Discovering the Global Past, Volume 1

by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Franklin Doeringer, William Bruce Wheeler, et al.

This successful world history reader in the popular DISCOVERING series contains a six-part pedagogical framework that guides readers through the process of historical inquiry and explanation. Each... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039569986X
• ISBN13: 9780395699867
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Primary Source History Book

Most history books are dull. Not this one!I came across this book at a garage sale. I thought it might be useful to get ideas for History Day topics for my kids. I found it so interesting and well written that I read it cover to cover. The reader learns history the way historians do-using primary sources. The book shows how to analyze letters, speeches, newspaper articles, maps, advertisements, statistical data, court records, and first person accounts. This is not a comprehensive history book, but rather a historical sampling of 15 topics. Some of the topics are "Conceptualizing the Modern World (1500s)", "The Confucian Family (1600-1800)", Islamic Fundamentalism and Renewal in West Africa (ca.1775-1820)", and "Globalism and Tribalism: Challenges to the Contemporary Nation-State (1980's-1990s)". The Authors give a brief background, questions to consider, and suggestions to help the reader analyze the primary sources. I would strongly recommend this book to advanced placement high school or college level history teachers. It teaches critical thinking in a way rarely found in history texts.