A Concise Survey of Western Civilization

Supremacies and Diversities throughout History

By (author) Brian A. Pavlac

Publication date:

19 February 2015

Length of book:

358 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442237728

This lively text offers a brief, readable description of our common Western heritage after Europe expanded into the rest of the world during the Renaissance, then through revolutions that have created today’s technological global society. Providing a tightly focused narrative and interpretive structure, Brian A. Pavlac covers the basic historical information that all educated adults should know. His joined terms “supremacies and diversities” develop major themes of conflict and creativity throughout history. “Supremacies” emphasizes power. “Diversities” illustrates the creativity of new ideas and associations. The text is also informed by five topical themes: technological innovation, migration and conquest, political and economic decision making, church and state, and disputes about the meaning of life. Written with flair, this easily accessible yet deeply knowledgeable text provides all the essentials for a course on Western Civilization.

Brief Contents List of Diagrams, Figures, Maps, Primary Source Projects, Tables, and Timelines Acknowledgments How to Use This Book Chapter One: History’s Story There’s Method What Is Truth? Primary Source Project 1: Voltaire versus Macaulay Chapter Nine: Making the Modern World: The Renaissance and Reformation, 1400 to 1648 The Purse of Princes Man as the Measure Heaven Knows Fatal Beliefs God, Greed, and Glory Primary Source Project 9: Witch Hunter versus Montaigne Chapter Ten: Liberation of Mind and Body: Early Modern Europe, 1543 to 1815 Lost in the Stars From the Salons to the Streets The State Is He (or She) (Prosperous) People Power The Declaration of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity Blood and Empires Primary Source Project 10: Declaration of the Rights of Man versus Declaration of the Rights of Woman Chapter Eleven: Mastery of the Machine: The Industrial Revolution, 1764 to 1914 Facts of Factories Life in the Jungle Cleaning Up the Mess For the Workers The Machinery of Nature Primary Source Project 11: Smiles versus Owen Chapter Twelve: The Westerner’s Burden: Imperialism and Nationalism, 1810 to 1918 ‘‘New and Improved’’ Imperialism From Sea to Shining Sea Nationalism’s Curse The Balkan Cauldron The Great War Primary Source Project 12: ‘‘In Flanders Fields’’ versus ‘‘Dulce et Decorum Est’’ Chapter Thirteen: Rejections of Democracy: The Interwar Years and World War II, 1917 to 1945 Decline of the West? Russians in Revolt Losing Their Grip Fascist Fury Hitler’s Hatreds The Roads to Global War Primary Source Project 13: Hitler versus Franklin D. Roosevelt Chapter Fourteen: A World Divided: The Early Cold War, 1945 to 1980 From Friends to Foes Making Money To the Brink, Again and Again Letting Go and Holding On American Hegemon The Uneasy Understanding Primary Source Project 14: Khrushchev versus Nixon Chapter Fifteen: Into the Future: The Contemporary Era, 1980 to the Present A Surprise Ending Searching for Stability Different Folks Haves and Cannots Values of Violence Primary Source Project 15: The European Central Bank versus the National Front Epilogue: Why Western Civilization? Timelines Common Abbreviations Glossary Suggested Readings Index About the Author

The book’s conciseness and reasonable cost are very attractive. For a single-semester course that spans the three millennia, I preferred this book to competing texts, which are just too long, with too many ‘facts.’ Pavlac’s writing is also a plus. His informal tone and his skillful movement from paragraph to paragraph give his work a readability that my students like very much.