Ap World Civilizations the Global Experience Fifth Edition Chapter Outlines

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 · 172 ratings  · 23 reviews

Start your review of World Civilizations: The Global Experience

Oct 24, 2011 Raena rated it it was amazing

This was my textbook in sophomore year for AP World History. I loved it! Everything was so interesting and easily understood and the graphics were nice too :D I didn't even mind outlining every chapter. Having a great teacher helped too. This was my textbook in sophomore year for AP World History. I loved it! Everything was so interesting and easily understood and the graphics were nice too :D I didn't even mind outlining every chapter. Having a great teacher helped too. ...more

Nov 06, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing  · review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one for *fun*, unless you're a great nerd

Recommended to Sarah by: Required for AP World History

It was very informative, but so. long. That in addition to its (sometimes needlessly) advanced vocabulary and small script made it hell to slog through, even though it was an interesting hell. I read the entire thing, did a review book and got a 5 on the AP exam, so mission accomplished, I suppose.

For what it's intended to be, it deserves 4-5 stars. But it IS a textbook. Don't expect it to be fun, especially since it's one of the major reasons I don't read as much for fun anymore.

It was very informative, but so. long. That in addition to its (sometimes needlessly) advanced vocabulary and small script made it hell to slog through, even though it was an interesting hell. I read the entire thing, did a review book and got a 5 on the AP exam, so mission accomplished, I suppose.

For what it's intended to be, it deserves 4-5 stars. But it IS a textbook. Don't expect it to be fun, especially since it's one of the major reasons I don't read as much for fun anymore.

...more

Jun 02, 2017 Mason rated it really liked it

I usually like history books, but this book was lacking a little. Information wise it was rich, but it falls short of the five star mark. I would have liked it more had the structure of it and layout of it been a bit better.

Jun 22, 2012 Jenni rated it really liked it

I was forced to read this book in Freshman year, and I did so--complete with Advil to ward off the migraines and eye drops for my red eyes after all-nighters before tests. Suffice to say that it was miserable, in the process of learning the material.

Afterwards, though, I gained a great apprecation for this book. I just graduated from High School and went back to a Freshman classroom and bought the book off some grateful kid for ten bucks. I've begun to read it again, this time with a much more l

I was forced to read this book in Freshman year, and I did so--complete with Advil to ward off the migraines and eye drops for my red eyes after all-nighters before tests. Suffice to say that it was miserable, in the process of learning the material.

Afterwards, though, I gained a great apprecation for this book. I just graduated from High School and went back to a Freshman classroom and bought the book off some grateful kid for ten bucks. I've begun to read it again, this time with a much more learned perspective.

Love this book, love what it taught me.

Could have been more reader-friendly (eg: jokes) but the content was interesting enough, and presented in a readable fashion. :)

I'm glad to say I own this book!

...more

What did I think? Well, everyone out there probably doesn't want to read everything I have thought about this book. But now that I am finished I am ecstatic and want to have a party and will never take another AP history class again. Through this book I have discovered that history is definitely not my calling. I just don't enjoy it. Props to people who do; its just not for me. CONGRATULATIONS to anyone who has ever read this textbook, I am glad to join your rankings. What did I think? Well, everyone out there probably doesn't want to read everything I have thought about this book. But now that I am finished I am ecstatic and want to have a party and will never take another AP history class again. Through this book I have discovered that history is definitely not my calling. I just don't enjoy it. Props to people who do; its just not for me. CONGRATULATIONS to anyone who has ever read this textbook, I am glad to join your rankings. ...more

This book was the death of me, I never want to see it again. BURN PARTY WOOHOO

it SUCKED don't recommend
thinking about taking AP World? don't. save yourself. it SUCKED don't recommend
thinking about taking AP World? don't. save yourself. ...more

Nov 06, 2016 Jun rated it it was ok

Reading it because my daughter complaints about her APWH teacher does not teach. :-)

The reading level is a bit over a high school sophomore, especially for a class that finishes a chapter (20-30 pages) within a week, in about two sessions, with all the quiz and testing time included. Teachers who expect HS students to read the book and get most of it are kidding themselves. As much as I love history and reading, I did not enjoy reading this particular history book. I can understand why some kids

Reading it because my daughter complaints about her APWH teacher does not teach. :-)

The reading level is a bit over a high school sophomore, especially for a class that finishes a chapter (20-30 pages) within a week, in about two sessions, with all the quiz and testing time included. Teachers who expect HS students to read the book and get most of it are kidding themselves. As much as I love history and reading, I did not enjoy reading this particular history book. I can understand why some kids who loved history hate this book.

Two things in this book bothered me the most:

(1) Please get the basic facts right. This is a text book, after all!

Just to give a couple examples in Chinese history, since this is where the class is at for the end of the first quarter.

(a) Don't mix the names of the Chinese Emperors with their temple names/titles that they got after their death. Zhao Kuang'yin was not renamed Emperor Taizu (as the book says on page 272) - he never changed his name, Taizu is the temple title he got after he died. Instead of making him a deity (as the Romans did), Chinese Emperor was given a temple name/title based on his virtue or achievements as a ruler. Taizu simply means the beginner ruler of a dynasty, which Zhao Kuang'yin was for the Song Dynasty. By the same logic, there are more than one Wendi in Chinese history, so it is not appropriate to call Yang, Jian simply by "Wendi" (especially when he was only a noble family member before becoming the emperor, as stated on page 264) , he's the Wendi for the Sui Dynasty, so the appropriate temple name is Sui Wen'di, and his real name is Yang, Jian.

