.
Some books give lots of facts and dates, others concentrate on opinion and discussion. This one does neither: little factual information, plenty of opinion, but leaning over backwards so far to avoid being controversial that you won't learn much.

Also bear in mind that this book is not designed to be read; it's a class book with "thought provoking" questions at the end of each chapter of the type "What do you think of....?". Another way for the author to stay non-committal.

Finally, it's expensive.

I've been reading and comparing a few global history texts, and this one is in another class. If you're wanting a chronological narrative treading the traditional origins, greek, egyptian, indus valley . . . pattern then this text will not please you. If you're after a well written and presented text combining a good synthesis of fact with thought provoking analysis then this IS for you! I can see perhaps why lecturers might go for other more factual texts if they want to look at the global past in different terms to this one, however I think they can't go wrong with the themes Stearns and co. explore. Its got that perfect balance of fact and analysis. The boxed features and lengthy document extracts fit in well, and the lists of sources are well worthwhile.
So yes, you WILL learn a lot from this book because instead of just providing a series of events, people, terms and dates to rote learn it will get you thinking about the themes of global history, and encourage you to compare, contrast and evaluate. Its also one of the few "World History" texts that isn't a Western Civilization history with a few extra chapters thrown in. It really looks at the whole world with a fresh view, including a variety of cultures and experiences. In the Classical era you'll recieve valuable insights into nomadic peoples, providing the opportunity to understand differing means of organising society and allowing worthwhile comparisons that actually enhance understanding the more well trodden ground of Greece, Rome etc. Other fascinating coverage in this vein includes chapters about migration and the spread of peoples (Africans, Slavs and Polynesians), a whole chapter on the Mongol empire and the independence and nationhood movements of Latin America. I reiterate that these other perspectives are introduced in a way which enhances the overall understanding of world history, and are certainly not arbitary "pc" insertions. The authors do not shirk from showing the rise of the west, and the positives and negatives of imperialism. However it also allows us to see the limitations, and non-inevitability of this rise.
If you insist on reading a solely factual survey text, Traditions and Encounters by Bentley and Ziegler will do a great job, however for any student or enthusiast of World History, this book will open your eyes to new perspectives and really encourage you to engage your braincells!

While some may at first find this book to be daughting, or even uninformative, they would be surprised to learn that what the book presents is one of the most unbiased accounts of World History. As a student who was taught AP World History, I found the book to be incredible. Along with incredibly factual passages, the book also includes primary sources to aid learning. In additon, the book is completely unbiased; spending as much time if not more on African, Asian, and Western roots as it does on Rome, Egypt, or the Greeks. Also, the book spends extraordinay amounts of time discussing ALL of the civilizations of the world, not just the cut and dry topics that were explored in the years before. Despite what the other reviewer has said, this book is the most incredible source of history I have ever read, and should be standard in schools around the country. Regarding the expense, with a source as good as this, the cost is minimal. I found the book so helpful I actually purchased my own copy after I finished the cource.

Before reading this book I was not consciously aware that consumerism is a movement with a history of many centuries. I also did not realise that mass consumerism in Western Europe started in the 17th century. This book will give you real insight in what consumerism is all about unless you are a specialist in consumerism. The book combines a good historical perspective as well as the good analysis of the forces that drive consumerism. The book also shows that in all countries there has been and still is tension between those promoting consumerism as good and unavoidable and those that oppose it.
A few points of detail. The book contains almost no statistics other than anecdotal information like the sugar consumption in Paris in 1790 and similar interesting figures. The historical perspective is rather incomplete when it comes to Greece, India and classic Rome. Buddhism is not described quite correctly. Buddha was not opposed to wealth but only insisted that it should be earned honestly and used properly. It is correct that prominent Buddhists such as the Dalai Lama and a prominent monk scholar in Thailand Payutto oppose mindless consumerism and are very concerned about the impact on the environment. However consumerism is flourishing in Thailand even though it is a Buddhist country. It is a typical example of a society moving in one direction and spiritual leaders pulling in another direction. One great merit of the book is that it is only 142 pages long and very readable.

