The West: Encounters & Transformations, Volume 1 - Softcover

Levack, Brian; Muir, Edward; Veldman, Meredith; Maas, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0132132850 ISBN 13: 9780132132855

Publisher: Pearson, 2010

Synopsis

Designed for introductory-level survey courses in the History of Western Civilization.

 

The West: Encounters & Transformations takes a new approach to telling the story of Western civilization.

 

Rather than looking at Western civilization only as the history of Europe from ancient times to the present, this groundbreaking book examines the changing nature of the West–how the definition of the West has evolved and has been transformed throughout history. It explores the ways Western civilization has changed as a result of cultural encounters with different beliefs, ideas, technologies, and peoples, both outside the West and within it. Presenting a balanced treatment of political, social, religious, and cultural history, this text emphasizes the ever-shifting boundaries of the geographic and cultural realm of the West.

About this title

About the Author

Brian Levack received his Ph.D. from Yale and is the John Green Regents Professor in History at University of Texas at Austin. The winner of several teaching awards, Levack teaches a wide variety of courses on British and European history, legal history, and the history of witchcraft.  His books include The Civil Lawyers in England, 1603–1641: A Political Study (1973), The Formation of the British State: England, Scotland and the Union, 1603–1707 (1987), The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd edition, 2006), and Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics, and Religion (2008).

 

Edward Muir received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where he specialized in the Italian Renaissance and did archival research in Venice and Florence, Italy. He is now the Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and former chair of the history department. At Northwestern he has won several teaching awards. His books include Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice (1981), Mad Blood Stirring: Vendetta in Renaissance Italy (1993 and 1998), Ritual in Early Modern Europe (1997 and 2005), and The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance: Skeptics, Libertines, and Opera (2007).

 

Meredith Veldman received a Ph.D. in modern European history, with a concentration in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, from Northwestern University. As an Associate Professor of history and award-winning instructor at Louisiana State University, she teaches courses in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British history and twentieth-century Europe, as well as the second half of “Western Civ.” Veldman is also the author of Fantasy, the Bomb, and the Greening of Britain: Romantic Protest, 1945―1980 (1994).

 

From the Back Cover

• NEW FEATURE! “Difference Voices”: This feature pairs two documents that present different and often opposing views on a topic discussed in the chapter. Each feature includes an introduction that provides the background for the documents and a set of questions for discussion.
• Coverage of ancient Egypt is now consolidated in Chapter 1.
• Coverage of the ancient Hebrews in Chapter 2 has been expanded.
• The third edition features separate chapters on Hellenistic Civilization and the Roman Republic; the second edition combined coverage of these topics in a single chapter.
• Improved Pedagogy: Each chapter concludes with two sets of review questions. The first set repeats the questions asked at the beginning of each section of the chapter, while the second, titled “Taking It Further,” pushes students to think more analytically and comparatively. The Chapter Review lists all of the key terms highlighted and discussed throughout the chapter and defined in the glossary.
• Streamlined coverage throughout makes the third edition more manageable for students: The text has been streamlined through careful editing by the authors, leading to a 25 percent length reduction in the third edition without loss of coverage.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0132132850
• ISBN 13: 9780132132855
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 648