(b) The kingdom the Jurchens established is not Qin, as the book said so many times in Asia chapters. The correct name is Jin. There are several Qin empires/kingdoms in Chinese history, but the only two related to the Jurchens are either Jin (which took down Liao Dyansty and drove Song Dynasty to south), or the Qing empire (which was the empire after Ming Dynasty). It is very confusing, and sometimes amusing, to see Qin incorrectly mentioned in many places in chapters related to Korean, Japan, and Yuan Dynasty. For example, Chinggis Khan's great-grandfather could not possibly win glory by defeating the army of the Qin kingdom (page 316), at least without time-traveling!

(2) The political correctness of this book is ... I cannot find a politically correct word to describe it politely. Again, using an example from Chinese history, this book talked about how the Yuan Dynasty brought peace to Asia, and how tolerant the Yuan rulers were to the religious beliefs after they conquered China and other regions - totally BS (!!!) considering how many people they killed. It is like saying, for every 100 Chinese lived there, the Yuan rulers came in and killed 91% of them, bringing peace and "tolerating" the religious believes of the remaining 9 people, who were probably too busy trying to survive the genocide than worrying about their religious freedom.

I do wish the authors of this chapter someday enjoy the same religious freedom and global interactions they sang such high praises in the book, which probably is the only way to help they to see the unspeakable cruelty that these conquers brought upon ordinary people. The Yuan rulers did not have the basic respect of human life, they killed people as if they were animals, and you think they would respect people's religion and tolerate their beliefs? They did not care what religion people believed, but that is NOT tolerance. And when did genocide become a legitimate method to peace?

It gave me a good reason to talk to my daughter about the objectiveness of history. My opinions have always been: do not just belief everything the history book says, even if it is a text book. Read several books of different perspectives. Find the historical records and analyze them yourself.

...more

This textbook was the worst thing that ever happened to me.
AP World History...

Some chapters were not mind numblingly boring. I loved reading about the Mongols, I think.
As the chapter approached more Modern Times, the chapters became overly detailed and lengthy. Yes, we have a lot of information on that time period, but do we really have to know about it? The excess information made me skim around, so I miss important detail that end up on the quizzes my awful teacher gives. This means bad grades This textbook was the worst thing that ever happened to me.
AP World History...

Some chapters were not mind numblingly boring. I loved reading about the Mongols, I think.
As the chapter approached more Modern Times, the chapters became overly detailed and lengthy. Yes, we have a lot of information on that time period, but do we really have to know about it? The excess information made me skim around, so I miss important detail that end up on the quizzes my awful teacher gives. This means bad grades. The AP edition needs to edit this book, chop the excess information and stop using pretentious words that know one fucking knows in the 9th grade. Like, who the fuck are you trying to impress? ...more

Apr 14, 2015 Hannah Lee rated it really liked it

I had to read this for my world history advanced placement class this year to prepare us for the exam. Sterns is very thorough with each civilization, and has more information than most textbooks on this subject have. Although it is very fun to read in some places, most chapters are extremely difficult to read as they are so dry and 'boring'. The topic of the paragraphs seem to jump around without cause, leaving the reader wondering if Sterns is still taking about the original subject in the par I had to read this for my world history advanced placement class this year to prepare us for the exam. Sterns is very thorough with each civilization, and has more information than most textbooks on this subject have. Although it is very fun to read in some places, most chapters are extremely difficult to read as they are so dry and 'boring'. The topic of the paragraphs seem to jump around without cause, leaving the reader wondering if Sterns is still taking about the original subject in the paragraph or if he has moved on to another subject pertaining to the same area of civilization. It can at times be very confusing. Good read though. ...more

Apr 08, 2015 Maaya rated it did not like it

I absolutely loathe how long-winded this textbook is. The paragraphs are most definitely not succinct and a few pages could be edited out of each chapter. The entire book focuses more on certain civilizations than others, producing quite an unbalanced view of world history (I mean, how could ANYONE combine the civilizations of Persia, Greece, and Rome into ONE chapter, while dedicating three consecutive chapters to Islam) The only aspects that were helpful in the least were the timelines and voc I absolutely loathe how long-winded this textbook is. The paragraphs are most definitely not succinct and a few pages could be edited out of each chapter. The entire book focuses more on certain civilizations than others, producing quite an unbalanced view of world history (I mean, how could ANYONE combine the civilizations of Persia, Greece, and Rome into ONE chapter, while dedicating three consecutive chapters to Islam) The only aspects that were helpful in the least were the timelines and vocabulary. ...more

I took World History in my freshman year of High-School and I absolutely loved it. Sometimes outlining this book seemed tedious but after I was done with the course, I'd really grown to love this book. I took World History in my freshman year of High-School and I absolutely loved it. Sometimes outlining this book seemed tedious but after I was done with the course, I'd really grown to love this book. ...more

I'm adding this to my "read" list because after taking notes from every page in this book for my A.P. World History class this year, I think of it as an accomplishment :) Haha. I'm adding this to my "read" list because after taking notes from every page in this book for my A.P. World History class this year, I think of it as an accomplishment :) Haha. ...more

Have to admit to falling asleep while reading.

I hate this Fugging book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An interesting book and very easy to read.

I read an entire textbook!

Finally finished the book omg.

Peter N. Stearns is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost, from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.

Stearns was Chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the Dean of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In addition, he founded and edited the Journal of Social History. While at Carnegie Mellon he developed a pioneering app

Peter N. Stearns is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost, from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.

Stearns was Chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the Dean of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In addition, he founded and edited the Journal of Social History. While at Carnegie Mellon he developed a pioneering approach to teaching World History.

...more

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Ap World Civilizations the Global Experience Fifth Edition Chapter Outlines

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