World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity, Combined Volume (with Study Card)

With its brief, global (rather than West-centered) approach, World History in Brief, Fifth Edition, seeks to show how different civilizations developed in a global context, and then encountered the various forces of contemporary life. Rather than overwhelm students, the chief goal of World History in Brief is to present the big picture, to facilitate comparison and assessment of change, and to highlight the major developments in the world's history. This text also presents the global interactions of major civilizations so that students can compare and assess changes. The compact size of this text gives instructors the opportunity to take advantage of additional supplementary readings.

Table of Contents:
Each chapter begins with an introduction and ends with a conclusion and with “Issues and Connections,” “Suggested Web Sites,” and “Suggested Readings.” I. THE RISE OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL CIVILIZATIONS. 1. From Human Prehistory to the Rise of Agriculture. Getting Started Is Always Hard. Human Development and Change. HISTORY DEBATE: Peoples in the Americas. The Neolithic Revolution. TIMELINE: Prehistoric Landmarks. The Nature of Agricultural Societies. UNDERSTANDING CULTURE: The Nature of Culture. Agriculture and change.2. Early Civilization. Civilization. Egypt and Mesopotamia Ccompared. HISTORY DEBATE: Women in Patriarchal Societies. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Uses and Varieties. Transitions: The End of the River-Valley Period. The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations. New States and Peoples Around 1000 B.C.E. TIMELINE: River Valley Civilizations. The First Civilizations.3. Nomadic Societies. Early Nomadic Societies. Nomadic Society and Culture. UNDERSATNDING CULTURES: Nomadic Art. Nomads and Civilizations. HISTORY DEBATE: The Contributions of Nomads. Nomads and Global Patterns.II. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD, 1000 B.C.E.-500 C.E. Introduction: New Issues for Expanding Societies. TIMELINE: Classical Civilizations.4. Classical Civilization: China. Patterns in Classical China. Political Institutions. HISTORY DEBATE: War. Religion and Culture. WORLD PROFILES: Confucius, or Kong Fuzi (c. 551-479 B.C.E.) Economy and Society. WORLD PROFILES: Ban Zhao (c. 48-117 C.E.)5. Classical Civilization: India. The Framework for Indian History: Geography and a Formative Period. Patterns in Classical India. Political Institutions. HISTORY DEBATE: Interpreting Civilization, Round Two. Religion and Culture. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Comparing Systems of Belief. Economy and Society. Indian Influence. China and India.6. Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome. The Persian Tradition. Patterns of Greek and Roman History. Greek and Roman Political Institutions Religion and Culture. WORLD PROFILES: Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.E.) Religion and Culture. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: When Two Belief Systems Meet. Economy and Society in the Mediterranean. HISTORY DEBATE: Mediterranean Civilization and “Western” Civilization. Toward the Fall of Rome.7. The Classical Period: Directions, Diversities, and Declines by 500 C. E. Expansion and Integration. Beyond the Classical Civilizations. Decline in China and India. Decline and fall in Rome. HISTORY DEBATE: What Caused Decline and Fall. The New Religious Map. WORLD PROFILES: St. Paul (Paul of Tarsus). The World Around 500 C.E.III. THE POSTCLASSICAL PERIOD, 500-1450 C. E. Introduction: Making the New Era.8. The Rise of Islam: Civilization in the Middle East. The Advent of Islam. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: The Impact of World Religions. WORLD PROFILES: Muhammad (570-632 C.E.) Patterns of Islamic history. Islamic Political Institutions. HISTORY DEBATE: Political Implications of Islam. Islam and Middle Eastern Culture. WORLD PROFILES: Omar Khayyam (c. 11-12th Centuries). Economy and Society in the Middle East Decline. The Decline of Middle Eastern Civilization.9. India and Southeast Asia under the Impact of Islam. The Development of Indian Culture. HISTORY DEBATE: The Caste System. The Muslim Challenge in India. