Western Civilizations

A book students can afford

Western Civilizations, Brief Edition is an outstanding value for your students, and costs significantly less than competing textbooks. The text for the Brief Edition is full size and full color, with over 80 large maps and a wealth of other pedagogical tools.

An innovative pedagogy program

Western Civilizations, Brief Edition, uses the same pedagogy as the full edition—designed to engage student readers while serving as an invaluable study tool. The major elements include nearly 300 illustrations, over 100 primary-source documents with questions, an enhanced map program, pronunciation guide, in-chapter focus questions and chronologies, and end-of-chapter key terms.

Classic topics placed in a global context

Coffin and Stacey argue that Western civilization cannot be understood as a single, continuous historical culture. Rather, there have been numerous Western civilizations, whose fundamental characteristics have changed over time. The text expands the geographic and cultural contexts of the West to include the wider Mediterranean World; Islam and Byzantium; Eastern Europe; and the many hybrid cultures that resulted from Western encounters in Asia, Africa, and the Americas after 1492.

A balance of contemporary research and central narrative

Coffin and Stacey are prominent historians who teach a Western civilizations course every year; they are perfectly positioned to stay abreast of the latest work in their field and to recognize what succeeds in the classroom.

The authors make connections between political, social, and cultural history, so students acquire a better understanding of why Western civilizations developed as they did. This approach demonstrates how political developments often serve as a catalyst for social or cultural change, and vice versa.

More documents than any other text

Western Civilizations, Brief Edition, contains 150 In-Text Documents, and the online Western Civilizations Digital History Reader offers another 250 primary sources—all at no extra charge to students. All documents in the text and online are accompanied by study questions.