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A bestseller in its field, A History of Western Society examines the lives of both historical figures and ordinary people, using an engaging, lively writing style to capture students' interest. While social and economic history are areas of special emphasis, the authors pay careful attention to traditional political and cultural developments, providing a balanced, well-rounded view of Western history as a whole.

Designed to appeal to a more visual student body, the Seventh Edition devotes increased attention to cultural history. The new "Images in Society" feature focuses on the visual artifacts of history, and the text's photo and map programs have been enhanced, with a stronger relationship between the narrative and illustrations. Scholarly updates throughout the text include new information on Egyptian religion; a revised discussion of the polis and Greek democracy; new material on the origins of Christian sacraments; an expanded discussion on the Peace of God; a new exploration of the cultural consequences of the Crusades; updated scholarship on the Atlantic slave trade; and a revised discussion of nationalism. The final chapter of the book has been fully updated to include a fuller discussion of globalism and the recent terrorist attacks of September 11.

• The text features a fully revised design to showcase the enhanced visual aspect of this edition.
• The two-page "Images in Society" boxed features contain photo essays on three to five visual sources, with explanatory text describing the images and the information historians can derive from them.

Average Customer Rating:

Fine Survey Text

Customer Rating:

This is a very good Western Civilization textbook. I use it in my own Western Civilization survey course, and my students have generally responded very well to it. My main objection is the high cost, but that is a problem common to all survey texts. It provides a good base narrative and plenty of detail. Is it perfect? No, but no textbook will ever be exactly what the instructor or students want. I think it and the Kishlansky text are the two best out there right now. This book is indeed not the Cliff note version of history, nor should it be. If something like Cliff notes is the key to passing the AP history exam, I would suggest that the AP history exam is a poor measure of one's mastery of European history.

not even a textbook

Customer Rating:

Most textbooks are designed to teach and instruct in a detailed and straight forward manner. This book is unable to do either. The language it is written in is very confusing, it seems that most of the book is written as an essay, using big fancy words which are totally unnecessary. The message is not easy to discern. The book does not provide good instruction. In fact, THERE IS NOT EVEN A GLOSSARY, and most of the words aren't even defined in context. This is pathetic, I will have to buy another supplement in hopes of doing well on the AP exam, because this book will be unable to get me prepared. Instructors, please stay away from this book. Students, good luck trying to understand it.

A Good A.P. History Book

Customer Rating:

This is the book out there for A.P. European History and it is a detailed piece of literature. Going from the beginning of man himself up to recent times, this book has it all for European history. The only reason I give this four stars is that the book is a bit hard to get through at times. I guess most A.P books are like this but it seems that you get bored reading after only a few pages. However, this is the book you want if you're going to take European History, or want an extensive hisory of Europe. Happy buying.

I would give this book 6 stars

Customer Rating:

A History of Western Society by McKay, McHill, and Buckner is a really great textbook. It got me a 5 on the AP test, so that is probably why I like it so much. McKay makes it a point to look into the lives of ordinary people as well as the rulers. The book is based on the AP Test and thouroughly prepares the student for it. There are tons of pictures and the reading is meant to be straight forward. I would recommend this book to any AP European History student.

very helpful

Customer Rating:

One must simply remember that this book is actually the study guide to the textbook, not the textbook itself. I admit it; the textbook itself is quite lacking and dull. So much so that at times i simply cannot push myself to do the actual reading. That is where this books comes in hand. It provides a simple, easy to understand outline of each chapter. It also includes 25 sample multiple choice questions for each chapter with the correct answers and an expalantion on why each answer is correct or incorrect. I would recommend this study guide to anyone who has to go through the drone of actually using the textbook.