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Comparison and Contact. Southeast Asia.10. Africa and Islam. Sub- Saharan Africa and the World Network. WORLD PROFILES: Sundiata. The Great Kingdoms. HISTORY DEBATE: Handles for African History. Features of African Civilization.11. East European Civilization: Byzantium and Russia. The Byzantine Phase. WORLD PROFILES: The Emperor Justinian (527-564 C.E.) The Early Russian Phase: Kievan Rus. HISTORY DEBATE: A Russian Civilization? East European Religion and Culture. East European Economy and Society. East European Civilization in Eclipse.12. Western Civilization: The Middle Ages. Early Patterns in Western Civilization. HISTORY DEBATE: Western Civilization. Medieval Political Institutions. Medieval Religion and Culture. Economy and Society. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Christianity and Syncretism. Women and Family Life. Tensions in the Later Middle Ages. After the Medieval, What?13. The Spread of East Asian Civilization. Political and Cultural Developments in China. WORLD PROFILES: Taizong (626-649 C.E.). Economy and Society in China. Civilization in Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. WORLD PROFILES: Mugai Nyodai. Culture, Society, and Economy in Japan. East Asian Self-Confidence.14. Centers of Civilization in the Americas. The Mayas and Aztecs. HISTORY DEBATE: What Happened to the Mayans? American Indian Civilization: A Continuing Heritage. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: The Question of Legacies. The issue of Isolation.15. The Mongol Interlude and the End of the Postclassical Period. Mongol Empires. WORLD PROFILES: Chabi Khan. China and the West as New World Powers. HISTORY DEBATE: Causes of Global Change by 1450. The End of Transition: Postclassical to Early Modern.IV. A NEW WORLD ECONOMY, 1450-1750. 16. The West and the World: Discovery, Colonization, and Trade. HISTORY DEBATE: The West as World Leader. WORLD PROFILES: Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512). Patterns of Exploration and Trade. Toward a World Economy. Africa. WORLD PROFILES: Olandah Equiano. Colonization in Latin America: The Birth of a New Civilization. Latin American Civilization. WORLD PROFILES: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651-1695). Western Civilization in North America. North and South America: Reasons for the Differences. The World Economy Revisited.17. Western Civilization Changes Shape, 1450-1750. Patterns of Early Modern Western History. WORLD PROFILES: Maria Portinari. Political Institutions and Ideas. The Ferment in Western Culture. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: A Revolution in Popular Culture. Transformations in Economic and Social Life. How Early Modern Trends in the West Interrelated.18. The Rise of Eastern Europe. Patterns of Early Modern Russian History. WORLD PROFILES: Catherine the Great (1762-1796). HISTORY DEBATE: A Russian Civilization? Russian Political Institutions. Russian Culture. Economy and Society in Russia. The World's First Effort as Westernization.19. The Ottoman and Mughal Empires. The Expanding Force of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire in Decline. HISTORY DEBATE: Guns and their Impact. The Mughal Empire: Invasion, Consolidation, and Decline. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Reactions to Western Values. Western Intrusion into the Mughal Empire. The Rise and Decline of Asian Empires.20. East Asia: Degrees of Isolation. China: The Resumption of the Dynasties. Cultural and Social Trends: Some New Problems. HISTORY DEBATE: Chinese and Western Economies. Japan and the Origins of Isolation. WORLD PROFILES: Toyotami Hideyoshi (1536-1548). Vitality and Tension in East Asia. Contacts and Identities.V. THE WORLD'S FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1750-1914. Introduction: The International Impact of Industrialization. TIMELINE: The World in the First Industrial Century.21. The First Industrial Revolution: Western Society, 1780-1914. Patterns of Industrialization. Causes of Industrialization. HISTORY DEBATE: Consumerism and Industrialization. Effects of Industrialization. The Period of Revolution, 1789-1848. “The Social Question” The Postrevolutionary Era and Nationalism, 1848-1871. Western Political Institutions in the Industrial Revolution. WORLD PROFILES: Mary Wollstonecraft. Western Culture in the Industrial Century. Industrial Society. HISTORY DEBATE: Women in Industrial Society. Gain and Strain in Industrialization.22. World Economy and Western Imperialism in Africa and South Asia. The Reasons for Imperialism: Motives and Means. HISTORY DEBATE: Causes of the Abolition of Slavery. Imperialism in India and Southeast