Book Description
Best-selling text, WESTERN CIVILIZATION has helped over one million students learn about the present by exploring the past. Jack Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative 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. Each chapter offers a substantial introduction and conclusion, providing students a context for these disparate themes. The clear narrative of a single gifted author makes it easy for students to follow the story of Western civilization. Spielvogel gives the book depth by including over 150 maps and excerpts of over 200 primary sources--including official documents, poems, and songs--that enliven the past while introducing students to source material that forms the basis of historical scholarship. Available in many split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Comprehensive, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-29), ISBN: 0534646026; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume I, To 1715, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-16), ISBN:0534646034; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume II, Since 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 13-29), ISBN:0534646042; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume A: To 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-12), ISBN: 0534646050; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume B: 1300-1815, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-19), ISBN:0534646069; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume C: Since 1789, 6th Edition (Chapters 19-29), ISBN: 0534646077; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Since 1300, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-29), ISBN:0534646085.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome Book.......2006-05-19
Very easy explanation in book.........dont try to read whole book otherwise you will get sleep
Great for CLEP resource.......2006-01-18
Got this book as well as Volume I and used them as my resources for taking the Western Civ I and II CLEPS. Perfect for the job, and helped me get a very good grade, highly recommend for anyone looking to use for that purpose.
Revionist History.......2005-07-05
After being required to read this text for a class, I bought two other history books to which I could compare this one. I thought that Spielvogel was leaving out chunks of history, and revising the ones that he included, and I wanted to double check my facts before making any accusations. Well, boy was I right. This book makes the Publisher's tag line, "Changing the Way the World Learns" seem a little too true..
If you DO get this book, here are some things to look out for:
1. He is wrong on just about everything that has to do with art or music. He cites obscure artists and names them as the most popular, most of them had Christian themed work.
2. He glorifies Hitler and the Nazis and makes the Holocaust seem like nothing but a minor glitch in history.
3. The author has a degree in Reformation History and seems to be unable to help himself from relating every single event in history to religion. So keep in mind that Voltaire had more to offer history than an anti-Christian revisionist account of the fall of the Roman Empire, as Spielvogel states.
If I were you, I'd buy a different history book to read as well as this one, if this is required for a course. Preferably one that was published for the first time in the thirties or forties and has been updated since, so that its more clear it isn't revionist history. This one was first published in 2003.
Honestly, if I could give this book less than one star I would, but there's no such option on amazon.com...
yikes.......2005-04-22
This book was horrible for AP Euro, it was not in chronological order and often confused our class. Also, he skipped over some events that were important to know for the AP exam.
THIS BOOK SUCKS.......2004-12-30
Jackson J. Spielvogel has no sense of organization whatsoever. And as for those people who read this book for fun, SERIOUSLY need a life. I, however, am using this book as a text book for AP Euro and think it is absolutely ludicrous that we have to use it. It's confusing and needs to be written better. A LOT better. This book should get -1000000 stars.
Book Description
Civilization in the West
blends social and political history into a fascinating narrative that brings history to life.
The authors tell a compelling story of Western Civilization that is enhanced by an image-based approach. “The Visual Record” chapter openers draw students in by illustrating a dominant theme of the chapter and exploring the dramatic changing contours of the West through standard maps, Map Discovery features and Geographical Tours of Europe. Discovering Western Civilization Online end-of-chapter Web site URLs make this the first Western Civilization book to include these resources.
Book Description
Best-selling text, WESTERN CIVILIZATION has helped over one million students learn about the present by exploring the past. Jack Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative 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. Each chapter offers a substantial introduction and conclusion, providing students a context for these disparate themes. The clear narrative of a single gifted author makes it easy for students to follow the story of Western civilization. Spielvogel gives the book depth by including over 150 maps and excerpts of over 200 primary sources--including official documents, poems, and songs--that enliven the past while introducing students to source material that forms the basis of historical scholarship. Available in many split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Comprehensive, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-29), ISBN: 0534646026; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume I, To 1715, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-16), ISBN:0534646034; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume II, Since 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 13-29), ISBN:0534646042; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume A: To 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-12), ISBN: 0534646050; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume B: 1300-1815, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-19), ISBN:0534646069; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume C: Since 1789, 6th Edition (Chapters 19-29), ISBN: 0534646077; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Since 1300, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-29), ISBN:0534646085.
