SUGGESTED READING LIST FOR TEACHERS
Defining a Global Perspective of World History
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1997. A
Pulitzer Prize winner that traces the modern global balance of power to prehistoric biological and geographical conditions. All
participants will read some excerpts. A book you can excerpt for classroom use.
The Big Picture: Geography, Climate and Environment in World History
Curtin, Philip D.Cross-Cultural Trade in World History. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1986. Trade "Study of how alien [diaspora] merchant settlements facilitated cross-cultural trade from ancient times to nineteenth century.
Emphasis on trading communities in Afro-Eurasia prior to 1500. Major contribution to comparative world history." (AHA Guide
to Historical Literature)
Crosby, Alfred W. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900.
"How European flora, fauna, and
pathogens overwhelmed biota native to temperate regions from Azores to Americas to Australia beginning in tenth century. Includes extended
case study of European impact on ecology of New Zealand." (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
The Rise of Civilization and Religion
Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. New York: Knopf, 1993. Traces the history of these
three religions and how they have influenced each other, from the time of Abraham to the present. A bestseller.
Jaspers, Karl. Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1985. Written by a prominent existentialist
philosopher, this book presents the philosophy of each figure separately and then compares them at the end. A short, pithy work.
Wriggens, Sally Hoven.Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road. The story of a 7th century Buddhist monk who completed a
16-year journey "to discover the heart of Buddhism at its source in India..."
Empires of the Classical World
Wolf, Ken. Personalities and Problems: Interpretive Essays in World Civilizations.Vol. 1. New York: McGraw Hill, 1994. In each of
twelve short chapters, Wolf compares two figures from the ancient world, e.g. Hammurabi and Moses, Mahavira and Diogenes, Asoka and
Shi Haungdi, Irene and Wu Zhao. A slim, readable book for classroom use.
Cross-Cultural Exchange through the Post-Classical Era, 300 C.E. - 1000 C.E.
Bentley, Jerry. Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times.Jerry Bentley, a guru of world
history, analyzes the dynamics of pre-modern encounters between Afro-Eurasian cultures, and seeks to understand cross-cultural conversion.
Liu, Xinru. Silk and Religion : An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People, A. D. 600-1200. The author discusses the
rediscovery of the Silk Road and summarizes the relationship of Buddhism and the contributions of religious activities to the Silk Road. The
essay also includes coverage on silk producers outside of China as well as nomads and Central Asian traders. Includes notes and references.
Xinru Liu is a professor at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing.
Dunn, Ross. The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
By following the "Muslim Marco Polo" from Morocco to China, Dunn gives describes the world of Islam and the many
continuities that this learned Muslim traveler found all along his route.
Chaudhuri, K.N.. Asia Before Europe : Economy and Civilization of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750. From the
Publisher: "The establishment of the identity of different Asian civilizations is traced by exploring the dynamic interaction among
economic life, society, and civilization in the regions of the Indian Ocean from the rise of Islam to 1750." From historian Ainslie T.
Embree - (The American Historical Review): "Chaudhuri pursues his theories through an astonishing array of material artifacts,
and he is especially interesting on the symbolic role of architecture, both for public and private purposes. . . . As Chaudhuri remarks in his
preface, this book is just the beginning of the task of reconstructing the historical past of the Indian Ocean; it is, however, an important
milepost."
Establishing Global Networks
Abu-Lughod, Janet. Before European Hegemony: the World System A.D. 1250-1350. "Examination of medieval world as
interdependent, decentralized world system, stretching from British Isles to Japan. Rise of West possible only because of decline of
previous world system in which West played modest role." (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Thornton, John. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680. New York:Cambridge University Press, 1992.
"This book explores Africa involvement in the New World created by the Atlantic navigation breakthroughs of the fifteenth century. It
focuses especially on the causes and consequences of the African diaspora to the Atlantic. Special emphasis is given to the relationship
between African slavery and the development of the slave trade." The main argument is that African elites voluntarily participated
in the slave trade.
Bovill E.W. The Golden Grade of the Moors (London, 1968) "a highly readable account of the trans-Saharan trade through the
nineteenth century@ according to Kishlansky.
Industrializations and Nationalisms.
Hodgson, Marshal G. S. The Venture of Islam: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times. : Conscience and History in a World
Civilization. "History of Islam in context of world history over complete span of Islam in time and space. Includes anthropology,
sociology, religious studies, and geography in meaningful paradigm. Volume 2 focuses on religious and cultural and intellectual trends in making
of international Islamic order. Some of the best coverage of Turkic and Mongol periods." In three volumes, with long introduction in first
volume on world history. (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
(Choose one of the three volumes to review)
Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1981. This book traces the connection between the nineteenth century industrial revolution in the West and Europe's
domination of Africa and Asia.
