The events of September 11, 2001, as nothing in the immediate past, have brought upon the world a new awareness of human history in a global context. Prior to that day North American readers generally understood world history and globalism as academic concepts; they now understand them as realities shaping their daily lives and experience. The new, immediate pressures of the present draw us to seek a more certain and extensive understanding of the past.
The idea of globalization is now a pressing reality on the life of nations, affecting the domestic security of their citizens, their standard of living, and the environment. Whether, as Samuel Huntington, the distinguished Harvard political scientist, contends, we are witnessing a clash of civilizations, we have certainly entered a new erg in which no active citizen or educated person can escape the necessity of understanding the past in global terms. Both the historical experience and the moral and political values of the different world civilizations now demand our attention and our understanding. It is our hope that in these new, challenging times The Heritage of World Civilizations will provide one path to such knowledge.
THE ROOTS OF GLOBALIZATION
Globalizationthat is, the increasing interaction and interdependency of the various regions of the worldhas resulted from two major historical developments: the closing of the European era of world history and the rise of technology.
From approximately 1500 to the middle of the twentieth century, Europeans gradually came to dominate the world through colonization (most particularly in North and South America), state-building, economic productivity, and military power. That era of European dominance ended during the third quarter of the twentieth century after Europe had brought unprecedented destruction on itself during World War II and as the nations of Asia, the Near East, and Africa achieved new positions on the world scene. Their new political independence, their control over strategic natural resources, and the expansion of their economies (especially those of the nations of the Pacific rim of Asia), and in some cases their access to nuclear weapons have changed the shape of world affairs.
Further changing the world political and social situation has been a growing discrepancy in the economic development of different regions that is often portrayed as a problem between the northern and southern hemispheres. Beyond the emergence of this economic disparity has been the remarkable advance of political Islam during the past forty years. In the midst of all these developments, as a result of the political collapse of the former Soviet Union, the United States has emerged as the single major world power.
The second historical development that continues to fuel the pace of globalization is the advance of technology, associated most importantly with transportation, military weapons, and electron communication. The advances in transportation over the past two centuries including ships, railways, and airplanes have made more parts of the world and its resources accessible to more people in ever shorter spans of time. Military weapons of increasingly destructive power over the past century and a half enabled Europeans and then later the United States to dominate other regions of the globe. Now, the spread of these weapons means that any nation with sophisticated military technology can threaten other nations, no matter how far away. Furthermore, technologies that originated in the West from the early twentieth century to the present have been turned against the West. More recently, the electronic revolution associated with computer technology has sparked unprecedented speed and complexity in global communications. It is astonishing to recall that personal computers have been generally available for less than twenty-five years and the rapid personal communication associated with them has existed for less than fifteen years.
Why not, then, focus only on new factors in the modern world, such as the impact of technology and the end of the European era? To do so would ignore the very deep roots that these developments have in the past. More important, the events of recent months and the response to them demonstrate, as the authors of this book have long contended, that the major religious traditions continue to shape and drive the modern world as well as the world of the past. The religious traditions link today's civilizations to their most ancient roots. We believe this emphasis on the great religious traditions recognizes not only a factor that has shaped the past, but one that is profoundly and dynamically alive in our world today.
STRENGTHS OF THE TEXT
BALANCED AND FLEXIBLE PRESENTATION. In this edition, as in past editions, we have sought to present world history fairly, accurately, and in a way that does justice to its great variety. History has many facets, no one of which can account for the others. Any attempt to tell the story of civilization from a single perspective, no matter how timely, is bound to neglect or suppress some important part of that story.
Historians have recently brought a vast array of new tools and concepts to bear on the study of history. Our coverage introduces students to various aspects of social and intellectual history as well as to the more traditional political, diplomatic, and military coverage. We firmly believe that only through an appreciation of all pathways to understanding of the past can the real heritage of world civilizations be claimed.
The Heritage of World Civilizations, Sixth Edition, is designed to accommodate a variety of approaches to a course in world civilization, allowing teachers to stress what is most important to them. Some teachers will ask students to read all the chapters. Others wilI4 select among them to reinforce assigned readings and lectures.
CLARITY AND ACCESSIBILITY. Good narrative history requires clear, vigorous prose. Our goal has been to make our presentation fully accessible to students without compromising on vocabulary or conceptual level. We hope this effort will benefit both teachers and students.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP. As in previous editions, changes in this edition reflect our determination to incorporate the most recent developments in historical scholarship and the expanding concerns of professional historians.