Customer Reviews:
longer version.......2007-05-15
this book is packed with info.. it's the longer version of "a brief history" and how your prof. has so much info..that's not showing up in your shorter text (if you're getting the brief version) it has a lot of pics..and maps..and is easy to read.. very informative ..text book
Western Civilzation by Jackson Spielvogel.......2006-06-02
This book is an excellent resource for preparing for the Western Civ. CLEP exam. There is a website for the book that has review games and excercises (including my favorite flashcards) for each chapter. I plan to use it with my high schoolers to get ahead on college and save a bundle in course fees! A must!
This is a decent (but dry and disorganized) history book.......2006-05-11
If I could give this book three and a half stars, I'd rather do that, because the rating truly falls between "It's OK and I liked it."
The main reason for this less-than-steller rating is that the book effectively makes an interesting subject boring. Another reviewer from Barnes and Noble remarked that, though they loved history, they detested this book. That about sums up my sentiment. History had long been one of my favorite subjects, yet I found myself slogging through this book--while others held me spellbound. Of course, if your prof assigns this book, you really have no choice; the author does cover the ENTIRE history of western civ (from the homo erectus to Bush's Iraq war), but in a certain way.
In this book, emphasis is placed on MODERN history, specifically the nineteenth century and the various wars of the twentieth century. Pre-history through the collapse of the Roman Empire is covered--but those subjects only get seven chapters, or less than 25% of the book's length (of 29 chapters). Before chapter seven is even finished, the author moves on to early Christianity and "the dark ages." The Middle Age period continues until chapter 11.
From chapter twelve on, the author focuses more on THEMES than time periods, though he tries to present these themes in appropriate chonological order. For a simple breakdown of the chapters:
1--First Civilizations
2--Ancient Near East
3--Greeks
4--Hellenistic World
5--Roman Republic
6--Roman Empire
7--Medieval World
8--Early Middle Ages 750-1000
9--Growth: High Middle Ages
10--Rise of Kingdoms
11--Crisis: Later Middle Ages
12--Renaissance
13--Reformation
14--World Exploration 1500-1800
15--Search for Order: 1600's
16--Scientific Revolution
17--"Enlightenment"
18--Wars and Social Change: 1700's
19--Revolution--French and American Revolutions
20--Industrial Revolution
21--More Revolution and Romanticism 1815-50
22--Nationalism and Realism 1850-71
23--"Age of Progress" 1871-94
24--Anxiety and Imperialism 1894-1914
25--World War I 1914-1918
26--Between the Wars 1919-39
27--World War II
28--the Cold War
29--Modern World Since 1973
As you can see, a full third of the book is devoted to the past 200 years, so there is clearly a modern history focus. My biggest critism of this book is that is author is much more concerned with themes than presenting the information in a logical way. For instance, the Reformation of the 1500's is covered in chapter 13, but world travel (which began in the 1400's) is covered in the NEXT chapter! When the author turns his attention to modern times, he's all over the place, going from Watergate to 9/11 and then going back and covering the stuff in between.
To be fair, a survey course like the ENTIRE history of western civ is lot of information. However, I've seen this task much better handled by other (more organized) authors. Hopefully, you will be assigned one of THEIR books!
Book Description
Trusted by professors of the humanities survey course for over twenty years, CULTURE AND VALUES covers Western cultures along with important non-Western cultures, providing students solid, accessible introductions to art, music, philosophy, literature, and more. Available in two volumes, or as an alternate single volume without end-of-chapter readings, this text remains the most readable and reliable textbook for college and university students in the integrated humanities.
Book Description
For introductory-level survey courses in Western Civilization and European History and Civilization; or a supplemental text in Art History or other basic cultural history survey courses.
This highly visual brief survey of Western civilization provides an exceptionally balanced survey of the political, social, and cultural development of Western civilization-its strengths and weaknesses, and the controversies surrounding it. The Teaching & Learning Classroom edition of the highly successful The Western Heritage, Ninth Edition provides your students with the most help available in reading, thinking, and applying the material they are learning in the text and in lecture. A series of pedagogical aids, in text and out of class study companions, as well as complete instructor presentational and assessment support makes this text the perfect choice for those looking to make history come alive for their students.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Richard TarnasÂ's The Passion of the Western Mind—acclaimed by leading voices in philosophy, religion, psychology, and history—sets the stage for this major work, thirty years in the making, that dramatically reframes our understanding of the universe in the light of extraordinary new evidence.
