A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: The Sophomore IHS Global History Experience
Review: For anyone who knows an IHS student, this is the true experience - provided that it's followed by a 150 problem multiple choice test the next day. It's a long detailed read, with a strong tendency towards Marxist tones and theories. If you've got the time and attention span to sit still and concentrate long enough to get into this book, it really is a fascinating experience - well organized, factual, and with separate text from primary sources relevant to the chapter or section which provides continuing evidence or alternate opinions. Otherwise, I'll refer you to the friend with the cancer sticker. =)

Rating:
Summary: I had to read it sophmore year.
Review: For those who love a very long, small print read about all that has ever happened, this is it. I guess I have to say that this is written from a biased point of view. You see, I had to read it as my text book for my sophmore year in high school. But unlike most people in my class, I love history. But the reason that I am not giving this a higher rating is because I had to read it late into the night and then be tested on it the next day. That can discourage some people. My favorite thing that I have seen about it is that somebody this year took the sticker off a packet of cigaretts and placed it on their copy of Stavrianos so that the cover now says, "This causes cancer!". The reason that I am not giving it a lower rating is because Stavrianos really spent a lot of time making this tome, and really knows his stuff. I could not imagine the brainpower needed to orchestrate such a book. So, if you are into the scholary view of history from prehistory to the end of the cold war, then by all means you can hunker down for weeks and months with Stavrianos. But if you have to read this for school then, hey man, I've been there too, I know how it feels.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps The Best Overview of History
Review: I've looked at a number of overviews of world history and this is my favorite. It's written with great knowledge and a balanced viewpoint. I really like that the causes and mechanisms of history are presented and not just a stream of facts. It's told with emphasis on the general not the detail - there's no page long sidebars on Michaelangelo for instance. There's lots of statistics and maps to show how the world was changing. The other book of it's type that I really liked is "Rise of the West" by William McNeil which has a similar outlook.