

This authoritative book presents an engaging and accessible narrative account of the central developments in Western history from 1300-present. Seamlessly integrating coverage of social, cultural and political history, this book is presented in a flexible chronological organization, helping readers grasp the most significant developments that occurred during a single historical period, laying a useful foundation for the chapters to follow. This volume attempts to reflect the unprecedented impact of globalization on this century by featuring extensive coverage of popular culture, the relationship between Islam and the West, and the contribution of women in the history of Western Civilization. This volume contains a Special Introduction Chapter and Chs. 9-31 of the Combined The Late Middle Social and Political Breakdown; Renaissance and Discovery; The Age of Reformation; The Age of Religious Wars; Paths to Constitutionalism and England and France in the 17th Century; New Directions in Thought and Culture in the 16th and 17th Centuries; Successful and Unsuccessful Paths to Power; Society and Economy under the Old Regime in the 18th Century; The Transatlantic Economy, Trade Wars, and Colonial Rebellion; The Age of 18th-Century Thought; The French Revolution; The Age of Napoleon and the Triumph of Romanticism; The Conservative Order and the Challenges of Reform; Economic Advance and Social Unrest; The Age of Nation-States; The Building of European Society and Politics to World War I; The Birth of Modern European Thought; Imperialism, Alliances, and War; Political Experiments of the 1920s; Europe and the Great Depression of the 1930s; World War II; Faces of the European Social Experiences; and The Cold War Era and the Emergence of the New Europe. For use by history career professionals.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Reference, School, European History, Education

1120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Donald Kagan (May 1, 1932 – August 6, 2021) was a Lithuanian-born American historian and classicist at Yale University specializing in ancient Greece. He formerly taught in the Department of History at Cornell University. Kagan was considered among the foremost American scholars of Greek history and is notable for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War.

Reviews

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year, I read this book for my AP Euro class. Not the most exciting, but definitely better than the AP US book! I love European history, but my teacher's lectures were what I really looked forward to, and what I think will help me most on the big test coming up in May.
The book really focused on the economic and political aspect of events rather than the actual action, which kind of made me feel like I missed the all the good parts of history and the emotional part of reading I look for in books I read in my free time. While the book stated in maybe two pages all the battles of WWI, there was at least 5 pages of the effects of the Treaty of Paris, leaving out the true horror of war and the emotional effect it has on people.
Overall, the book helped me prepare for tests and filled in the blanks my teacher didn't cover, but lacked action. A good history book compared to others, it reported the facts and events of a history I have learned to love as much as TV drama.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's definitely not for everyone, being its bland and although it tries to go through a chronological order it can be confusing. With this history it's only so detailed so that you can have an understanding of what's happening. In some parts it's either extremely plain language or extremely advanced where they throw in one or two words you've never heard of and both ways they write throw off your understanding of the situation. The documents give some better understanding of like in the contemporary of the time and help out some more; to be honest the documents are easier to read than the actual main text.It still does its job and is informative (there is a little bit of bias but that's what happens when it's a text about european history) however...just takes some effort, I would've given up reading if I had a choice.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very helpful and had interesting details.

[Haritha R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lol my AP Euro Textbook. Pretty comprehensive ig? Hip Hughes videos explaining the concepts >>>

[Toby Amodeo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gave a very basic overview of European history. It failed to include important political developments, concentrating mainly on social changes. While social changes are incredibly important to history, knowing where one is in the political atmosphere is just as important. I would not recommend this book to any AP European History class, where I first encountered it.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, it cost blood, sweat, tears, I even threw up after the test today, but I'm done.
FREEEEE!

[Cameron Motsinger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Free at last!!!

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course, very informative and endlessly intriguing. I could get lost in this book with ease.

[jurdan]

i hav every right to add this to my goodreads yesssss

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating AP textbooks what I got on the exam part 2. In al honesty though this was an awful textbook. It literally made no sense half the time and was suuuuuper boring.

[Megan Trott · Rating 1 out of 5]

WORST THING TO EVER EXIST THIS BOOK MAKES ME SUICIDAL

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read almost all of it, and wow it took a while.

[teheabbytehe · Rating 4 out of 5]

manifesting that five 🔥🔥

[Lainey Socha · Rating 1 out of 5]

FREE AT LAST

[Rahma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only studied chapters 12, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, and 24 out of the 31 chapters for my civilization course, and I'm not getting back to studying this. :)

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished with the AP test, so there is no longer a need to carry this thing round with me everywhere I go. Finally.

As far as history textbooks go, this isn't a bad one, although the bias sometimes irritates me. I don't really have to read this again, so I guess it's not so much of a problem.

[Denielle]

This was a required text for my college World History class. It's very dry, which makes it difficult to read. I actually fell asleep twice while reading it, which has never happened to me before. Normally I would have sold it once the class was over, but I've held onto it for reference for my genealogy research.

[Shlolay · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 caused depression
*cries in ap euro*

disclaimer: im doing this out of spite; the textbook isn't all bad lmao

why was everything explained in such a drawn out and roundabout way????? maybe it wasn't, but i have a short attention span and i couldn't focus while reading for the life of me 😭😭😭😭😭😭

either way i got through it and its finally over!!!!!!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Western Heritage: Since 1300
Kagan, Donald
required text for college history course, about american history

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good text from my first college course.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed my class, I wasn't awed by this book. It was good, but nothing to write home about!

[Doug Landis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great text for political an economic history. I feel it is a little weak on social history though.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a European history textbook and reads like one—but it's clear, well-organized, and readable.

[Jillian Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

i cried

[Vi Huegerich]

idk why there were so many typos specifically in the sections about Russia but w/e history's neat

[Lolly · Rating 1 out of 5]

You brought me so much pain.

[Cristy]

Jokes, I didn't actually read the whole thing... AP Euro sophomore year, here I come!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the exact edition that I read for my AP European History class, but it is close enough. This is the first textbook that I've read cover to cover. Kagan provides history in an intelligent and understandable way, which is hard to do considering how much history he had to squeeze into such short space.

[Alex]

I don't feel obligated to rate the because it was my school book, but I'm more than willing to review it.
I learned what I needed tolerance from it, but for the most part it was...... Dry? It was definitely boring at parts, but it did what it needed to do. I'm just glad to be done with this hunk, to be honest. I'm very ready to move on to something else.