Cosmos and Psyche is the first book by a widely respected scholar to demonstrate the existence of a consistent correspondence between planetary movements and the unfolding drama of human history. A vast and impressive body of evidence illuminates patterns of meaning and precise correlations between the universe and the world of human endeavor. With meticulous detail, Richard Tarnas takes us on a journey that begins with the ancient Greeks and culminates in our own era and its transformative potential, putting into perspective these chaotic, tumultuous times—from the sixties to September 11, 2001—and pointing the way towards the future.
In terms of planetary cycles, our present moment in history is most comparable to the period five hundred years ago—that era of “extraordinary turbulence and creativity,” the High Renaissance. Not since Copernicus conceived the heliocentric theory has the human community faced such a profound realignment of the way we think. Readers of every persuasion will be impressed by the vast canvas here, the wealth of research and analysis, and the profound conclusions that may be drawn—conclusions that reunite religion and science, and restore a transcendent dimension to the universe.
Customer Reviews:
hard to see.......2007-10-03
Poor quality printing. Content material seemed fasinating but I could not read this book. I had trouble reading this print since there was not enough contrast between page and ink.
Sweeping societal/cultural insights by astrological events. And happening now. .......2007-09-28
Insightful and dense read on the significance of astrological events noting the timing of sweeping social and cultural upheaval, revolutions, renaissance and change. And 2007 marks the beginning of another great opportunity to be part of bringing the best of change that can happen to make the world better. A must read for astrologers and those who wish to be inspired to be part of our own renaissance.
on the far side..........2007-07-23
GNPR 69b: The Real Blockbuster Book!
As well as the Harry Potter book is selling, I think the real Blockbuster book of the summer is Paul Tarnas' new book, "Cosmos and Psyche." If you, one of your children, or one or more of your grandchildren has taken a "History of Civilization" course in College in the last fifteen years, chances are the text for the course was Tarnas' remarkable book, "The Passion of the Western Mind." Having taught various such courses over the years, I was bowled over a few years ago when Joe McGrath used the book for a year-long course I took at the U. of Arizona SAGE program. The book does a brilliant job of highlighting how the two streams of modern western civilization, Hebraic religion and Greek rationalism, met, and cross-fertilized each other, and in some real sense gave rise to what has become modern western culture. The book sold more than 300,000 copies, and in an age of abundant new text books, has managed to outsell all its rivals.
All the more stunning is Paul Tarnas' long-awaited new book, "Cosmos and Psyche." It is not merely a follow-up to the previous book, it is the summary of Tarnas' own work over the past thirty years on the interaction between the external world, the cosmos, and the internal world, the psyche. Tarnas accurately describes the aftermath of the Copernican revolution as generating a "disenchantment" of the world, as the world was seen as mechanical instead of animated, impersonal and material, instead of inhabited by some kind of spirit.
Now, as one might expect, Tarnas offers a remedy for overcoming that disenchantment, that distancing of self and world, that the scientific revolution brought about. But prepare yourself for a shock. This scholar, with outstanding credentials and a huge following, claims the way to overcome this breach between self and world, can take place only by rehabilitating the much disgraced science of astrology. Not the newspaper or fortune teller version of astrology, he says, but the real astrology, that which was subscribed to by the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Plotinus, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Kepler, Goethe, Yeats, and Jung. Yes, C.G. Jung, the founder of that "depth psychology" that Tarnas says is the one true royal road into understanding the subconscious.
Tarnas' opening quotation, in the attempt to document his case, comes from Jung: "Our psyche is set up in accord with the structure of the universe, and what happens in the macrocosm likewise happens in the infinitesimal and most objective reaches of the psyche." Tarnas claims the works of Jung alone give us an acceptable alternative to the blunt materialism proclaimed by the likes of the physicist Steven Weinberg: "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless." What Jung and the astrological tradition offers is the antithesis to the godless theme of the materialistic evolutionists like Jacques Monod: "Man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance."