Asia. Imperialism in Africa. WORLD PROFILES: John Mensah Sarbah (1865-1910). Comparing Colonies.23. Settler Societies: The West on Frontiers. The United States. HISTORY DEBATE: Exceptionalism. Hawaii. Newer European Settlements. WORLD PROFILES: Hungi Hika. Special Features of Settler Societies.24. The Development of Latin American Civilization. The Wars of Independence. WORLD PROFILES: Simon Bolivar (1783-1830). The Period of Consolidation. Late-Century Trends: Dictatorship, Immigration, and Western Intervention. WORLD PROFILES: Benito Juarez (1806-1872). Political Institutions and Values. HISTORY DEBATE: Is Latin American Western? Culture and the Arts. Economy and Society. Tension and Creativity.25. The Middle East and China in the Imperialist Century. The Attempt to Modernize Egypt. Decline of the Ottoman Empire. The Rise of Nationalism. WORLD PROFIELS: Lalla Zainab. China Faces Imperialism. HISTORY DEBATE: Chinas 19th Century Sluggishness. The Need for Further Change.26. Russia and Japan: Industrialization Outside the West. Russian Conservatism: An Alternative to the West. The Beginning of Russian Industrialization. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Persistence and Change in Russia. The Culture of Eastern Europe. The Opening of Trade in Japan. Japanese Industrialization in Response to the West. HISTORY DEBATE: Different Confucian Paths. Cultural and Economic Effects of Japanese Industrialization. The Strain of Modernization.27. World War I and the End of an Era. The Onset of World War I. HISTORY DEBATE: Causes of World War I. A World History Watershed.VI. THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. 28. The West in the 20th Century. Patterns of Western History: 1914-1945. Patterns of Western History: 1950 to the Present. Western Political Institutions in the 20th Century. HISTORY DEBATE: Congergence. Contemporary Western Culture. Economy and Society. WORLD PROFILES: Simon de Beauvoir. A Postindustrial Age?29. Eastern European Civilization. The Russian Revolution. HISTORY DEBATE: Women and the Russian Revolution. Patterns of Soviet History After 1923. Soviet Political Institutions. Soviet Culture. Understanding Cultures: The Impact of Revolution. Economy and Society. The Explosion of the 1980s. Dismantling the Soviet Empire. Renewed Turmoil After 1991. Uncertain Futures in Eastern Europe.30. East Asia in the 20th Century. A Clash of Cultures: Revolution and War. WORLD PROFILES: Sun Yat-sen (1867-1925). Return to Stability in Japan. Upheaval and Ongoing Revolution in China. East Asia Toward the End of the Century. HISTORY DEBATE: Japan and Westernization. Japan, Incorporated. The Pacific Rim. China Under Communism. East Asia and the World.31. India and Southeast Asia: World War I to Independence. The Rise of Nationalism. The Nonviolent Strategies of Gandhi. WORLD PROFILES: Mohandas Gandhi (1889-1948). Nationalism in Southeast Asia. Deconolization After the War. Southeast Asia After Independence. HISTORY DEBATE: Womens Conditions in India. India and Pakistan. India and China.32. Middle Eastern Civilization in the 20th Century. Replacing the Ottoman Empire. Assertions of Arab Nationalism. The New Role of the State. The Rise of Fundamentalism. HISTORY DEBATE: Terrorism. Middle Eastern Culture and Society. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Fundamentalism. New Tensions in the Early 2000s. A Troubled Region.33. Latin America in the 20th Century. Latin America in 20th Century World History. The Mexican Revolution 1910-1920s. Effects of the Depression, 1930s-1950s. TRevolution and Response, 1950s-1990s. Latin American Culture. HISTORY DEBATE: Latin America and Third World. Economy and Society. UNDERSTANDING CULTURES: Adapting Consumer Values. Toward a Greater World Role?34. Sub-Saharan Africa: From Colonies to New Nations. Emergency Nationalism. The Transformation to Independence. The Challenges of New Nationhood. African Political Culture. African Culture. HISTORY DEBATE: The Question of Identity. Economy and Society.35. The Early 21st Century: World History and the Future. After the Cold War. The Spread of Democracy. HISTORY DEBATE: How Much Historical Change? A World of Religions: Disputes and Alliances. Ethnic Conflict. Globalization. The New Technology. Business Organization and Investment. Cultural Globalization. Institutions of Globalization. Protest and Economic Uncertainties. Nationalism and Religious Currents. Global Terrorism. Global Warming and a Planet in Peril. Disease. Projecting from Trends.