The Essential World History: To 1800

by William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel

Explore common challenges and experiences that unite the human past and identify key global patterns over time with THE ESSENTIAL WORLD HISTORY, 6e. This brief overview of world history covers political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military history integrated into a chronologically ordered synthesis to help you gain an appreciation and understanding of the distinctive character and development of individual cultures in society. You can use the book's global approach and its emphasis on analytical comparisons between cultures to link events together in a broad comparative and global framework that places the contemporary world in a more meaningful historical context.

Genres: History, College, Nonfiction

544 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 2001

About the author

William J. Duiker is a former United States Foreign Service officer and Professor of History at Penn State University. His area of expertise is East Asia; while in the Foreign Service he spent several years in Vietnam, where an injury left him with partial hearing in one ear. Duiker is the author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life, published in 2000, which was the first comprehensive biography of Ho Chi Minh using sources from Vietnam. He recently retired from teaching.

Reviews

[S. Alberto ঌ⁻⁷ (semi-active, always yearning) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is an okay textbook that provides a broad overview of historical events spanning a significant time period. It serves as a good starting point for comparative historiography or any essays that require comparing and contrasting different cultures while presenting opposing views. However, it's not very in-depth, which might leave readers wanting more detailed analyses. Additionally, there are occasional misuses of images to emphasize different historical moments. For instance, when describing the Celts fighting, they used a picture of "Gaia Pleads with Athena to Spare Her Son" from the Gigantomachy frieze—completely the wrong context, as I know from my classical studies. Despite these flaws, it still offers a solid foundation for beginners.

[John Carranza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent textbook for a course that is wide in scope. The authors believe that geography helped to determine a lot of human progress, but the book lacks sufficient maps for comparison and contrasts. The Comparative Essays and Opposing Viewpoints could be helpful.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and engaging textbook.

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read better World History Textbooks

[probably · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediocre attempt at best. But I guess the confusion and intractability are due to the inherent difficulty of the topic itself rather than the inadequacy of the authors.