Unless we return to the wisdom of the astrological tradition, Tarnas claims we risk negating the spiritual dimension of the empirical universe, and thereby lose "any publicly affirmable ground for moral wisdom and restraint." Tarnas again turns to Jung for support: "We have not understood yet that the discovery of the unconscious means an enormous spiritual task, which must be accomplished if we wish to preserve our civilization." No mean task this, but the very preservation of our civilization!
A central tenet of Jung's depth psychology is the experience of synchronicity, those apparently incredibly unlikely simultaneous events, that had less than a one in a million chance of happening at the same time, --like meeting your long-lost lover at the train station, or having your lucky number show up when you really need the money. It is the experience of such synchronicities that turn skeptics into true believers, as happens with physicist Victor Mansfield: "I have encountered too many synchronistic experiences to ignore them. Yet these surprisingly common experiences pose tremendous psychological and philosophical challenges for our worldview. They are especially troubling experiences for me as a physicist trained within the culture of scientific materialism."
Even the committed skeptic would be brought up short by the journal entry of C.G. Jung: "My evenings are taken up very largely with astrology. I make horoscopic calculations in order to find a clue to the core of psychological truth. Some remarkable things have turned up..."
Given this background, Tarnas says he turned to the study of the astrology practiced by the likes of Kepler and Newton, which brought him to this conclusion: "The coincidence between planetary positions and appropriate biographical and psychological phenomena was in general so precise and consistent as to make it altogether impossible for me to regard the intricate patterning as merely the product of chance."
So what conclusions does Tarnas reach? "Together with many colleagues and students, I have now steadily pursued this research for three decades. What I have found far surpassed my expectations. I have become convinced that there does in fact exist a highly significant--indeed a pervasive--correspondence between planetary movements and human affairs, and that the modern assumption to the contrary has been erroneous."
Personally, I am left speechless. When I picked up this book, the last thing I expected was an ardent defense of astrology, however far removed from the newspaper horoscopes, and however authoritatively documented with quotations from Plato and Aristotle, Plotinus and Aquinas, Galileo and Kepler. So I pose this question to you: are you open-minded enough to want to read the "evidence" that Tarnas offers, or do you dismiss such reflections as simply beyond the pale of the possible? Would you regard as credible someone who told you your birth chart could predict the climactic events of your life, or that planetary conjunctions decisively influence your most important decisions?
As I always say, tell me what your first principles are, and I will tell you what your most logical conclusions should be. My mind is simply boggled by the fact that a scholar of Tarnas' eminence should propose astrology as a legitimate science, or that he should conclude this remarkable book with a chapter entitled: "Observations on Future Planetary Alignments." I take this to be one of the most paradigm-breaking books I have ever read, for I take the basic thesis to be completely nuts. And yet, that a scholar of this eminence would appear to be so completely convinced....
Where do these concepts come from?.......2007-05-21
For an astrologer, a new book on mundane astrology is already an event. The use of planetary cycles in mundane astrology is traditional, the astrologers of the past used especially the Jupiter Saturn cycle and the zodiacal sites of their conjunction.
On the other hand, the use of planetary cycles of transsaturnian planets has been extensively used and developed since 1970 by the french astrologer André Barbault, who reintroduced also the astrology of Morin de Villefranche in France (published by AFA) . Certainly, Richard Tarnas has written a best seller with the passion of the Western mind: he published also an interesting booklet on Uranus.
Unfortunately, this document doesn't hit again the target. Good references to the work of Barbault are lacking, altough Barbault developed the theory of planetary cycles in a deeper and more convincing way. Did Richard Tarnas really ignore this work? Does Richard Tarnas has a real good understanding of mundane Astrology? Not sure... Furthermore, the number of pages could be reduced by half. There are too many repetitions in the book, they hamper a good undertanding of the key concepts. Written for non astrologers, Richard could now extend his study and deliver a real and usable book of mundane astrology for propfessionals...
Wordmongering.......2007-05-15
After carefully reading about the first hundred pages of Cosmos and Psyche, I concluded that an in-depth reading wouldn't repay the time invested, and began to skim. There are several reasons for this.