The readings in this book focus on the life experiences of people from all ranks of society: from slaves to nobles and from peasants to city folk. Although there are problems in collecting documents that express the personal concerns of the Pre-Renaissance underclasses, the readings do a good job of recreating that experience for us. In one selection, contributor Eileen Power uses surveys and other sources to create a fascinating composite picture of a ninth-century peasant. Highly recommended for those interested in social history.

I recently decided to return to college after being away for nearly 20 years raising a family. This text was one of my first courses and I found it easy to understand, well laid-out, and concise. Generally speaking, it dealt with issues thoroughly, though I would have liked to have seen more coverage on gender issues through the ages. Early civilization was primarily patriarchal, yet women played an intricate part in the development of society through the ages. I think any student interested in learning about the origins of civilization would benefit greatly by using this text. The chapters covered topics well, but weren't excessively lengthy. The companion document book worked well with this text, preventing any confusion as to the time table involved. This book should be included as a reference or required reading for any history major. Mr. Stearns did a wonderful job covering a large span of time in simple terms and in few pages. Having a wonderful professor, along with easy-to-understand text, influenced me to add history as one of my majors--along with my major of English. I only hope my second semester in history goes as well as my first!

Don't look to this book for a balanced even-handed look at history. It has the unfortunately all-too-typical biases now running rampant on cloistered university campuses. There is a not-so-subtle slant throughout the book against all things "Western," essentially placing the blame for all of the world's ills on people of European ancestry....

Find another volume that is able to deal with history more objectively.

William Langer's original daunting task - to offer a single volume encyclopedia that would be the standard reference volume for historians - was admirably fulfilled in past editions. This sixth edition, with Peter Stearn and his team of scholars of unquestioned authority, continues the tradition. For the layman, this book offers a remarkable brevity and depth. Often within just two or three pages entire significant periods or trends are covered thoroughly. There are rare factual errors, as is the case with any encyclopedic work, but this new edition still delivers the most exhaustive reference with the least errors. For those who love dates and places, people and trends, this is an invaluable reference. For those who hate such detailed information but must keep it around for work or school, this is still the best single volume encyclopedia available. The CD-ROM is painless to install. The integration into MS Word is only mildly quirky - for most terms the desired reference information pops up within seconds and is reasonably relevant. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

The 1972 Langer was THE standard reference for history students, as I ws for six years of graduate school. It bailed me out numerous times. It parallels the value of the CRC for chemistry students or the OED for scholars of the English language. This splendid revision and updating belongs in the collection of anyone wanting a handy, convenient reference to all phases of history. It has splendid essays that lay out the basics in many fields, like art, math, science, and culture. It should not be the last word on a topic, which you can get from poking through amazon.com, or visitng your local library. The CD-ROM is a dream, and the maps printed out fine, even though they are just an outline of say, the partition of Africa. As for Lindbergh, the error was perpetuated from the 1972 book, but that should not detract from the overwhelmingly excellent job. Any general reference work that cites my obscure dissertation hero, even thought it is spelled in the English and not the Polish style, is truly remarkable!

It was difficult rating this book as it took much longer than normal for me to finish reading it (finishing many other books while working on this one) but I tremondousl enjoyed the last part of the book. It takes a slow approach. First, it looks at the United States during this century and then it examines France in the same time period. This is supposed to represent the modern West as France is the thinnest of the western countries and the United States the most obese and the book looks for a cultural explanation for this phenomemon. It was slow going. It could be because I was looking for a historical attack on body fascists (possibly to assuage guilt over my own body image) and that is certainly not with what the book is concerned. The last two chapters are the best and bring the points made previously forward very clearly and, even, add what seem even more relevant arguments. There are not very many hard statistics and the history of science is blended a litle too much with the history of culture but the book does make very interesting points.