McNeill, William. The Pursuit of Power . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. From the jacket: "William H. McNeill
explores a whole millennium Y from the cross-bow Y to the nuclear missile, from the sociological consequences of drill in the seventeenth
century to the emergence of the military/industrial complex in the twentieth." From the AHA Guide to Historical Literature:
"Traces ascendancy of Europe in modern history to commercialized violence which fostered development of military technologies.
Finds process ended with militarized command economics since 1945. Basic study by leading world historian."
Adas, Michael Machines as the Measure of Man: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance.Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 1989. From the intro: "This book examines the ways in which Europeans perceptions of the material superiority of their own
cultures, particularly as manifested in scientific thought and technological innovation, shaped their attitudes toward and interaction with
peoples they encountered overseas." From the AHA Guide to Historical Literature: "Comparative study tracing changes in
European attitudes toward "natives" encountered from ca. 1500 to World War I. Concludes rationale for colonialism and
imperialism shifts from religious and racial to secular, technological, and quasi-scientific criteria."
Jones, E. L. The European Miracle: Environments, Economies, and Geopolitics in the History of Europe and Asia.
"Comparison of early modern European economic trends and those in Ottoman lands, India, and China. Examines
how Europe's industrialization stemmed from its comparative benign natural environment, distinctive demographic regime, and political
fragmentation." (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Goldstone, Jack A. Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World. ..."Challenging argument that long-term demographic
expansion throughout Eurasia intensified pressure on stagnant economic and social systems, explaining periodic political crises in Europe,
Middle East, and China." (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Global Social Change and Comparative Imperialisms
Kiernan, V. G. The Lords of Human Kind: Black Man, Yellow Man, and White Man in an Age of Empire.
London: Cresset, 1969, 1988. "Classic Study of attitudes and behaviors of Europeans and non-Europeans toward each other in era of
imperialism. Concludes colonialism led to increasingly virulent European prejudices." (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. New York:
Houghton Mifflin, 1998. A riveting account of some of the worst human rights abuses of nineteenth century European imperialism, and the
first world-wide human rights movement that arose as a result. Highly readable: a book you can use in the classroom.
Fukuzawa, Yukichi. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966. Fukuzawa dictated these
memoirs in 1897, after a lifetime of promoting Western ideas in Japan. He founded Keio University and Japan's first newspaper, as well as
authoring a popular book about Western ideas and customs. The memoir begins with his upbringing in a samurai family and provides a glimpse
of the clashes and convergences of Western and Japanese culture. Highly amusing and readable: a book you can use in the classroom.
Impact of the World Wars: Decolonization and National Revolutions
Barraclough, Geoffrey. An Introduction to Comtemporary History. A pathbreaking introduction to the twentieth century that replaces
the usual concentration on European affairs with a more global approach. "Industrial and social revolutions and new imperialism
destroyed Old World, sees 1890-1961 as watershed. Concludes that liberal democracy has broken down and power blocs drive new world.
" (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Holland. European Decolonization, 1918-1981: An Introductory Survey. "Creative, although Anglocentric, study of
European abandonment of empires as they realized that they could obtain benefits without costs. Best current assessment of scholarship.
" (AHA Guide to Historical Literature)
Davidson, Basil. The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation-State. New York: Random House, 1992. How
colonialism and neocolonialism "crystallized the division of Africa's many hundreds of peoples and cultures into a few dozen
nation-states, each claiming sovereignty against the othersY " with parallels to European problems with nationalism.
Kincaid, Jamaica. ASmall Place. A short, powerful critique of neocolonialism in a Caribbean island. A book you can use in the
classroom.
Wright, Donald R. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. Armonk, N.Y: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. Sets events in a small,
West African society within a large, global context.
The Modern State and Mass Society
McNeill, J.R.. Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth Century. Describes how both the
industrialized and the developing parts of the world have laid waste to land, air and water.
Gourevitch, Philip. We Regret to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families. Explores the recent tragedies in
Rwanda: the reasons for the genocide, and the reasons that the world failed to stop it.
Friedman, Thomas. The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization. "Friedman, the well-traveled New York Times
foreign-affairs columnist, peppersThe Lexus and the Olive Tree with stories that illustrate his central theme: that globalization--the
Lexus--is the central organizing principle of the post-cold war world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding
onto what has traditionally mattered to them C the olive tree." (Amazon.com review)
Chang, Jung. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Chronicles the adventures and tragedies in one
Chinese family through three generations in the twentieth century, mostly through the eyes of women, and with plenty of context about
China as a whole. Highly readable: a book you can use in the classroom.
Hochschild, Adam. The Unquiet Ghost: Russians Remember Stalin. New York: Penguin, 1994. Through a series of interviews, the
author explores how and why Russians participated in Stalinism, particularly the purges of the late 30's, and how they are healing from those
wounds today. Highly readable: a book you can use in the classroom.