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Ways of the World, Volume I: To 1500 A Brief Global History

by: Strayer, Robert W.

Ways of the World, Volume I: To 1500 A Brief Global History

by: Strayer, Robert W.

ISBN 13:
9780312452889
ISBN 10:
0312452888
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 09/03/2008
Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

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Ways of the World, Volume I: To 1500 A Brief Global History > ISBN13: 9780312452889

Summary

Ways of the Worldoffers a genuine alternative for world history survey courses. Designed from the beginning as a brief text,Ways of the Worldfocuses on the "big picture" of significant historical developments and is thoroughly global in its thematic and comparative approach. The accessible voice of a single author, with long experience in the classroom and in the world history movement, delivers to students an insightful new synthesis, thought provoking questions, and chapter ending sections that invite reflection on the meaning of world history. Available in full color and in combined and split volumes,Ways of the Worldjust might be the book you've been waiting for.

Author Biography

ROBERT W. STRAYER comes to the writing of this text with wide experience in the world history enterprise. With a Ph.D. in European and African history from the University of Wisconsin, he has taught world history at many levels, beginning with a two-year stint in high school history instruction in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps. Most of his academic career was spent at SUNY College at Brockport, where he taught world history as well as African and Soviet history for three decades and received both the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and a similar award for Excellence in Scholarship. In 1998, he was a visiting professor of world history at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Since moving to California in 2002, he has taught world history at the University of California, Santa Cruz; California State University, Monterey Bay; and Cabrillo College. World history has been the primary intellectual focus of his career, during which he has served as a teacher, scholar, textbook author, consultant, and member of the Executive Committee of the World History Association.

Among his publications are works in African history, including Kenya: Focus on Nationalism (1975) and The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (1978). More recently, he developed a specialty in Soviet history and wrote Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? (1998) and The Communist Experiment (2007), comparing the experience of the Soviet Union with that of China. He was the senior author of an earlier world history textbook, The Making of the Modern World (1988; 1995), and has co-edited McGraw-Hill’s Explorations in World History series. He has also published in a number of specialized journals, such as the Journal of World History.

VOLUME 1: To 1500 PrefacePrologue: From Cosmic History to Human History The History of the Universe
Snapshot: A History of the Universe as a Cosmic Calendar The History of a Planet The History of the Human Species…in a Single Paragraph: A Preview Why World History? Comparison, Connection, and Change: The Three Cs of World History

PART ONE: FIRST THINGS FIRST: BEGINNINGS IN HISTORY, to 500 B.C.E. The Big Picture: Turning Points in Early World History The Emergence of Humankind The Globalization of Humankind The Revolution of Farming The Turning Point of Civilization Landmarks of Early World History, to 500 B.C.E.

Chapter 1 First Peoples: Populating the Planet, to 10,000 B.C.E. Out of Africa to the Ends of the Earth: First Migrations Snapshot: The Long Road to the Global Presence of Humankind Into Eurasia Into Australia Into the Americas Into the Pacific The Ways We Were The First Human Societies Economy and the Environment The Realm of the Spirit Snapshot: The Paleolithic Era in Perspective Settling Down: "The Great Transition" Comparing Paleolithic Societies The San of Southern Africa The Chumash of Southern California Reflections: The Uses of the Paleolithic Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 2 First Farmers: The Revolutions of Agriculture, ca. 10,000 B.C.E. – 3000 B.C.E. The Agricultural Revolution in World History Comparing Agricultural Beginnings Common Patterns Snapshot: Agricultural Breakthroughs Variations The Globalization of Agriculture Snapshot: The History of Maize/Corn Triumph and Resistance The Culture of Agriculture Social Variation in the Age of Agriculture Pastoral Societies Agricultural Village Societies Chiefdoms Reflections: The Legacies of Agriculture Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 3 First Civilizations: Cities, States, and Unequal Societies, 3500 B.C.E. – 500 B.C.E. Something New: The Emergence of Civilizations Introducing the First Civilizations The Question of Origins An Urban Revolution The Erosion of Equality Hierarchies of Class Hierarchies of Gender Patriarchy in Practice The Rise of the State Coercion and Consent Snapshot: Writing in Ancient Civilizations Writing and Accounting The Grandeur of Kings Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt Snapshot: Key Moments in Mesopotamian History Environment and Culture Cities and States Snapshot: Key Moments in Nile Valley Civilizations Interaction and Exchange Reflections: "Civilization:" What’s in a Word? Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study PART TWO: THE CLASSICAL ERA IN WORLD HISTORY, 500 B.C.E. – 500 C.E. The Big Picture: The Globalization of Civilization Continuities in Civilization Changes in Civilization Snapshot: World Population During the Age of Agricultural Civilization Classical Civilizations Landmarks of the Classical Era, 500 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.

