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Book
Review |
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Del Testa, David W., Florence Lemoine, and John Strickland, eds. Global
History, Cultural Encounters from Antiquity to the Present, 4 volumes (New York: Sharpe Reference, 2003). 734 pp,
$325.00.
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The four
volume Global History, Cultural
Encounters from Antiquity to Present,
edited by David W. Del Testa, Florence Lemoine and John Strickland, is a wonderfully
written and illustrated series covering several areas of world history. The
series is broken into four volumes covering four time periods: Antiquity
-- 5000 BCE to 400s CE; The Spread of Religions and Empires -- 400s to 1400s;
The Age of Discovery and Colonial Expansion -- 1400s to 1900s; and The Contemporary World –1900s to the Present.
Each volume begins with an introduction and contains articles that begin with
a timeline and include a map, visuals, a gray box that details cross-cultural
exchange, and a primary source supporting the main article. Each volume concludes
with a chronological timeline, glossary and bibliography. |
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The main emphasis of this volume (and all of the volumes) is cross-cultural
exchange. This series can be used for general education as well as Honors
or Advanced students. At each level, the material can be adapted for students.
For instance, the series can be used as an overview or as an introduction
for advanced levels using maps and primary documents. It can also be used
in general education classes as an addition to, or in place of, the traditional
textbook. |
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Volume One, Antiquity --5000 BCE to 400s CE,
begins with a preface to the series. The preface explains why the series was
undertaken, why topics were chosen (emphasizing cross-cultural encounters
that produced historical change on a global scale), and the scope of the series
(important instances of cross-cultural contact in human history). The first
article in Antiquity is Eurasian Trade and Migration (5000 BCE-500 BCE).
There is a timeline and a visual of a 5th century b.c.e. bronze plaque. Both
can be used in the classroom as discussion starters about inference; ie. what
can be inferred about the people by the material used to create the plaque?
What can you surmise was important to the people of the era based on the depiction?
The answers would vary based on the age group and level, but the discussions
they prompt can lead to various ends—additional questions, authentic assessment,
essays, role play, etc. Additionally, there is a map depicting the migration
of Eurasian steppe-dweller migration. The map shows the movement of people
into Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and India. The primary document
is a visual of blacksmith's tools. The visuals supplement the articles while
the primary sources add substance and authenticity. |
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Volume Two, The Spread of Religions and Empires
-- 400s to 1400s, begins with
the requisite introduction into the era and the topic of religion. The first
article features Buddhism in China, and the map depicting the vast spread
of the religion throughout China, India, Japan and various islands gives readers
a clear view of the impact of religion on culture and politics. The rest of
the articles in Volume Two deal with Nestorian Christianity in Asia, the Celts
in Western Europe (a topic given too little space in most textbooks), and
the spread of Islam and its impact in central Asia, China and Spain (the latter
has a beautiful picture of a Spanish mosque, showing the influence of Islam
on Spanish architecture). There are articles (and excellent maps) on the Indian
Ocean trade zone, the Chinese naval expedition under Zheng He, the Slavs and
the Byzantine Empire (complete with a map of Russian trade routes in Europe
and Asia), the Seljuk Turks and Islam (the primary document is an excerpt
from The Rubaiyat which shows
the influence of Islam on western culture), the spread of Islam to Africa
(again, a map gives the reader a view of the vast influence of Islam), the
Frankish Crusades and the Mongol impact on Eurasia. There are two separate
articles on the travels of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta (the maps more than
supplement the written texts in showing the travels of Polo and Battuta throughout
Asia and Africa). The map accompanying the article on the spread of Black
Death emphasizes the toll the plague took on commerce and trade. This volume
closes with the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire. What is most impressive
in this volume is the article on Vietnam's southward expansion. Vietnam, in
most traditional texts, is shrouded in French occupation and the subsequent
conflict with America. This article discusses Vietnam as a power unto itself
long before it became a colonial possession. This is a resource students do
not come across in most texts, which makes this volume invaluable for that
fact alone. |
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Volume Three, The Age of Discovery and Colonial Expansion
--1400s to 1900s, concentrates
on cross-cultural exchanges and change over time—themes that blend well with
the Advanced Placement program. The maps depict voluntary and involuntary
migrations of people, slave and missionary trade routes, and the expansion
of such diverse nations as Russia, England, Japan, Italy and France. There
is a magnificent map showing the influence of Asian religion and philosophy
in the west. The Opium Wars, the opening of Japan to the west, and the miles
of rail lines in British India all reinforce the effects of imperialism during
this era. If this volume delivers nothing new in the articles, it more than
makes up for that with the maps and primary source documents, which range
from a letter from Columbus during his first voyage to a eulogy for Peter
the Great to the Italian peace with Ethiopia. The articles in this volume
will be best used as supplements to a textbook, but the maps and primary documents
are valuable for ancillary learning for general education, and are essential
for understanding the time period. |
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The final volume, The Contemporary World --1900s to the Present,
deals with issues, inventions and technological advances, pop culture (through
art, religion and music, as well as protest movements), and conflicts across
the globe. Again, the visuals and maps do much to advance the themes of encounter
and the interaction of religion and art during the period. The beginning of
this volume is markedly American-centered, featuring such articles as "American
Empire in the Philippines" (the title alone gives a point of view not found
in most American History textbooks), and "Hollywood and the Global Film Community,"
as well as a map showing the synthesis of Mexican and European cultures in
Texas as viewed through the topic of Tejano music. The maps showing Zionist
settlements in Palestine (1920) and the Peel Commission's Plan for Partition
(1937) clearly depict a conflict that is still not settled. The fourth volume
is the most diverse in topics—these include rock and roll culture, the Cold
War, the environmental movement, satellite broadcasting (complete with a world
map showing cellular telephone use in 2001), human rights, AIDS/HIV, and the
'Internet Revolution.' While these articles initially seem the stuff that
pop culture is made of, the deeper implication is that innovations and technological
advancement define the world today. |
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| This four-volume set reminds me of what hard copy encyclopedias used to be:
beautifully illustrated, concisely written, and well supported with primary
sources. Any level of high school student could use this series successfully.
General education students, with a little help in the vocabulary department,
should find this series interesting and more concisely informative than a
textbook. Honors/advanced students and undergraduates can use the maps and
primary documents to reinforce other readings, as well as to help them understand
different points of view. |
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| Adele Dalesandro-Haug
Wheeling High School |
