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1、 A Concise Survey of Western Civilization PAGE i.17897$FM110-08-10 14:58:24PS PAGE ii.17897$FM110-08-10 14:58:24PS A Concise Survey of Western Civilization Supremacies and Diversities throughout History Volume 1: Prehistory to 1500 BRIANA. PAVLAC ROWMAN and I have been fortunate to make a living fro
2、m history. In teaching courses over the years, I found my own voice about what mattered. Instead of simply sharing my thoughts in lectures, I produced this book. Former teachers, books I have read and documentaries I have viewed, historical sites I have visited, all have contributed to the knowledge
3、 poured into these pages. Likewise, many students, too many to be named, have sharpened both words and focus. I owe thanks to the many readers whose suggestions have improved the text. For their help to me in getting this project as far as it has come, I have to thank a number of specifi c people. I
4、 appreciate my editor, Susan McEachern, who gave the book her time and consideration, and her associate, Carrie Broadwell-Tkach, as well as Michele Tomiak and Jehanne Schweitzer. Various people have read drafts and offered useful suggestions: Mark Reinbrecht, Linae Steitz Marek, Megan Lloyd, and esp
5、ecially Jean OBrien. I thank Cristofer Scarboro, Charles Ingram, Nicole Mares, and Ada Borkowski-Gunn for their feedback from teaching. Helping me with reviewing and editing have been my daughters, Helen K. Pavlac and Margaret Mac- kenzie Pavlac. Finally, most of all, my spouse, Elizabeth Lott, has
6、sustained me through it all. Her skills in grammar, logic, and good sense have made this a far better book. The fi nal version is never complete. Every new history source I read makes me want to adjust an adjective, nudge a nuance, or fi x a fact. With every reading of this text, I fi nd room for im
7、provement. I have made a great effort for accuracy. Should any errors have crept in, please forgive the oversight and contact me with your proposed corrections. PAGE x.17897$ACK110-08-10 14:58:58PS How to Use This Book Learning is diffi cult. If it were easy, everyone would be educated. In this age
8、of multimedia, reading still remains one of the best ways to learn something. Of course, reading well is not always easy. You cannot read a nonfi ction informative work such as this in the same way as you would a Harry Potter novel. Those novels, though, are full of information with strange new term
9、s, from muggles to Hogwarts, that people learn easily and absorb into their knowledge. The same could be true of learning history if you loved it as much as historians do. I hope to make learning history as enjoyable as possible, even to those who are not historians, not in love with the past. Even
10、as a survey, this book offers one persons opinion about what is good, bad, useful, and wasteful to know about our wider civilization. As it is meant to be a concise book, I have tried to keep it brief. This book covers the minimum historical information that educated adults should know, in the autho
11、rs opinion, while also providing a tightly focused narrative and interpretive structure. This approach applies major themes of confl ict and creativ- ity. Other approaches might be equally as valuable. Indeed, to be truly educated, you should be looking at a variety of views about the past. History
12、is rarely simple. This version provides a foundation for learning more. The phrase supremacies and diversities describes the unifying theme through which this text evaluates the past. Supremacies focus on the use of power to dominate societies, ranging from warfare to ideologies. Supremacy seeks sta
13、bility, order, and amalgamation. Diversities encompass the creative impulse that cre- ates new ideas as well as peoples efforts to defi ne themselves as different. Diversity creates change, opportunity, and individuality. A tension, of course, arises between the supremacy desire for conformity and t
14、he diversity idea of individuality. This interaction has clearly driven historical confl ict and change. Fulfi lling the survey function, this narrative develops political, economic, tech- nological, social, and cultural trends, depending on the historical period. The book does not much emphasize th
15、e everyday-life aspects of people in the past. While lifestyle can offer an interesting refl ection of larger issues, it in itself rarely promotes change. Five main topical themes regularly inform how this text looks at change: technological innovation, migration and conquest, political and economic
16、 decision PAGE xi.17897$HOW110-08-10 14:59:03PS xiiHOW TO USE THIS BOOK making, church and state, and disputes about the meaning of life. These topics have signifi cantly altered history and are still infl uential in the present. How could you best learn from this book? Read well. This time-tested advice applies to anything you might want to learn thoroughly for the rest of your life. Here are a few steps: 1.Read the text in a space and at a time conducive to readingno