There are very few books on the history of our cultural obsession with weight and/or with "weight bigotry" in the U.S. When did it start? Why? How did it get so vehement? So an attempt at perspective is definitely welcome.

Stearns reports that before the 1890s, plumpness was preferred, and signals began to change only as fashions, fat-control devices, and increased public comment on fat began to emerge in the decade prior to 1900.

After that, the trend grew and intensified over an entire century. Stearns sees this growing obsession as a "compensation" for our indulgence in other pleasures about which we are ambivalent--consumerism, sex, women's freedom. As long as we demonstrate strict discipline about our body size as a kind of puritanical guilt-laden compensation, we can allow ourselves these other indulgent, consumerist pleasures.

Stearns likens the vehemence of fat hatred to Calvinism: only the elect (thin) are "saved," glorified through "salvation" stories of heroic weight loss, and rewarded with welcome entry to the cultural pleasures now available. Those who fail or refuse to measure up to the strict standards of slenderness are punished by being relegated to "fat hell" where open season--in the form of attacks and endless analyses of moral failings, character flaws, and psychological weaknesses--is allowed, imprisoning the recalcitrants in the consequences of their supposedly deplorable lack of self-discipline. Clothes, love, and the good life are not to be theirs.

By way of contrast, the French, who have equally strict standards of slenderness, are committed not to compensation for other pleasures but to high aesthetic standards of beauty. In France, fat is not an indication of moral or psychological weakness but is simply an offense against beauty--fat is just ugly. Divergence from the norm is not considered blameworthy but is assumed to be remedied fairly easily with a little restraint and maybe some reducing creams. With a little work, no one *need* be ugly. It is, therefore, the personal responsibility of each individual to make those moderate efforts and meet the beauty standards amidst an environment of reminders and encouragement.

The result? Both patterns are oppressive, unrelenting, and rigid, but the French are 14 pounds lighter on average and weight in France has been declining rather than increasing.

Stearns does not see that historical French patterns or approaches can be adopted in the U.S. However, he notes that merely recognizing another, different pattern opens the door for reconsideration of U.S. attitudes. Those attitudes were shaped over a century; they can also be reshaped.

Stearns believes that we place too much responsibility on individuals for what are, essentially, social issues. To require everyone to immerse themselves in personal battles against weight while indulgence and excess in all other areas remains unaddressed in the public arena seems not only unfair but unbalanced. Basically, Stearns hopes we will lighten up a little on individual weight issues and look more seriously at larger cultural indulgences.

Simply for the effort to bring historical perspective to the issue, the book gets four stars. But it is sometimes a frustrating read. It is fraught with equivocations and reminders that many factors are at play, all of which preclude crispness. It is not until the very end that clarity begins to emerge from the discussion.

And finally, it describes the scene without benefit of factors that could, conceivably, change all the rules and the analysis as it relates to new trends. If, as research is increasingly showing, fat and related major diseases are common in cultures based on animal-based diets and uncommon in cultures based on plant-based diets, the emphasis shifts from "how much" one is eating to "what" one is eating; from "restraint" to "plenty" without weight gain.

Such a major shift in our understanding of food, nutrition, disease, body weight, and nutrition medicine would shift blame from individuals to a diet that we thought served us but in fact did not. This would chart a very different course--and analysis--for the new century.

The subtitle, "Constructing a Twentieth-Century Emotional Style" sounded interesting. Travel abroad or meet foreigners here and yes indeed there is an American "emotional style" and it's very much about appearing "cool". I think that's what the book is about.

So, as a bad book, this is also a disappointing one. I suppose there's an academic discipline out there where this kind of stuff flies. To this layman, however, _American Cool_ is repetitive and boring. It's written with the kind of indifference to specifics and evidence, and a frequent use of deconstructionist buzzwords, that suggests it is preaching to some choir...somewhere. Maybe someone from that choir will submit a more favorable review and tell me how to read this book.