The West: A Narrative History, Volume 1: To 1600

The West: a Narrative History is a unique text in its field, as it was conceived and developed as a brief introduction to the history of the West. It is not a reduced version of a larger study, but a fully realized project in its own right. It defines the West in its broadest terms, encompassing all of the varied cultures that trace at least some of their ancestry to the ancient Mediterranean world. In addition, it consistently reminds its readers of the links between the people who have come to define the West and those in other regions of the world

Table of Contents:
    Table of Contents   Introduction   PART ONE: DEPARTURE PREHISTORY TO 1000 BCE   Chapter 1: The Birth of Civilization Larger Issue: How do environments shape human communities and human communities alter environments?     The Evolution of the Prehistoric Cultures      The Archaic States       The Origin of Civilization in Mesopotamia: Sumer       The Rise of Civilization in Egypt   Chapter 2: The Rise of Empires and the Beginning of the Iron Age Larger Issue: Does civilization promote or intensify divisions among peoples?     The Transition States     Imperial Egypt: The New Kingdom      The Indo-Europeans and the Clash of Empires     The Bible and History   PART TWO: THE CLASSICAL ERA 2000 BCE to 30 CE   Chapter 3: Aegean Civilizations Larger Issue: When does civilization in the West become “Western” civilization?     Minoan Mentors     The Mycenaeans, Greece’s First Civilization      The Aegean Dark Age     The Hellenic Era     The Rise of the Mainland Powers     The Persian Wars: Crucible of a Civilization   Chapter 4: The Hellenic Era Larger Issue: What did the Greeks contribute to the development of modern civilization?     Persian Wars as Catalyst     The Peloponnesian War      Intellectual and Artistic Life in the Polis   Chapter 5: The Hellenistic Era and the Rise of Rome Larger Issue: What circumstances are likely to undermine governments by the people?     The Hellenistic Era     The Origin of Rome     The Roman Republic     Rome’s Civil War   Chapter 6: Rome’s Empire and the Unification of the Western World Larger Issue:  Do people prefer order to liberty?     The Augustan Era      Order and Continuity: The Dynastic Option      Order and Continuity: The Elective Option      Life in an Imperial Environment      The Decline of Rome   PART THREE: THE DIVISION OF THE WEST 300 TO 1300   Chapter 7: The West’s Medieval Civilizations Larger Issue:  Should freedom of religion be limited?     The Christian Element      The German Element      The Byzantine Empire of Constantinople      Islam   Chapter 8: The Emergence of Europe Larger Issue: How did Europe build on its legacies from the ancient world?     The Merovingian Kingdom: Europe’s Nucleus     The Franks’ Neighbors      The Carolingian Era      Retrenchment and Reorganization      The Culture of Europe’s Dark Age   Chapter 9: Europe Turns Outward Larger Issue: Was conflict among the medieval civilizations inevitable?     Islam’s Crest and Byzantium’s Resurgence     The Reorganization of Feudal Europe     The Eleventh-Century Turning Point   Chapter 10: Europe’s High Middle Ages Larger Issue: Why are some societies more open to change than others?     The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century     Universities and Scholasticism     Religious Revival and Diversity of Opinion     The Artistic Vision of the High Middle Ages     Government in the High Middle Ages   PART FOUR: CHALLENGES, CONFLICTS, AND DEPARTURES 1300 to 1700   Chapter 11: Challenges to the Medieval Order Larger Issue: What did the crises of the late medieval era reveal about the strengths and weaknesses of Europe’s civilization?     Challenges from Nature       Turmoil in the Middle East      Spiritual Crises      Political Responses: The Burdens of War   Chapter 12: Renaissance and Exploration Larger Issue: How should a society use its history?     The Context for the Renaissance       The Culture of the Renaissance      The Northern Renaissance       The Middle East: The Ottoman Empire      Europe and Atlantic Exploration   Chapter 13: Reformation, Religious Wars, and National Conflicts Larger Issue: How do civilized societies justify war?     The Lutheran Reformation     The Swiss Reformation      The Catholic Reformation      The Habsburg-Valois Wars      England’s Ambivalent Reformation      Convergence of Foreign and Domestic Politics: England, Spain, and France      The Final Religious Upheaval 

