brownboydigital's review against another edition
3.0
*I read this textbook for class
This textbook does a great job at bringing up to speed almost all of human history (at least the parts they thought were important enough to be mentioned) for the reader. However, doing this makes them lack in many respects. One thing they didn't do so well on is spacing out the information dump. There is a LOT of information to take in when reading this textbook and almost every sentence contains a new detail and little-to-no expansion on anything prior. Therefore, when reading, it is imperative to have yourself completely focused and to avoid distractions. We had to answer questions based on the readings and I found myself having to refer to the textbook many times for some questions. Now, I wouldn't consider this an undergraduate-level textbook. I could definitely see this being used in an AP World History class or an IB class. The questions - at least for the digital version - were up to undergraduate level and the questions themselves were much harder than the textbook itself. Would I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a textbook and come up to speed with world history? Yes and no. Yes to those who will test themselves on what they read and No to those who will just be reading through it. I am sure there are better materials out there you can read to get a firmer grasp of early human history.
This textbook does a great job at bringing up to speed almost all of human history (at least the parts they thought were important enough to be mentioned) for the reader. However, doing this makes them lack in many respects. One thing they didn't do so well on is spacing out the information dump. There is a LOT of information to take in when reading this textbook and almost every sentence contains a new detail and little-to-no expansion on anything prior. Therefore, when reading, it is imperative to have yourself completely focused and to avoid distractions. We had to answer questions based on the readings and I found myself having to refer to the textbook many times for some questions. Now, I wouldn't consider this an undergraduate-level textbook. I could definitely see this being used in an AP World History class or an IB class. The questions - at least for the digital version - were up to undergraduate level and the questions themselves were much harder than the textbook itself. Would I recommend this to anyone who wants to read a textbook and come up to speed with world history? Yes and no. Yes to those who will test themselves on what they read and No to those who will just be reading through it. I am sure there are better materials out there you can read to get a firmer grasp of early human history.
homosexual's review against another edition
3.0
uh not entirely sure how to rate textbooks but this one was ok.
My biggest issue is just the lack of like non-European information. It is heavily focused on European actions and other continents do not get even half as much attention. China might be the one that gets the most, but even that is just a page or two compared to like the 10 pages Western powers get every chapter. I don't think any country south of the US border even got mentioned unless it was about the rise of colonialism or a dictatorship. And that was just one sentence and not ever elaborated on. Yeah the West were some of the strongest powers, but the face that so many colonial holdings got like no information about them is just sad.
My biggest issue is just the lack of like non-European information. It is heavily focused on European actions and other continents do not get even half as much attention. China might be the one that gets the most, but even that is just a page or two compared to like the 10 pages Western powers get every chapter. I don't think any country south of the US border even got mentioned unless it was about the rise of colonialism or a dictatorship. And that was just one sentence and not ever elaborated on. Yeah the West were some of the strongest powers, but the face that so many colonial holdings got like no information about them is just sad.
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