Concise Survey of Western Civilization

Brian A. Pavlac has recently retired as professor of history at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he has served as chair of the department and a Herve A. LeBlanc Distinguished Service Professor. He is the author of Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition to the Salem Trials; coauthor with Elizabeth S. Lott of The Holy Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia; translator of A Warrior Bishop of the 12th Century: The Deeds of Albero of Trier, by Balderich; and editor of Game of Thrones versus History: Written in Blood.

• List of Diagrams, Figures, Maps, Primary Source Projects, Sources on Families, Tables, and Timelines AcknowledgmentsHow to Use This Book1. History’s Story2. Wanderers and Settlers: The Ancient Middle East to 400 BC3. The Chosen People: Hebrews and Jews, 2000 BC to AD 1354. Trial of the Hellenes: The Ancient Greeks, 1200 BC to AD 1465. Imperium Romanum: The Romans, 753 BC to AD 3006. The Revolutionary Rabbi: Christianity, the Roman Empire, and Islam, 4 BC to AD 14537. From Old Rome to the New West: The Early Middle Ages, AD 500 to 10008. The Medieval Mêlée: The High and Later Middle Ages, 1000 to 15009. Making the Modern World: The Renaissance and Reformation, 1400 to164810. Liberation of Mind and Body: Early Modern Europe, 1543 to 181511. Mastery of the Machine: The Industrial Revolution, 1764 to 191412. The Westerner’s Burden: Imperialism and Nationalism, 1810 to 191813. Rejections of Democracy: The Interwar Years and World War II, 1917 to 194514. A World Divided: The Cold War, 1945 to 199315. Into the Future: The Contemporary Era, 1993 to the PresentEpilogue: Why Western Civilization?TimelinesCommon AbbreviationsGlossaryIndexAbout the Author

Exceptionally well-written, engaging, and accessible. . . . Pavlac includes useful diagrams and charts throughout. . . that break down complex information into visual and easy-to-digest parts. . . . Perhaps the most important attribute of A Concise History of Western Civilization is that this is a text that students would actually read and understand. For many history professors, the first and most fundamental struggle is getting students to read and furthermore to read critically. Thus, the fact that the book is one that students will read, become engaged with, and understand makes it a valuable resource to teachers of Western Civilization.