World History

Steven Wallech is the senior Professor of World History at Long Beach City College. He developed the world history program there, and integrated the world history curriculum with community colleges and universities throughout California. He is the author of World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis, Volumes One and Two. He earned a Ph.D. in History from Claremont Graduate University and has been teaching at the college/university level for over 30 years.

• World History: Volume IUNIT ONE THE ANCIENT WORLD 1Chapter 1 Biology and World History: Civilization and Nomads 5Chapter 2 Mesopotamia: The Land between the Rivers 33Chapter 3 Pre-Islamic Africa: Egyptian, Nilotic, and Sub-Saharan Africa 52Chapter 4 India: From the Indus to the Ganges 76Chapter 5 China: The Yellow River Civilization 91Chapter 6 The Nomads’ Trade and the Great Migrations 111Chapter 7 Greece: The Rainfall Zone 127Chapter 8 The Hellenistic East and Persia: A Culture Bridge 147Chapter 9 Rome: From Citizenship to Imperial Rule 170Chapter 10 Origins of Native American Cultures: Geographic Isolation 189Chapter 11 The Fall of the Ancient Eurasian World: Rome, China, and Gupta India 203UNIT TWO THE MIDDLE YEARS 229Chapter 12 The Rise of Islam: The Ancient Near East Becomes the Middle East 233Chapter 13 China in an Era of Recovery and Cultures on the Fringe: Korea, Japan, and the Mongols 246Chapter 14 India and Islam: An Era of Political Chaos 280Chapter 15 Europe in the Middle Ages: The Advent of Modernization 294Chapter 16 Islamic Africa: A Complex Pattern of Cultures 339Chapter 17 The Americas: A Time of Trouble 355IndexWorld History: Volume IIUNIT THREE THE MODERN WORLD 371Chapter 18 Spontaneous European Modernization: Phase One: The Process of Change Begins 375Chapter 19 The Differential of Power, Phase One: The Americas and Africa 415Chapter 20 Spontaneous European Modernization: Phase Two, The Origins of Public Opinion, the Concept of Culture, and the Nation State 447Chapter 21 The Nation-State: Diffusion of the French-British Model 484Chapter 22 The Differential of Power, Phase Two: Ideology, Medicine, and Technology Redefine Global Power 497Chapter 23 Nation-State Formation Outside Europe: The United States and Japan 515Chapter 24 Internal Divisions and Contradictions: Russia and Latin America 534Chapter 25 In the Crosshairs of Modernity: India and China 557Chapter 26 Targets of Imperialism: Africa and the Middle East 585UNIT FOUR GLOBAL VIOLENCE AND THE POSTMODERN ERA 607Chapter 27 World War I: The Consequences of Power 611Chapter 28 Totalitarianism: The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany 624Chapter 29 The Inheritors of Power: The United States and Japan 642Chapter 30 Decolonization: Phase One 656Chapter 31 World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War: Expanding the Potential of Self-Destruction 676Chapter 32 Global Decolonization: Phase Two 696Chapter 33 The End of the Cold War and the Contemporary World: The Complex Problems Facing A Multicultural Era 739Index