About the Author :
A. Daniel Frankforter is Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University, where he has taught for nearly four decades.  His undergraduate work was in the history of ideas and philosophy at Franklin and Marshall College.  He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Drew University, did graduate work at Columbia University and the University of Göttingen and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in medieval history and religious studies at Penn State.  His research has focused on the medieval English Church and on the evolving role of European women throughout the medieval period.  Articles on these topics have appeared in such journals asManuscripta,Church History,The British Studies Monitor,The Catholic Historical Review,The American Benedictine Review, The International Journal of Women’s Studies, and The Journal of Women’s History.  His books include:A History of the Christian Movement:An Essay on the Development of Christian Institutions,Civilization and Survival,The Shakespeare Name Dictionary (with J. Madison Davis),The Medieval Millennium: An Introduction, The Western Heritage, Brief Edition (with Donald Kagan, Stephen Ozment, and Frank Turner),The Heritage of World Civilizations, brief third edition (with Albert Craig, William Graham, Donald Kagan, Stephen Ozment, and Frank Turner), an edition and translation of Poullain de la Barre’s De L’Égalité des deux Sexes, andStones for Bread: A Critique of Contemporary Worship.  Over the course of his career he has developed 15 courses dealing with aspects of the ancient and medieval periods of Western civilization, Judeo-Christian studies, and gender issues.  His work in the classroom has been acknowledged by the Penn State Behrend Excellence in Teaching Award and the prestigious Amoco Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching Performance.     William M. Spellman is the Dean of Humanities at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.  He is a graduate of Suffolk University, Boston, and holds the Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.  He is the author of John Locke and the Problem of Depravity (Oxford, 1988); The Latitudinarians and the Church of England, 1660-1700 (Georgia, 1993); John Locke (Macmillan, 1995); European Political Thought, 1600-1700 (Macmillan, 1997); Monarchies, 1000-2000 (Reaktion Press, 2000); Extraordinary Women of the Medieval and Renaissance World (Greenwood Press, 2000) co-authored with Carole Levin, et. al.; The Global Community: Migration and the Making of the Modern World, 1500-2000 (Sutton, 2002); A Concise History of the World Since 1945 (Palgrave, 2006); and Migration and the Nation State (Reaktion Press, forthcoming).  

Review :
Conceived and developed to be brief, The West: A Narrative History poses in each of its chapters a "key question" that provides a springboard for wide-ranging class discussions of questions that have no simple answers. By debating these issues, students discover that the past is more intriguing (and knowledge of its history more useful) than they may have previously realized. Praise for The West: A Narrative History, Second Edition: "This beautifully written text is simply the best on the market--concise, direct explanations of religious concepts, compelling questions for further investigation, and much food for thought, for both teachers and students." --Jonathan S. Perry, University of South Florida "While there are numerous Western Civ textbooks on the market, Frankforter and Spellman's The West is a superior volume. The book is not only a model of conciseness and accessibility, but the authors' deft judgment on key issues and historical controversies is particularly admirable." --John M. Cox, Florida Gulf Coast University "The writing is the best I have seen in a textbook. One of the goals in my courses is to teach students how to write effectively, concisely, and forcefully. The authors' writing style is simple, to the point, and utterly engaging. It is the way I want my students to write." --Larissa J. Taylor, Colby College The West: A Narrative History is one the newest and best Western Civilization textbooks on the market. It is extremely well written, and is brief enough to allow instructors to assign additional secondary or primary readings. It should become the predominant textbook in the field. - J. Kyle Irvin, Jefferson State Community College