One reason is that Richard Tarnas is a wordmonger, in several senses. First, he uses words impressionistically, so that many of his sentences do not yield a precise meaning even when closely analyzed. Second, he is extremely fond of stringing together clause after clause. An example (p. 77): "The range of correspondences between planetary positions and human existence is just too vast and multidimensional -- too manifestly ordered by structures of meaning, too suggestive of creative intelligence, too vividly informed by aesthetic patterning, too metaphorically multivalent, too experientially complex and nuanced, and too responsive to human participatory inflection -- to be explained by straightforward material factors alone." Others may consider such prose "lucid", but I don't.
However, if I had felt that Tarnas had something important to say, I would have plowed through his vast tome. And so we come to the main reason that I largely gave up on the book: his attempt to rehabilitate astrology for the modern mind is preposterous. Of course, given his vague writing style, it isn't clear exactly what he is claiming, and he hedges his bets with numerous qualifying phrases. He admits that astrology cannot be used to predict specific, concrete events; instead, one has to interpret history in terms of archetypes. And don't forget that archetypes can manifest themselves in numerous ways (p. 132): "Many diverse factors appear to play determining roles in shaping how an archetypal complex is concretely embodied: cultural, historical, ancestral, familial, circumstantial. To these must be added such factors as individual choice and degree of self-awareness, as well as, perhaps, karma, grace, chance, and other unmeasurables." In short, anything can happen.
In the end, Tarnas's correlation of historical events with astrological archetypes is purely semantic, and therefore highly subjective. Although Tarnas claims that an archetypal interpretation can provide a "wealth of insight" (p. 168) or help historical events become "intelligible" (p. 169), any attempt to impose an archetypal pattern on historical data will in fact narrow, not broaden, one's receptivity to different interpretations. And is it really to be believed that researchers could never understand a grouping of historical events and the connections between them without having an archetypal pattern to work from? How could knowing a single astronomical datum (e.g., Uranus and Pluto are aligned) make the connections more intelligible?
There are some reviewers who believe that, decades from now, Tarnas's book will be heralded as a watershed in human thought. I believe that his book is representative of the superstitious thinking that still lingers on. Is Tarnas really any different from those who pore over the quatrains of Nostradamus or delve into Bible prophecy?
Postscript
In the early part of the twentieth century, a Russian by the name of Alexander Chizhevsky worked up an elaborate theory on the causation of many human phenomena, including wars, revolutions, epidemics of disease, and so on. He amassed an enormous corpus of material in support of his theory that solar activity is the primary influence, and attempted to show correlation with the eleven-year solar cycle. I have a copy of one of his books (in Russian), and it is replete with tables of historical events, charts of epidemics, etc. Thus Chizhevsky and Tarnas have put forward incompatible theories, while each claims to have persuasive evidence. I wasn't persuaded by either one.
Book Description
This authoritative book presents an engaging and accessible narrative account of the central developments in Western history. Seamlessly integrating coverage of social, cultural and political history, this book is presented in a flexible chronological organization, helping readers grasp the most significant developments that occurred during a single historical period, laying a useful foundation for the chapters to follow. Attempts to reflect the unprecedented impact of globalization on this century by featuring extensive coverage of popular culture, the relationship between Islam and the West, and the contribution of women in the history of Western Civilization. Some featured essay topics include ancient athletics, religious festivals, medieval games, diets, attitudes towards bathing, and the politics of rock music in the late 20th Century. Particular attention paid to women artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Rachel Ruysch, Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Lady Butler, and Elizabeth Whiteread—through Art and the West essays. Great coverage of the experience of women in Western civilization, particularly new scholarship on women in the ancient world and the Middle Ages, during the scientific and industrial revolutions and under authoritarian governments of the twentieth century. Major sections on Islam and the Ottoman Empire cover topics such as the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire from the 17th through the 20th centuries; Islam and the Enlightenment; Islam and the Romantic movement; Islam and Modernity; the French colonization of Algeria, from 1830-1962; Islamic immigration in the 20th-century Europe, and Islamic terrorism before and after September 11, 2001. For use by history career professionals.
