A History of the Modern World (9th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Different
Review: As one is opt to notice that this "text book" is much differnt than other text books that students use throughout their history studies. amoung the many differences one may notice, size, and diction may be the biggest two on the list. This is an advance placement course which does require much more reading (R.R. Palmer has not lacked in this category) and a more advanced reading level. The choices in words that Robert Rosewell Palmer has made are interesting as to why he would choose these particular words. I have also noticed the suttle yet ample amount of sarcasm buried within his text. This provides readers with a logical "reenactment" of the context yet also provides his analysis of events throughout history. All these factors create for an interesting read. To fully understand one must pick a copy of Palmer up and experiance it first hand. After doing so, I have concluded that R.R. Palmer and Joel Coltons - A History of The Modern World (8th Edition) is simply....Different

Rating:
Summary: still a good book six years hence
Review: i wrote this review for my PLAN, which is like a weblog but also part of a web community for students grinnell college. i majored in history and focused on european history (i'm now 24), and have been rereading the book to see what i now think of it, and indeed to get in touch with my youth.

*****

Oh how i love Palmer, my AP euro textbook, also known as A History of the Modern World by R.R. Palmer, et al., ninth edition (i read the eight edition in the class). today i read the french revolution and napoleonic europe, and am thus halfway through the book. next up will be "reaction versus progress: 1815 - 1848", which i will probably read tonight. god i love this stuff. a lot of it i know, from reading i've done later, and a lot of it i remember from AP Euro - taught by the brilliant Carol McCavitt - which was the best class i took in high school, and one of the best ever. but it's good to once again integrate all of it.

palmer is more than a textbook, though of course far less than what one would get in a 200-level class at grinnell. a fair amount of it has been insubstantial, or more insubstantial than i remember it. his treatment of charles V of the holy roman empire (charles I of spain) and the threat of universal monarchy in the middle of the sixteenth century has been particularly irksome to me, especially given how McCavitt laid it out, though phillip II is better. the early modern period flies by in only a few chapters.

the material in more recent chapters is better in this regard. louis XIV was fine, though he neglected the decline of the swedes and the rise of russia's interest in the west (his treatment of russia's internal development was fine). the "great war" of the mid-eighteenth century was very good - and i wrote one of my seminar papers on this - and his discussion of enlightened despotism eloquently expressed the apex of the monarchical system, though it could have been more thorough in discussing the economics of the age.

and his treatment of the french revolution and napoleonic europe was better than any mere textbook could attempt, conveying not only the events themselves but an understanding of the historical significance and philosophical meaning of each turn. the revolution of 1793; the thermidorian reaction; the class settlement under napoleon; and the significance of napoleon to continental europe, especially in germany, all mean more to me. the bourbon restoration fulfilled more of the goals of the revolution than might be remembered, despite the lack of truly representative bodies. palmer is able to bring it back around to international politics at the peace of vienna, showing how antagonistic the other powers had become with each other by 1815 (russia gets the grand duchy of poland, and prussia gets saxony? you think so, say austria and britain!), and how defining the peace would be in the coming years, given it's lack of concern for nationalist and much liberal sentiment. this was palmer's field (the man is in his 90s), and the wisdom he expresses is superior to none.

i must tell you yet again, that this is a history of the modern world (as its title would suggest), and not merely a history of euope. where modernity was, that's what palmer is. when spain declines after the peace of utrecht, it enters the discussion only tangentially. similarly, it is during the wars of Louis XIV that russia reorganizes internally and enters the affairs of the west, and that is when it makes its first appearance in the book. palmer tells you exactly the events and forces that move history forward, that shape what is to come. things are important in their own right to be sure (the kids have to pass the tests), and the pragmatism palmer shows in balancing this with his successive theses is to be commended. palmer is truly a sage.

so if you, the non-history major, want to read a book that surveys european history since he fourteenth century, look no further than palmer. nothing could ever beat my AP Euro class, but the book sure comes close.

Rating:
Summary: Great even for personal use
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history or has a class they need the book for. It provides any information you need, and sometimes information you don't really NEED, but it's interesting the same. It can be a little hard to read at times, and the index isn't very helpful most of the time, but it does what it tells you it will, teaches you about history.