MBW Courses

You’ll need four books for HIST 21: Two books that cover the history, and two very short works of fiction. For the fiction books, you can use either the version I recommend, or some other version. But you’ll need to get the stories in some form — the fiction books are required.

In choosing books for this course, I did make an effort to keep the overall cost down; the new versions aren’t very pricey, and used versions are available online (see the links at the bottom of the post).

(1) The Ancient History Book:
Robin W. Winks and Susan P. Mattern-Parkes
The Ancient Mediterranean World
Oxford, 2004, ISBN: 978-0-19-515563-1

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(2) The Medieval History Book:
Morris Bishop
The Middle Ages
Mariner, 2001, ISBN: 978-0-618-05703-0

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(3) Gilgamesh:
Andrew George, trans.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Penguin, 1999
ISBN: 978-0-140-44919-8

• Version notes: Penguin has more than one Gilgamesh. I recommend the Andrew George edition because he translated directly from the source. It also has a useful intro. If you get another edition, make sure it uses the Standard Version.
• Although summaries of various sources of Gilgamesh exist online, there isn’t a trustworthy translation of the Standard Version on the web. Since the Penguin edition is only about $12, I suggest you use that.

(4) The Song of Roland:
Glyn Burgess, trans.
The Song of Roland
Penguin, 1990, ISBN: 978-0-140-44532-9

• Version notes: This is a good edition, but most published versions of The Song of Roland will do.
• There are numerous translations of The Song of Roland online, including at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/391

Availability

• All four books are available from Brooklyn College Bookstore, either on person or via their website: http://whywaitforbooks.com
• All four are also available from Amazon and other online retailers—use the ISBNs to search. Also available from the publishers’ web sites. If you order online, make sure you do so enough in advance that you’ll receive the books in time for the assignments.
• Amazon links:
  • The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600
  • The Middle Ages
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Classics)
  • The Song of Roland (Penguin Classics)

Two books are required for CORE 2.2: (1) The Textbook, and (2) The Reader.

Spielvogel (Latest edition)

(1) The Textbook:
Jackson J. Spielvogel
Western Civilization: A Brief History
Volume II, 5th Edition (or later—may say 7th Edition)
Wadsworth: Cengage: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-495-57149-0

• PLEASE NOTE THE EDITION: I am using the latest edition of this book, which differs substantially in organization from earlier editions (4th Edition and before). Make sure the cover looks like the one pictured here. If you get an earlier edition, you will have difficulty following the assignments.
• Available from Brooklyn College Bookstore, either in person or via their website: http://whywaitforbooks.com
• Available for slightly less from Amazon and other online retailers, but make sure you get the right edition (see below). Use the ISBN above to search for this volume and edition
  • Amazon link: Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume II
  • Abe Books multi-site search
  • Barnes and Noble
• You can rent the textbook online for the semester for about half price.  For more info, go to http://cengage.com/wadsworth and search for this book by ISBN (9780495571490, without the hyphens)

The Reader

(2) The Reader:
Brooklyn College Dept. of History
The Shaping of the Modern World
4th Edition
Pearson Custom Publishing: 2007
ISBN: 0-536-48964-5

• Available at the Brooklyn College Bookstore (in person)
• Some are available used online.
  • Amazon link: Shaping of the Modern World (Brooklyn College CC 2.2 Reader)
• You can get an e-book version of this book at half price.  To purchase an access code, go to http://www.pearsoncustom.com/ny/bc_history_smw/

Here is the review sheet for the final exam. As before, this is designed not for you to be able to answer each question exhaustively and at length, but to guide you toward topics you recognize less and need to brush up on.

Final Exam Review – Hunter HIST 112 – Fall 2009

Here is the assignment, in PDF and in HTM (click on Continue Reading to see it).

Essay #2 – Things Fall Apart

Continue reading…

Hi folks,

Here are the readings for the American Civil War. These are the assigned readings for this topic, and so you are responsible for them.

Civil War Readings

I’ve updated the assignment schedule to move forward the readings we did not discuss before the exam.

2009-3hc Schedule-Updated

I’ve had a couple of questions about the exam, so I thought I would send a general email just to be clear about a few things.

1. The exam is going ahead as scheduled on Tuesday. Losing a class on Friday primarily affected our coverage of Chapter 16, which will not be on the exam.
2. The essay question will involve discussing changes, comparing different areas over the period covered for the course, under some general topic.
• For example, the importance of religion in various societies and times, how different empires build and wield power, the effect of trade on relation between societies, changes in gender roles.
• What you’ll be doing is discussing the general topic by giving examples from different times and places — what changed and why.
• To prepare for this, have a clear idea of the key religious, political, economic, and social changes in the regions we discussed, and have a strong sense of what happened and why.
3. I realize that this course covers a vast amount of material. But common sense and what we’ve emphasized in class will help you. Also think about connections between the most important subjects.
• Random examples: The Black Death connects with the end of the Mongols and later the rise of the Ming and other empires, and the rivalry of the European powers. That rivalry sparks European exploration and imperialism and ends the meso-American empires. The exploitation of mercantilism plus the rise of new science and Enlightenment culminates in the wave of Atlantic revolutions. The threat of foreign intrusion helped spark the unification of Japan.
• In other words, don’t think about all of what we’ve talked about as a bunch of unrelated facts. These events are all fluid, and they relate to each other. That is what I am interested in.
• Finally, don’t forget that economic power must come before political power. Many of the motivations and causes of events we discuss are economic.

Email me with any questions about the material.

Here is the midterm review sheet I handed out in class.

Midterm Review Sheet

Here is the midterm review sheet I handed out in class.

2009-3hc Midterm Review

Hi all,

In class on Friday I announced the following homework assignment, due in class on Tuesday.

1. Please read the following three documents in their entirety and write a short essay, at least one page, discussing their key similarities and differences in terms of ideas and principles, as well as intent (what the authors intended to accomplish). This will count as a quiz grade. My preference is for it to be typed.
   • Declaration of Independence
   • Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
   • Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
2. In addition, please read Thomas Paine’s Common Sense for class discussion.

These four documents constitute the “To Be Posted” readings for Tuesday in the syllabus.