Social and cultural history for the way you teach your course today. A History of Western Society broke new ground with its focus on social history and now it includes an increased attention to cultural history, too. Students will be inspired to study the past when they encounter vivid stories about the human experience, including peoples' desperate attempts to treat the Black Death and the ways that the supermarket revolutionized consumer culture. Artifacts in every chapter — a deck of cards used by French revolutionaries, postcards from the trenches of World War I, a Bauhaus-designed teapot, and many others — make history tangible and compelling.
The most student-centered edition yet, with a reinvigorated narrative and the most extensive pedagogical support available. Informed by the authors' scholarship and by over 50 reviewers, every chapter was revised for readability and accessibility. To help students grasp the material and study for exams, each chapter includes new “Looking Back, Looking Ahead” conclusions, carefully crafted chapter reviews, pronunciation guides, and marginal key term definitions. A new contemporary design engages and assists students with clear, easy-to-use pedagogy.
A wealth of primary sources and special features introduce students to historical interpretation. Extensive first-hand accounts and “Listening to the Past” documents in each chapter invite students to engage with primary sources. Free when packaged, the companion reader, Sources of Western Society, offers at least four additional primary documents per chapter. Biographical accounts, called “Individuals in Society,” appear in each chapter and highlight the lives of elite and common people. “Living in the Past” features highlight cultural history and offer the chance to analyze visual evidence.
The most visually appealing art and map program available. Over 600 contemporaneous images, including artifacts, paintings, photographs, and more — over 40% new — allow students to visualize the past. 147 newly designed maps — including new spot maps that highlight areas under discussion -- strengthen students' understanding of geography.
An author team of renowned scholars and veteran teachers. Joining John P. McKay, John Buckler, Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, and Clare Haru Crowston, new coauthor Joe Perry brings fresh perspectives, new scholarship, and an increased attention to Europe's global context. The post-1945 chapters have been completely rewritten and expanded to include new material on the “The Affluent Society,” life under communism, decolonization, and a new final chapter on “Europe in the Age of Globalization.”
More digital choices start at the A History of Western Society companion site at bedfordstmartins.com/mckaywest. In one convenient place, you'll find free and open content — from chapter quizzes to activities that help students think like historians do — as well as our innovative premium media. Students may choose the money-saving e-book version of the text, and students and instructors can explore Make History — a collection of images, maps, and documents — to add to classroom presentations and assignments. But, if you want it all, along with assignment and assessment tools, check out History Class for A History of Western Society at yourhistoryclass.com.