This innovative textbook demystifies the subject of world history through a diverse range of case studies. Each chapter looks at an event, person, or place from prehistory to the present and from across the globe – from the Kennewick Man to germ warfare, Japanese industrialization and modern-day soccer – and digs deeper, examining why historians disagree on the subject and why their debates remain relevant today. Through these case studies David Eaton ‘unwraps the textbook’, introducing key skills and debates and showing that past is not nearly as tidy as most textbooks suggest.This fully revised second edition includes updated historiography throughout plus:- New discussion questions and chapter learning objectives- Additional primary source texts, images and maps- Four new chapters on Gender and the Mongols, the Swahili Coast c.1100-1300, the Itaipu Dam and indigenous rights, and Ebola outbreaks in modern West Africa- A new companion website and online resources Posing provocative questions and demonstrating how historical interpretations can be influenced by contemporary concerns, World History through Case Studies shows how the study of history is relevant to a new generation of students and teachers.
David Eaton is Associate Professor of World and African history at Grand Valley State University, USA. He received his PhD from Dalhousie University in 2008, and co-hosts On Top of the World: A World History Podcast. His doctoral research focused on the history of cattle raiding along the Kenya-Uganda border, and he has published articles in several journals including Nomadic Peoples, World History Connected, and African Affairs.
IntroductionPart 1 – Prehistory to 600 BCE1. Urge Overkill: Kennewick Man and the Settling of the Americas2. Horsing Around: The Domestication of Mammals3. #AncientEgyptMatters: The Black Athena DebatePart 2 – The Age of Empires, 600 BCE – 600 CE4. Stretching the Past: A History of Yoga5. Whose Key to China? Confucius in History6. Making Waves: The Bantu Migrations across Central Africa7. Bread and Circuses: Sport and Society in Imperial Rome8. Empress Wu Zetian: Gender in the Tang Dynasty Part 3 – Cross-Cultural Interactions, 600 – 1450 CE8. Veiled Meanings: Islam and Gender9. Going Berserk: The Vikings and Violence10. Cosmopolitan Culture: Life along the Swahili Coast11. Empire on the Move: The Mongol Empire 12. This Island Earth: Environmental Change on Easter IslandPart 4 – The Origins of Global Interdependence, 1450 – 1750 CE13. Supreme Sacrifice: Assessing Aztec Religion14. Orunmila Saves: Polytheism and World Religions15. Heavy Metals: Silver and the World Economy16. Commodities from the East: Opium, Tea and Indigo17. “We’ll Always Have Paris”: The Origins of ModernityPart 5 – Accelerating Global Integration, 1750 – 190018. Germ Warfare: Disease and the Age of Revolutions19. Tokyo Drift: Japan and the Industrial Revolution20. Light and Shade: Studying Colonialism in the Dutch East IndiesPart 6 – The Modern World, 1900 – Present21. Open Wounds: The Horrors of the Second World War22. Global Goals: Soccer and GlobalizationConclusionIndex
Praise for the 1st edition:‘David Eaton’s inventive approach offers students a way to see and take part in the detective work that goes into analyzing and understanding the past. His case studies of key historical issues about which there is contemporary debate range widely across time and space. They provide a fresh perspective on commonly-taught topics in ways that will intrigue students, such as exploring globalization through South Africa’s hosting soccer’s World Cup, and also allow them to explore issues that rarely make it into textbooks but should, such as the impact of the horse.’