A History of the Modern World (9th Edition)

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Summary: A great resource
Review: As with most first time Palmer readers, I was first exposed to it in a high school AP European History class. I referred back to it throughout my college career, and still use it to this day. The wear and tear mine has recieved over the years is testimony to how much I have loved using it. This book has the rare ability to illustrate history without getting bogged down in dryness.

Rating:
Summary: a great help
Review: I used this book for AP Modern European History, but after the exam was over, I refused to sell it back. The book is informative and very well-written; it does not "dumb down" history in any way, and it presents a coherent, philosophical approach to a complex subject. The book's organization is very good, and it even reads like a particulary interesting novel at some points. I have found myself going back to it again and again to check up on details; I have recently used it in my university French and political science courses. The text embraces a wide variety of topics in history and never ceases to give a fascinating approach to modern European history.

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Summary: This is possibly the best general history book ever written.
Review: Although thick, this book is written in a clear and easy to understand fashion that even people who dislike history will find easy and fun to read. The knowledge in this book is also second to none.

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Summary: Easy to read, interesting and informative
Review: I used this book as the primary textbook in a European History class, though long at first, I found the style to be understandable and fairly simple. The book is laden with details and should not be read past 2:00 a.m. (believe me, I tried). As a general overview of European History in 1500 or so pages, this is a good pick.

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Summary: Great for us
Review: I was a student of an AP European History class and this is the book we used. Yes, the book is incredibly dense, but that's partially because there's a lot of history to cover. Anyhow, it can be difficult to read, but I thought it was worth it.

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Summary: A difficult supplemental book
Review: The rating if for the size of the book, but best would not go along with it. This is my school textbook, but it is not a fun one! It dosen't spill out the basic facts that one needs to know.

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Summary: A huge book - in every way!
Review: This classic is a must for everyone who appreciates well-written history books. Palmer and Colton's gargantuan "History of the Modern World" conveys a vast amount of knowledge in an interesting manner (although at times close to unbearably dense)and its ideas and perspectives are always relevant, new and enlightening. This is a great supplementary text for every European history course you may be taking or teaching. It is also a treasure chest of historic personalities, events and a panoply of culure through the ages. And a look at the enormous Bibliography will convince you that this book was indeed written by two first-rate scholars. Don't let the price scare you, it is a tremendous read, wonderfully presented, perfectly readable, and it's about as much fun as 800 pages of history can be!

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Summary: An excellent book, but too high-level for many students
Review: The Palmer & Colton text is an excellent book. I (an AP European History teacher) found it to be extremely well-written, authoritative, and interesting. Many textbooks are written in such a manner as to put even a history teacher to sleep, or, if they are written in an interesting manner, suffer from shoddy scholarship. "A History of the Modern World" suffers from neither of these flaws. It does, however, have a few weakenesses. As mentioned in other reviews, it has fewer illustrations than most secondary texts, and none of the illustrations are in color, making maps somewhat difficult to read and greatly reducing the value of putting art in the book. Palmer & Colton also spend a bit less time on social history. Finally, though extremely well-written and interesting for the accomplished reader, it is quite heavy reading for even a high-level high school reader. Hence, while some students love "A History of the Modern World," many others dread having to read it. All that said, I believe for sheer volume and quality presentation of information, this is the best AP European Hisory textbook I have read.

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Summary: wow what a book
Review: I have to say that when I started reading this for my AP European History class, I was very overwhelmed. However, I cannot imagine trying to use any other book. The prose is incredibly difficult to understand sometimes, but I found this helpful, as often historical documents require so much more concentration for understanding. As other have said, this book is not for the faint of heart; it will be a challenge, regardless of the reader's abilities, but 60 percent of my ability to achieve a Five (highest possible score) on the AP exam was due to this book (the other 40, of course being from one absolutely fantastic teacher).

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Summary: A review of the reviews
Review: Often before writing a review on Amazon I read what other reviewers have written. There have been fifty- seven previous reviews of this book and I looked at them all. Most of them simply express admiration for the book, or revulsion for it. There is little relation in most of these reviews to the objective content of the book, various problems in the study of European history, a comparison of Palmer's approach to that of other text - books.
A couple of reviews were informative arguing that though the Palmer textbook does not really present a 'History of the World ' but rather a history of Christian Europe only , it is a tremendously valuable resource. For these reviewers the book provided a credible account of European history.
I read this book as a text book in World History in freshman college. What struck me then was the understanding given by the book that on most major historical questions there is a real division of opinion. And that the straightforward narrative can be challenged at every point. There is not history then but a variety of interpretations of history.
If I remember rightly this was a workable history without great fire or flair, solid and reliable , a good piece of work.