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely outstanding...if you have the time for it.......2007-07-27
This was by far the most interesting history book that I have ever read. It is a brilliant amalgamation of facts, interesting analysis, maps, and historical documents that constantly touches on recurring themes throughout European History. I read it for the AP Euro class I took last year and, truthfully, it is the only thing you need to succeed on the essays of the AP test. However, all of the chapters are at least 30 pages long, with much material to comprehend and note-taking is necessary to remember much relevant information. If you have the time to put in to it, though, you will not regret slaving over this textbook.
Poorly edited.......2004-07-29
This textbook is filled with misinformation, typos, and blatant grammatical errors. I hope professors stop requesting that students read this text. The only thing worse than the book is the compainion website. It has practice test questions that contradict the "real" test and quiz questions that they provide. If you take this course DL like I did, this really makes a big difference. I have spent the better half of the semester arguing for points from my professor (and winning) who apparently never bothered to read the tests or the text (I should get paid from him!!)
One example, on a practice test, when you type in the name Pompey, a correct answer, it tells you that you are wrong because it is Pomey (there is no such Roman General)
When you contact the publisher's website administrator, they tell you that you need to talk to your professor to get anything changed. That was two months ago, he nor they have done anything about it. I am not exagerating when I say that is one of at least 25 examples that I have noticed.
Also, there is a lot of inconsistency in the writing styles of chapters. There is an overemphasis of women. Now, I am a women and I agree that we have been left out of history for way too long. This book has a section per chapter just reminding you how bad we had it throughout history. Chapter after chapter in the ancient and middle ages sections at least, women's lots did not change a lot. I think they could have just updated us when major advancements were made.
Great for AP Euro!.......2003-11-08
I took AP Euro as a junior last year and actually really enjoyed this text. It was a lot better than the other book that had been used the previous year which was comprised almost completely of political history. The pictures are nice when you have a big chapter to read and the writing is simple to comprehend. The pitfalls of the book lie in the chapter on the French Revolution and it is obvioius that toward the end the deadline was coming up because numerous spelling errors and other typos were found throughout the final chapters. The formation of the E. U. and its development were almost not at all covered, but much of the material is excellent. In preparation for the AP test my class did not do very much in terms of information, but spent most of its time doing DBQ's and essays. I read the entire book cover to cover and did not even have to study for the AP test and recieved a five, so I highly reccomend this book but look somewhere else for the French Revolution or if you really want things structured in a strictly chronological formation.
Wonderful Overview of European History.......2003-04-15
I am a junior in an AP European History class. My class uses two textbooks, one of which is Kagan's Western Heritage. The Kagan textbook is by far my favorite of the two textbooks to read. It is very interesting and thoroughly covers all the topics of European history, many of which are skipped in my other textbook. I am even considering buying the book so I can read the chapters my class skipped and keep it on hand as a reference. The order of the chapters is not at all difficult to follow as long as the reader has a basic knowledge of European History or looks at the timelines at the beginning of each section. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Europe.
Too complicated........2002-09-27
I am a freshman in high school, and this is my textbook in my AP European History class.
The events depicted are often out of order, making it harder to understand the timeline. The writing seems inconsistent, sometimes short and understandable but often is long-winded and unclear. The authors of this book assume you have some knowledge of both of the geography in Europe and at least some knowledge of Europe's history already. In most of my fellow students' case, they assume wrong. If you do not already have some experience in studying Europe, then I would recommend searching for a different book.
Book Description
Best-selling text, WESTERN CIVILIZATION has helped over one million students learn about the present by exploring the past. Jack Spielvogel's engaging, chronological narrative 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. Each chapter offers a substantial introduction and conclusion, providing students a context for these disparate themes. The clear narrative of a single gifted author makes it easy for students to follow the story of Western civilization. Spielvogel gives the book depth by including over 150 maps and excerpts of over 200 primary sources--including official documents, poems, and songs--that enliven the past while introducing students to source material that forms the basis of historical scholarship. Available in many split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Comprehensive, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-29), ISBN: 0534646026; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume I, To 1715, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-16), ISBN:0534646034; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume II, Since 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 13-29), ISBN:0534646042; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume A: To 1500, 6th Edition (Chapters 1-12), ISBN: 0534646050; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume B: 1300-1815, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-19), ISBN:0534646069; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Volume C: Since 1789, 6th Edition (Chapters 19-29), ISBN: 0534646077; WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Since 1300, 6th Edition (Chapters 11-29), ISBN:0534646085.
