I bought this book for my Western Civilization class and I was very happy with it. The authors did a great job. Particularly pleasing was the way the book before each chapter had the timeline for all the events covered in that specific chapter. This helped one get a better grip on what happened first and what came after that. I would recommend this book.

This Western Civilization book is full of information and is very easy to read, unlike some other books of the same subject. It presents information that you need to know and that you would've never known without this book. The coolest part is that you can take the quizzes and tests online instead of actually having to go to school!

If you are in college and like to read technical documents, hey, it's probably the book for you! If you're like me, a high schooler, and you really like and remember documentaries from the History Channel but have a hard time reading extensive historical info, don't get this book! You'll end up spacing out from boredom because it gets too complex and you have to reread each paragraph 3 or 4 times just to remember it for the next 10 minutes.

This book is so boring that I often find myself staring blankly at the page for long periods of time wondering why I even signed up for Dual Enrollment Western Civilization (we use this book, unfortunately). The text, which bombards you with facts, dates, names, and geographical locations one after the other unceasingly, is enough to scare anyone away from a history major. It has numerous maps (one every couple pages), but geez, the book is the cure for insomnia for crying out loud! Two words into the text and I'm out like a light! It is far too technical. It also talks of things as if you already knew what they were talking about, like it's supposed to be a refresher for us.

As an 11th grader on block schedule, I have already taken World History (1 year ago), and I have to say, I remember more from THAT textbook right now (which wasn't fun either) than from that which I read last night from this textbook. Lists of dates and names don't cut it. It doesn't give interesting info, and some areas are surprisingly summarized into only a few sentences while others are unmercifully long winded; and should not begun to be read past 6 PM! God forbid a battle come up, it's like a list of geographical locations: so and so fought at the [insert place], whereafter they fought at [name] and so forth until I can't even clearly distinguish from the text WHY the battle even started in the first place. The Persian War and Peloponnesian War are what we've covered on the war fronts, and they listed what the militaries did and where they fought. It was like a manual. I'm sure that's great reading for a historian, but for the average Joe, it's equivalent to staring at a blank wall for 10 hours- you don't accomplish or remember anything.

That's a high schooler's take on the book. For a high schooler, this book equals doom! For older people, it might be a pleasant read....(*yeah, sure...)

This is a well balanced study guide with a variety of questions and answers. There are no tips or model answers for the considerations of specific documents, it would help to also have an orientation. Just as there are answers to multiple choice, true false, and completion it would help to have answers on further consideration of the documents section. The Map exercises should also have there answers in order to benefit from such exercises especially when your working with distances between cities, locations. Take the case of Chapter 14, how long would it take to reach the Moon on a mountain bike, with a car, on a jet, or a cruise ship, it all depends on the speed that you may assign to the vehicle. This is like playing TRIVIA, pag. 143. Suggestions for further consideration should have a model answer unless you require just an opinion.

The book looked brand new. It arrived in about a week. I would recommend to anyone!

I am a senior enrolled in the AP European history class at my school. This year the class switched to a new textbook, which happened to be The Western Heritage. We were all excited that the new textbook had large, colorful pictures and not just pages of lengthy text. As the year progressed, my classmates and I noticed how poor the book was. Many of the key concepts were explained in a way that was complicated and unenlightening. The book greatly confused many students on significant practices of the Catholic church during the Middle Ages. The chapters are quite inconsistent. Some chapters are written fairly well, while others are cluttered and downright terrible. Each chapter is quite lengthy and is often hard to read or sleep-inducing. The organization of ideas is poorly done. Chronological events are separated by material that is either unrelated to any previous events, or do not occur until decades later. Recently, I read the chapter on the rise of fascist empires in Italy and Germany. Some major terminology that we all know was mysteriously missing -- I could not find the word "Autobahn" anywhere in the endless sea of words, but maybe the publisher suddenly ran out of ink and just couldn't print the word on the page. Alas...
So, in conclusion, I suggest you steer clear of this textbook unless you are stimulated by lots of colorful pictures and enjoy reading books that are more suitable for gathering dust.

I am a freshman in high school, and this is my textbook in my AP European History class.

The events depicted are often out of order, making it harder to understand the timeline. The writing seems inconsistent, sometimes short and understandable but often is long-winded and unclear. The authors of this book assume you have some knowledge of both of the geography in Europe and at least some knowledge of Europe's history already. In most of my fellow students' case, they assume wrong. If you do not already have some experience in studying Europe, then I would recommend searching for a different book.

I am a junior in an AP European History class. My class uses two textbooks, one of which is Kagan's Western Heritage. The Kagan textbook is by far my favorite of the two textbooks to read. It is very interesting and thoroughly covers all the topics of European history, many of which are skipped in my other textbook. I am even considering buying the book so I can read the chapters my class skipped and keep it on hand as a reference. The order of the chapters is not at all difficult to follow as long as the reader has a basic knowledge of European History or looks at the timelines at the beginning of each section. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Europe.