The Sixth Edition includes greater discussion of the origins of humankind in Chapter 1, incorporation of new scholarship on Islam and East Asia, updated coverage of developments in Africa and Latin America, and analysis of globalization, terrorism, women's rights, and recent events in the Middle East.
PEDAGOGICAL FEATURES. This edition retains the pedagogical features of the last edition, helping to make the text accessible to students, reinforcing key concepts, and providing a global, comparative perspective.
- Part Essays open each of the seven major sections of the book. These serve to preview the coverage in the subsequent chapters and highlight major trends and movements.
- Part Timelines show the major events in five regionsEurope, the Near East and India, East Asia, Africa, and the Americasside by side. Appropriate photographs enrich each timeline.
- Chapter Topics introduce each chapter.
- Chronologies within each chapter help students organize a time sequence for key events.
- Primary Source Documents, including selections from sacred books, poems, philosophy, political manifestos, letters, and travel accounts, introduce students to the raw material of history, providing an intimate contact with the people of the past and their concerns.
- Questions accompanying the source documents direct students toward important, thought-provoking issues and help them relate the documents to the material in the text. They can be used to stimulate class discussion or as topics for essays and study groups.
- Map Explorations, new to the Sixth Edition, prompt students to engage with at least one map per chapter in an interactive fashion. Each Map Exploration is found on the Companion Website for the text.
- In World Perspective sections conclude most chapters. These brief essays place important developments in the chapter into a world context. An all-new "In World Perspective" on democratization, globalization, and political terrorism ends the final chapter.
- Chapter review questions help students focus on and interpret the broad themes of a chapter. These questions can be used for class discussion and essay topics.
- Religions of the World essays introduce students to the five major world religious traditionsJudaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.
- Comparative Perspectives essays, located on the Companion Website for The Heritage of World Civilizations, examine technology and civilizations from a cross cultural perspective.
NEW IN THE SIXTH EDITION
This edition of The Heritage of World Civilizations includes new pedagogical features, many content revisions, and a new feature, Art and the World essays, described below.
CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION. The many changes in content and organization in this edition of The Heritage of World Civilizations reflect our ongoing effort to present a truly global survey of world civilization that at the same time gives a rich picture of the history of individual regions.
To better accomplish this, several significant changes to the book's organization have been carried out in this revision. Coverage of events during the European High Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which was formerly treated in two chapters, has been reconceived into a single chapter (Chapter 15) entitled, "Europe to the Early 1500s: Revival, Decline, and Renaissance." Coverage of Europe and North America in the nineteenth century, which formerly was addressed in four chapters, has been streamlined so that it is discussed in two new chapters (Chapters 25 and 26) that integrate discussion of the ideas, politics, society, and culture of the period. This consolidation of material on Europe provides for an even more balanced treatment of world history, a smoother narrative line, and a reduction of the total number of chapters from thirty-eight to thirty-five.
To provide instructors with more flexible teaching options, The Heritage of World Civilizations is available in both two volumes (Volume One: To 1700; Volume Two: Since 1500), and three volumes (Volume A: To 1500; Volume B: From 1300 to 1800; Volume C: Since 1700).
ART AND THE WORLD ESSAYS. A beautiful and important new feature enhances students' understanding of the artistic heritage of world civilizations. In every chapter we highlight a work of art or architecture and discuss how the work illuminates and reflects the period in which it was created. In chapter 6, for example, Nok sculpture is examined for what it can tell us about West African society in antiquity. In chapter 11, the magnificence and antiquity of medieval Islamic civilization is discussed through the prism of the Alhambra. In chapter 16, Baroque church architecture is looked at as a commentary on the religious clashes of the Reformation. And in chapter 35, Latin-American painters Jacobo Borges and Fernando Botero are interpreted for their ability to vividly critique ruling regimes.
WORLD AND THE WEB. To help students effectively use the vast resources of the Internet for research related to world history, each chapter in the text concludes with an annotated listing of stable and notable sites pertinent to the topics at hand.
A NOTE ON DATES AND TRANSLITERATIONS. We have used B.C.E. (before the common era) and C.E. (common era) instead of B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno domini, the year of our Lord) to designate dates.