Chapter 4 Eurasian Empires, 500 B.C.E. - 500 C.E. Empires and Civilizations in Collision: The Persians and the Greeks The Persian Empire The Greeks Snapshot: Key Political Moments in Greek Civilization Collision: The Greco-Persian Wars Collision: Alexander and the Hellenistic Era Comparing Empires: Roman and Chinese Rome: From City-State to Empire Snapshot: Key Moments in the History of the Roman Empire China: From Warring States to Empire Consolidating the Roman and Chinese Empires Snapshot: Key Moments in Early Chinese History The Collapse of Empires Intermittent Empire: The Case of India Reflections: Classical Empires and the Twentieth Century Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 5 Eurasian Cultural Traditions, 500 B.C.E. – 500 C.E. China and the Search for Order Snapshot: Thinkers and Philosophies of the Classical Era The Legalist Answer The Confucian Answer The Daoist Answer Cultural Traditions of Classical India South Asian Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation The Buddhist Challenge Hinduism as a Religion of Duty and Devotion Moving Toward Monotheism: The Search for God in the Middle East Zoroastrianism Judaism The Cultural Tradition of Classical Greece: The Search for a Rational Order The Greek Way of Knowing The Greek Legacy Snapshot: Reflections on Human Love from Mediterranean Civilization Comparing Jesus and the Buddha The Lives of the Founders Establishing New Religions Creating Institutions Reflections: Religion and Historians Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 6 Eurasian Social Hierarchies, 500 B.C.E. – 500 C.E. Society and the State in Classical China An Elite of Officials The Landlord Class Peasants Merchants Class and Caste in India Caste as Varna Snapshot: Social Life and Duty in Classical India Caste as Jati The Functions of Caste Slavery in the Classical Era: The Case of the Roman Empire Slavery and Civilization Snapshot: Comparing Greco-Roman and American Slavery The Making of a Slave Society Resistance and Rebellion Comparing Patriarchies of the Classical Era A Changing Patriarchy: The Case of China Contrasting Patriarchies in Athens and Sparta Reflections: Arguing with Solomon and Buddha Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 7 Classical Era Variations: Africa and the Americas, 500 B.C.E. – 1200 C.E. Snapshot: Continental Population in the Classical Era The African Northeast Meroe: Continuing a Nile Valley Civilization Axum: The Making of a Christian Kingdom Along the Niger River: Cities Without States South of the Equator: The World of Bantu Africa Cultural Encounters Society and Religion Civilizations of Mesoamerica The Maya: Writing and Warfare Teotihuacan: The Americas’ Greatest City Civilizations of the Andes Chavin: A Pan-Andean Religious Movement Moche: A Regional Andean Civilization North America in the Classical Era: From Chaco to Cahokia Pit Houses and Great Houses: The Ancestral Pueblo The Mound Builders of the Eastern Woodlands Reflections: Deciding What’s Important: Balance in World History Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study PART THREE:AN AGE OF ACCELERATING CONNECTIONS, 500 – 1500 The Big Picture: Defining a Millennium Third Wave Civilizations: Something New, Something Old, Something Blended The Ties that Bind: Trans-Regional Interaction in the Post-Classical Era Landmarks in the Era of Accelerating Connections, 500 to 1500

