Forging the Modern World: A History

by James Hugh Carter, Jay Carter, Richard Warren

In Forging the Modern World: A History, authors James Carter and Richard Warren offer an accessible explanation of key transformations in global economic, political, and ideological relationships since the sixteenth century. The book is distinct from most world history texts in three important ways. First, it explores the ways in which historians use and produce information. Each chapter delves deeply into one or two specific issues of historical inquiry related to the chapter theme, showing how new primary sources, methodologies, or intellectual trends have changed how we engage with the past. Second, it clearly explains the political, economic, and ideological concepts that students need to understand in order to compare events and trends across time and space. Finally, the chapters are organized around global historical themes, which are explored through an array of conceptual and comparative lenses. While the book chapters proceed chronologically, each chapter is written with some chronological overlap linking it to preceding and subsequent chapters. This strategy emphasizes the interconnectedness between the events and themes of one chapter and those of surrounding chapters. A companion website includes quiz questions and flash cards for each chapter and PowerPoint-based slides for instructors.

Genres: History

408 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

Reviews

[Caleb Lagerwey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an eminently usable and concise narrative of modern world history. I appreciated how its chapters were laid out and how readable it was. It'll make a great supplemental text for AP World History: Modern in the upcoming year.

[Ryan Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finding a good World History textbook these days is an almost impossible task--and this book isn't much better than most of the other options out there. I think the problem is this insistence on trying to balance the narrative between the West and the Rest and focusing on interactions between societies and cultures. What you get, in this book certainly, is every chapter making a world wind tour of the world and trying to tie it all together with some broad theme. Such an approach might work if your audience were fellow historians who already know a lot of the details and want to see how you tie your ideas together. It doesn't work, in my opinion, for beginning students who don't know anything. This history just becomes a welter of names and dates scattered across the globe, seemingly at random. (I know they're not actually 'at random' but the point is that is how it feels to the new student.) It's no wonder that so many students are turned off by the study of history today: it's either too hard or too meaningless for them. I think you need to offer a 'story' within your history to help students follow some characters through something of a plot--even if those characters are sometimes whole nation-states. This means you have to spend enough time in one time and place to actually tell a story, and that becomes difficult when you have a mandate to cover all of world history one or two semesters. Well, that's probably enough of a rant and a ramble for one post...

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forging the Modern World works as a concise overview of modern world history. Sometimes it is a bit too concise, with little about China under Mao or the Palestinian-Israeli dispute.

I'm using it as a textbook for our modern Western Civ course in order to give the class more of a connection to the world outside Europe, and I think that it will serve that purpose. I wonder if this means that some will find it to be too Western-centered.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable, decent intro to world history since 1400. Good intro vignettes for each chapter which illustrate a main idea. Historians Explore sections bring students into historical process and debate. Second half of the book seemed overly U.S. oriented which was surprising given the balance of the first half.

[Jules]

THANK YOU.
I am done hehehe

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic textbook.
I had my AP World Students read portions of it, and they found it easy to read and understand. It aligns well with Units 4, 5, and 6 of the curriculum.
The one criticism, which the authors address in the introduction, is depth. It is only 369 pages. However, what is written is written well. What this survey lacks in depth is made up for in readability and engagement.
I enjoyed how the authors included, " A Few Good Books" at the end of each chapter. If the reader wants to learn more, the suggestions give you a place to begin.
There are also additional resources located on the textbook's website.
I found this textbook extremely useful.