Until recently, most scholarship on China used the Wade-Giles system of romanization for Chinese names and terms. In order that students may move easily from the present text to the existing body of advanced scholarship on Chinese history, we have used the Wade-Giles system throughout. China today, however, uses another system known as pinyin. Virtually all Western newspapers have adopted it. Therefore, for Chinese history since 1949 we have included the pinyin spellings in parentheses after the Wade-Giles.
Also, we have followed the currently accepted English transliterations of Arabic words. For example, today Koran is being replaced by the more accurate Qur'an; similarly Muhammad is preferable to Mohammed and Muslim to Moslem. We have not tried to distinguish the letters 'ayn and hamza; both are rendered by a simple apostrophe (') as in shi'ite.
With regard to Sanskritic transliteration, we have not distinguished linguals and dentals, and both palatal and lingual s are rendered sh, as in Shiva and Upanishad.
ANCILLARY INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
The Heritage of World Civilizations, Sixth Edition, comes with an extensive package of ancillary materials.
- An Instructor's Manual provides summary and multiple choice questions for each part essay, as well as chapter summaries, outlines of key points and concepts, identification questions, and multiple choice and essay questions to be used for tests, and a suggested list of relevant films and videos for each chapter.
- A Study Guide includes chapter summaries, key concepts, identification questions, short-answer exercises, and essay questions.
- Documents in World History (Volumes 1 and 2) is a collection of additional primary source documents that underscore the themes in the text. Includes review questions for each document.
- A Test Item File provides more than 1,000 test questions.
- Test Manager Prentice Hall's new testing software program permits instructors to edit any or all items in the Test Item File and add their own questions. Other special features of this program, which is available as a dual-platform CD, include random generation of an item set, creation of alternative versions of the same test, scrambling of questions, and test previews before printing.
- Color Transparencies of maps, charts, and graphs from the text provide strong visual support for lectures.
- A Map Workbook helps students develop geographical knowledge. This workbook is free to students using new copies of this text.
- Understanding and Answering Essay Questions. This brief guide suggests helpful study techniques as well as specific analytical tools for understanding different types of essay questions and provides precise guidelines for preparing well-crafted essay answers. The guide is available free to students when pack aged with The Heritage of World Civilizations.
- Reading Critically About History. This brief guide pro vides students with helpful strategies for reading a history textbook. It is available free when packaged with The Heritage of World Civilizations.
Prentice Hall and Penguin Bundle Program. Prentice Hall and Penguin are pleased to provide adopters of The Heritage of World Civilizations with an opportunity to receive significant discounts when orders for The Heritage of World Civilizations are bundled together with Penguin titles in world history. Contact your local Prentice Hall representative for details.
The ancillary package also includes an extensive array of multimedia supplements:
The Prentice Hall Guide to Evaluating Online Sources takes students from Web surfers to critical researchers. This guide helps students to search and locate appropriate research articles, critically evaluate them, and cite them properly. In addition, it contains a unique access code that gives students entry into Content Select, a powerful online research database. A multitude of articles from both history journals and popular periodicals are accessible to students from wherever they are doing research: at home, in their dorm, in a lab, or at work. The Prentice Hall Guide to Evaluating Online Resources is available free when wrapped with copies of The Heritage of World Civilizations.
Documents CD-ROM. Packaged free with each new copy of The Heritage of World Civilizations, the brand-new Documents CD-ROM features all of the source documents from The Heritage of World Civilizations Documents Set ($16.00 net value per volume) as easily navigable PDF files, viewable in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Additionally, document-study questions are linked to the Companion Website that accompanies the text, allowing students to submit answers directly to their instructor via e-mail for grading.Featuring chapter objectives and study questions organized by the main subtopics of each chapter, document-based essay questions, map labeling exercises, and map explorations, it links the text with related material available on the Internet. For instructors, the Companion Website offers maps, charts, and graphs in PDF format for classroom presentations, as well as an online version of the instructor's manual.
Instructor CD-ROM for The Heritage of World Civilizations. This new multimedia ancillary contains a PowerPoint presentation directly linked to the organization of the text, as well as maps and graphs from The Heritage of World Civilizations, lecture outlines, and digitized images from the "Art and the World" essays.
Course Management Systems. Prentice Hall provides a variety of course management solutions for teachers of world history.