Customer Reviews:
Great History Book.......2007-03-29
Western Civilization: Required text for a Central Texas College course. Book is small text and takes some time to read, but the author does an interesting job of presenting the information. I am now in the second week of class and have only read the first 3 chapters, but was worth the purchase.
Recommendation: Worth buying if you'd like a good introduction to Western Civilization.
Concise, but..........2005-10-07
It leaves of on chapter 15 or 16 whereas, the next volume picks up on Chapter 13. Why didn't they just combine the two volumes since this book is so short anyway instead of reprinting the last 2 or 3 chapters in the second volume? What a ripoff...
Anyway, it's about as good a Western History textbook as you're going to get.
Amazon.com
"I am a Scotsman," Sir Walter Scott famously wrote, "therefore I had to fight my way into the world." So did any number of his compatriots over a period of just a few centuries, leaving their native country and traveling to every continent, carving out livelihoods and bringing ideas of freedom, self-reliance, moral discipline, and technological mastery with them, among other key assumptions of what historian Arthur Herman calls the "Scottish mentality."
It is only natural, Herman suggests, that a country that once ranked among Europe's poorest, if most literate, would prize the ideal of progress, measured "by how far we have come from where we once were." Forged in the Scottish Enlightenment, that ideal would inform the political theories of Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and David Hume, and other Scottish thinkers who viewed "man as a product of history," and whose collective enterprise involved "nothing less than a massive reordering of human knowledge" (yielding, among other things, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, first published in Edinburgh in 1768, and the Declaration of Independence, published in Philadelphia just a few years later). On a more immediately practical front, but no less bound to that notion of progress, Scotland also fielded inventors, warriors, administrators, and diplomats such as Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, Simon MacTavish, and Charles James Napier, who created empires and great fortunes, extending Scotland's reach into every corner of the world.
Herman examines the lives and work of these and many more eminent Scots, capably defending his thesis and arguing, with both skill and good cheer, that the Scots "have by and large made the world a better place rather than a worse place." --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Who formed the first modern nation?
Who created the first literate society?
Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism?
The Scots.
Mention of Scotland and the Scots usually conjures up images of kilts, bagpipes, Scotch whisky, and golf. But as historian and author Arthur Herman demonstrates, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland earned the respect of the rest of the world for its crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics—contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since.
Arthur Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. He lucidly summarizes the ideas, discoveries, and achievements that made this small country facing on the North Atlantic an inspiration and driving force in world history. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy; how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution; and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong.
How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William “Braveheart” Wallace to James Bond.
Victorian historian John Anthony Froude once proclaimed, “No people so few in number have scored so deep a mark in the world’s history as the Scots have done.” And no one who has taken this incredible historical trek, from the Highland glens and the factories and slums of Glasgow to the California Gold Rush and the search for the source of the Nile, will ever view Scotland and the Scots—or the modern West—in the same way again. For this is a story not just about Scotland: it is an exciting account of the origins of the modern world and its consequences.
“The point of this book is that being Scottish turns out to be more than just a matter of nationality or place of origin or clan or even culture. It is also a state of mind, a way of viewing the world and our place in it. . . . This is the story of how the Scots created the basic idea of modernity. It will show how that idea transformed their own culture and society in the eighteenth century, and how they carried it with them wherever they went. Obviously, the Scots did not do everything by themselves: other nations—Germans, French, English, Italians, Russians, and many others—have their place in the making of the modern world. But it is the Scots more than anyone else who have created the lens through which we see the final product. When we gaze out on a contemporary world shaped by technology, capitalism, and modern democracy, and struggle to find our place as individuals in it, we are in effect viewing the world as the Scots did. . . . The story of Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is one of hard-earned triumph and heart-rending tragedy, spilled blood and ruined lives, as well as of great achievement.”
—FROM THE PREFACE
Customer Reviews:
A valuable history lesson and food for thought.......2007-10-12
An amazing revelation of a small country's enormous contributions to freedom and knowledge with special relationship to the founding of our country. Negative, condescending stereotypes are exploded.
A must-read!.......2007-09-26
An absolute must-read for anyone interested in how the principles and values that America was founded on came to be...I couldn't help but wonder after reading this inspiring book, why there isn't some type of national recognition for the Scots like those that exist for other cultures (St. Patrick's Day for the Irish, Columbus Day for the Italians, etc.).
