Western Civilization,
10th Edition

Jackson J. Spielvogel

ISBN-13: 9780357026731
Copyright 2020 | Published
480 pages | List Price: USD $120.95

Put the world today into context by learning about the past with this brief, best-selling Western Civilization text, which has helped thousands of students succeed in the course. Jackson Spielvogel's engaging writing style weaves the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural and military aspects of history into a gripping story that is as memorable as it is instructive. Learning and study tools include maps, illustrated chapter summaries, timelines, study questions and key terms. Also available is MindTap for WESTERN CIVILIZATION: A BRIEF HISTORY, 10th Edition, an online digital learning experience that combines readings and interactive activities into a learning path that guides you through the course. The textbook is available in the following split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: A BRIEF HISTORY, 10th Edition Complete; Volume I: To 1715 and Volume II: Since 1500.

Purchase Enquiry INSTRUCTOR’S eREVIEW COPY

1. The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations.
2. The Ancient Near East: Peoples and Empires.
3. The Civilization of the Greeks.
4. The Hellenistic World.
5. The Roman Republic.
6. The Roman Empire.
7. Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval World.
8. European Civilization in the Early Middle Ages, 750 – 1000.
9. The Recovery and Growth of European Society in the High Middle Ages.
10. The Rise of Kingdoms and the Growth of Church Power.
11. The Later Middle Ages: Crisis and Disintegration in the Fourteenth Century.
12. Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance.
13. Reformation and Religious Warfare in the Sixteenth Century.
14. Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500 – 1800.
15. State Building and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth Century.
16. Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth: The Scientific Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Science.

  • Jackson J. Spielvogel

    Jackson J. Spielvogel is Associate Professor Emeritus of History at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in Reformation History under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as MOREANA, JOURNAL OF GENERAL EDUCATION, CATHOLIC HISTORICAL REVIEW, ARCHIV FÜR REFORMATIONSGESCHICHTE and AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW. He also has contributed chapters or articles to THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF REFORMATION, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, the SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER ANNUAL OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES and UTOPIAN STUDIES. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western Civilization course, as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was first published in 1987 (7th Edition, 2014). In addition, he is the author of WESTERN CIVILIZATION, first published in 1991 (10th Edition, 2018), and co-author (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in 1994 (9th Edition, 2019). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the 1988-1989 year, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. He won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member in 1996 and received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000.

  • New and revised material in every chapter reflects current historical scholarship. The author has also implemented many suggestions based on reviewer feedback.

  • New "Global Perspectives" features reinforce the relationship between the West and other parts of the world by examining paired images or documents. Found in sixteen chapters, this new feature includes such topics as "The Stele in the Ancient World" (Ch. 1); "Women in the Roman and Han Empires" (Ch. 6); "Medieval Monastic Life in West and East" (Ch. 10); "Revolution and Revolt in France and China" (Ch. 19); "West and East: Textile Factory Work" (Ch. 23); and "The New Global Economy: Fast Fashion" (Ch. 30).

  • New "Historians Debate" headings highlight brief explanations about varying views on historical interpretation to remind students that history isn't always as simple as black and white. Examples include: “Why did Early Civilizations Develop?” (Ch. 1); “Who were the Etruscans?” (Ch. 5); "What was Romanization?" (Ch. 6); “What Were the Effects of the Crusades?” (Ch. 10); and “Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation?” (Ch. 13); "Did Industrialization Bring an Improved Standard of Living?" (Ch. 20); and "The Retreat from Democracy: Did Europe Have Totalitarian States?" (Ch. 26).

  • A new abbreviated format for "Film & History" features gives readers a snippet of information about films related to the discussion and includes a question appropriate for class discussion or individual assignments after viewing. This feature provides an introduction to eleven films, including Gladiator, The Young Victoria, The Iron Lady and a new additions Suffragette and The Imitation Game.

  • Spielvogel provides a focused, consistent, and engaging narrative throughout the text. The author is an award-winning teacher and scholar whose clear, lively, and informative writing style has made this text so successful with students. Numerous testimonials state that a primary reason professors use the text is because their students can read and understand it at schools that range from Ivy League universities to two-year technical colleges.

  • The text's selection of primary source materials is unmatched. Letters, song lyrics, official documents, diary entries, menus, poems, plays, and the like give students access to the kinds of materials historians use to shape their interpretations of the past. These sources vividly reveal what Western civilization meant to the men and women who shaped it. New document boxes include: "The Code of Assura" (Ch. 2); "A Manor House" (Ch. 8); “The Genius of Michelangelo” (Ch. 12); "The Steam Engine and Cotton" (Ch. 20); "Women's Soccer, 1881" (Ch. 23) and "The West and Islam" (Ch. 30).

  • "Opposing Viewpoints" features, which present a comparison of two or three primary sources in order to facilitate student analysis of historical documents, appear in most chapters. Topics include "The Great Flood: Two Versions" (Ch. 1); "Women in Athens and Sparta" (Ch. 3); "Causes of the Black Death" (Ch. 11); "Women in the Age of the Enlightenment: Rousseau and Wollstonecraft" (Ch. 17); "White Man's Burden, Black Man's Burden" (Ch. 24); and "Islam and the West: Secularism in France" (Ch. 30). Assignable questions at the end of each feature aid individual or collaborative study.

  • Images of Everyday Life features combine two or more illustrations with an extended caption to provide insight into different aspects of social life. Topics include "The Egyptian Diet" (Ch. 1); "Children in the Roman World" (Ch. 6); "Entertainment in the Middle Ages" (Ch. 11); "Spices and World Trade" (Ch. 14); "Living Conditions of London's Poor" (Ch. 20); "Youth Culture in the 1960s" (Ch. 29); and "The New Global Economy: Fast Fashion" (Ch. 30).

  • Extensive four-color maps and artwork reproductions appear throughout the text. A guide to studying from primary source materials at the front of the book includes tips on reading maps to help students understand the important connection between geography and the development of historical events. There are also guides to reading documents and studying photographs and illustrations.

  • Chapter outlines and focus questions, including critical thinking questions, at the beginning of each chapter give students a useful overview and reinforce the main ideas of each chapter. The focus questions are then repeated at the beginning of each major section in the chapter. A focus question entitled Connections to Today is intended to help students appreciate the relevance of history by asking them to draw connections between the past and present.

  • Detailed chronologies in every chapter list dates important to the understanding of a period and place historical people and events in a comparative setting. A timeline at the end of each chapter enables students to review at a glance the chief developments of an era. Some of the timelines also show parallel developments in different cultures or nations.

  • A rich collection of primary documents gives students access to the kind of material historians rely on: letters, memoirs, song lyrics, official documents, diary entries, menus, poetry, plays and more.

  • Over 325 four-color maps and artwork reproductions appear throughout the text. A guide to studying from primary source materials at the front of the book includes tips on reading maps to help students understand the important connection between geography and the development of historical events. There are also guides to reading documents and studying photographs and illustrations. Chronologies in every chapter list dates important to the understanding of a period and place historical people and events in a comparative setting.

  • Focus Questions in the chapter-opening outline are repeated at the beginning of the corresponding major section in the chapter to reinforce the main ideas.

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

Instructor's Companion Website for Spielvogel's Western Civilization: A Brief History
9780357026755