Western Civilization: Volume II (Western Civilization: A Brief History) - Softcover

Put the world today into context by learning about the past through this brief, best-selling Western Civilization text that has helped thousands of students succeed in the course. Jack Spielvogel's engaging style of writing weaves the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military aspects of history into a gripping story that is as memorable as it is instructive. You will also be exposed to primary source documents - actual historical documents that are the foundation for the historical analysis you read in the chapter. These documents include letters, poems, and songs through history - documents that actually enliven the past. Throughout the book there are also helpful tools to help you digest the reading including outlines, focus questions, chronologies, numerous maps and boldface key terms with definitions.

Jackson J. Spielvogel is Associate Professor Emeritus of History at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in Reformation history under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Moreana, Journal of General Education, Catholic Historical Review, Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte, and American Historical Review. He also has contributed chapters or articles to The Social History of Reformation, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual of Holocaust Studies, and Utopian Studies. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western Civilization course, as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (7th Edition, 2013). He is also the author of WESTERN CIVILIZATION, first published in 1991 (9th Edition, 2015). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the year 1988-1989, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. In 1996, he won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member, and in 2000 received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award.