Chapter 8 Commerce and Culture, 500-1500 Silk Roads: Exchange across Eurasia The Growth of the Silk Roads Goods in Transit Snapshot: Economic Exchange Along the Silk Road Cultures in Transit Disease in Transit Sea Roads: Exchange across the Indian Ocean Weaving the Web of an Indian Ocean World Snapshot: Economic Exchange in the Indian Ocean Basin Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: Southeast Asia and Srivijaya Sea Roads as a Catalyst for Change: East Africa and Swahili Civilization Sand Roads: Exchange across the Sahara Desert Commercial Beginnings in West Africa Gold, Salt, and Slaves: Trade and Empire in West Africa An American Network: Commerce and Connection in the Western Hemisphere Reflections: Economic Globalization — Ancient and Modern Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 9 East Asian Connections: China and the World, 500-1300 C.E. The Re-Emergence of a Unified China A "Golden Age" of Chinese Achievement Women in the Song Dynasty Snapshot: Key Moments in the History of Post-Classical China China and the Northern Nomads: A Chinese World Order in the Making The Tribute System in Theory The Tribute System in Practice Cultural Influence Across an Ecological Frontier Coping with China: Comparing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan Korea and China Vietnam and China Japan and China China and the Eurasian World Economy Spillovers: China’s Impact on Eurasia On the Receiving End: China as Economic Beneficiary China and Buddhism Making Buddhism Chinese Losing State Support: The Crisis of Chinese Buddhism Reflections: Why Do Things Change? Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 10 The Worlds of European Christendom: Connected and Divided, 500-1300 Eastern Christendom: Building on the Past Snapshot: Key Moments in Byzantine History The Byzantine State The Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence Byzantium and the World The Conversion of Russia Western Christendom: Constructing a Hybrid Civilization Snapshot: Key Moments in the Evolution of Western Civilization In the Wake of Roman Collapse: Political Life in Western Europe, 500-1000 In the Wake of Roman Collapse: Society and the Church, 500-1000 Accelerating Change in the West, 1000-1300 Europe Outward Bound: The Crusading Tradition The West in Comparative Perspective Catching-Up Pluralism in Politics Reason and Faith Reflections: Remembering and Forgetting: Continuity and Surprise in the Worlds of Christendom Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 11 Afro-Eurasian Connections: The Worlds of Islam, 600-1500 The Birth of a New Religion The Homeland of Islam Snapshot: Key Moments in the Early History of Islam The Messenger and the Message The Transformation of Arabia The Making of an Arab Empire War and Conquest Conversion to Islam Divisions in the Islamic World Women and Men in Early Islam Islam and Cultural Encounter: A Four-Way Comparison The Case of India The Case of Anatolia The Case of West Africa The Case of Spain The World of Islam as a New Civilization Networks of Faith Networks of Exchange Snapshot: Key Achievements in Islamic Science and Scholarship Reflections: A Tale of Two Travelers Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 12 Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage: The Mongol Moment, 1200-1500 Looking Back and Looking Around: The Long History of Pastoral Nomads Snapshot: Varieties of Pastoral Societies The World of Pastoral Societies The Xiongnu: An Early Nomadic Empire The Arabs and Turks The Maasai of East Africa Break-Out: The Mongol Empire Snapshot: Key Events of the Mongol Era From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire Explaining the Mongol Moment Encountering the Mongols: Comparing Three Cases China and the Mongols Persia and the Mongols Russia and the Mongols The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network Toward a World Economy Diplomacy on a Eurasian Scale Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm The Plague: A Eurasian Pandemic Reflections: Changing Images of Nomadic Peoples Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Chapter 13 The Worlds of the Fifteenth Century Snapshot: Around the World in the Fifteenth Century The Shapes of Human Communities Paleolithic Persistence Agricultural Village Societies Herding Peoples Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: Comparing China and Europe Ming Dynasty China European Comparisons: State-Building and Cultural Renewal European Comparisons: Maritime Voyaging Snapshot: Key Moments in European Oceanic Voyaging Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: The Islamic World In the Islamic Heartland: The Ottoman and Safavid Empires On the Frontiers of Islam: The Songhay and Mughal Empires Civilizations of the Fifteenth Century: The "Americas" The Aztec Empire The Inca Empire Webs of Connection A Preview of Coming Attractions: Looking Ahead to the Modern Era, 1500-2000 Snapshot: World Population Growth, 1000-2000 Reflections: What If? Chance and Contingency in World History Second Thoughts What's the Significance? Big Picture Questions Next Steps: For Further Study

Notes Index

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