Excellent Book.......2007-08-23
I was lent a copy of this book and liked it so much that I bought one for myself. It gives a very good background on the Scottish culture and the development of the philosophy that underlies it. It covers a very broad area and the way it is written, makes for very good reading.
Excellent.......2007-08-15
This book was a Christmas gift and I recently finished reading it. I had fairly low expectations going in, but my interest was held all the way through. Mr. Herman does indeed make a strong case for Scots leading the way in many aspects of modern society, although I would say that declaring that Scots invented the modern world is rather speculative. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and was especially interested in how Scots helped shape the United States and Canada with highlanders generally siding with the monarchy and migrating to Canada as Loyalists after the War of Independence and lowlanders siding with the revolutionaries. An excellent read if you are interested in Scottish or New World history.
The Miracle of the Scottish Enlightenment.......2007-04-20
How did it come about that between 1700 and 1800 a small undeveloped European country transformed itself into a modern capitalist democracy? The title is obviously pretentious and used as a marketing gimmick. It worked on me because it convinced me to buy this book. Historian Arthur Herman is not Scottish or of Scottish descent, but he has written a very compelling chronicle of the miracle of the Scottish Enlightenment.
In 1707, the Union Act united the kingdoms of Scotland and England. Prior to this, the two antagonists living on opposite sides of Hadrian's Wall wanted nothing to do with each other. Scotland consisted mainly of primitive clans living in the highlands and slightly more advanced lowlanders living mainly in the cities of Glascow and Edinburgh. The parliament in Edinburgh was controlled by groups of noblemen who in turn were dominated by the rigid and inquisitorial Presbyterian Kirk (church) of Scotland.
After 1707, there were two developments that were crucial to Scotland's rise to modernity. The first was the opening up to the economic free trade zone of the British Empire. At first the Scottish fretted about either being swallowed-up by their world-class English competitors or becoming pauperized like the Irish. Their fears were misplaced, neither happened. Instead, the Scottish became, Herman argues, the most significant player in the the empire's economic and intellectual sphere.
The second big reason for Scottish success was their public education system - the first in Europe. This was the work of the Presbyterian Kirk. They maintained that political power, ordained by God, was vested in the people, not the monarchy or the church. The Kirk believed that all people should be able to read the Bible, and as a consequence they achieved a 75% literacy rate - unprecedented in 1750.
Near-universal education produced in this tiny country a disproportionate number of world-class thinkers - David Hume, Francis Hutchison, and Adam Smith, to name a few. They transformed the fields of philosophy, history, economics, education, commerce, architecture, and many more. Due to their mutual animosity toward the English, the Scots found inspiration from the great thinkers of the French Enlightenment, and vice versa. It was Voltaire who said that, "We look to Scotland for all of our ideas of civilization."
As for Herman's claim that the Scots invented the modern world, it should be taken with a grain of salt. In the free trade zone of the British Empire, commerce and ideas flowed both ways. It can be said that the Scots did much to improve or make new existing ideas, and in some cases invent; but they did not singlehandedly invent the modern world.
The Scottish Enlightenment was not without its dark side. The modernizing of the Scottish Highlands was anything but civilized. Before the Scots exported the ideas of goverment and commerce abroad, it had to brutally convert some of its own population. Herman also sidesteps the ugly fact that the Scots were deeply involved in the slave trade and the Klu Klux Klan in the US, and in the opium trade in China - recall the trading companies of Jardine Matheson and Hutchison Whampoa originally spoke with a Scottish burr. Not to say that they invented either of these unseemly businesses, but they certainly flourished in them.
Nevertheless, Professor Herman is a gifted writer and he is exceptionally good at explaining the many geniuses that populated this tiny country during the 18th century.
Books:
- Women of Discovery: A Celebration of Intrepid Women Who Explored the World
- Yankin' and Liftin' Their Whole Lives: A Mississippi River Commercial Fisherman (Shawnee Books)
- A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Short History of Western Civilization, Combined
- Addiction: Why Can't They Just Stop?
- American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs
- An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture
- Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where it Comes From and What it Means for Politics Today
- Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
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