Imagine a professor teaching World History 101. Someone says, “Great course, you should write a book.” Maybe they just hoped to get their grade raised from a C+ to a B-, but the professor took the suggestion to heart. Here’s the book: twelve lectures (now chapters) from chimpanzees to the 21st century. If you slept through the lectures, you now have a chance to do it again: The Way of the World by David Fromkin.
The syllabus (table of contents) starts with Becoming Human (six million years from chimps to humans. The next three lectures are: Inventing Civilization (agriculture and cities), Developing a Conscience (religions), and Seeking a Lasting Peace (nations and empires). These lectures cover the “PAST.” Insert the first midterm here.
The next four lectures are about the PRESENT: Achieving Rationality, Uniting the Planet, Releasing Nature’s Energies, and Ruling Ourselves or the Enlightenment, capitalism, science, and democracy. Insert another midterm here.
The last four lectures are about the FUTURE written with all the optimism of 1998. Here we celebrate the fall of the Soviet Union, the United Nations, environmentalism, and American Exceptionalism building up to the ultimate lecture: Entering Yet Another American Century.
This is World History that starts in Asia, moves to Europe, and ends in America. Don’t look for many women or people of color. The mention of women’s suffrage features Winston Churchill commenting on (anonymous) suffragettes chaining themselves to railings,
“A man might as well chain himself to the [hospital] and say he wouldn’t move until he has had a baby.”
A long piece is given to Alexander the Great. The European discovery of the Americas features Cortes and Pizarro. Hitler gets a nice mention that he could have conquered the world.
“A reasonable supposition is that only Hitler’s astonishing blunder in betraying his Soviet ally kept it from happening.”
The first unit on the Past offers a traditional view of ancient history. The second unit on the Present justifies European empire and dominance. The final unit (Future) celebrates the United States as the pinnacle of civilization.
If you’re looking for a World History survey, here it is. Enjoy.
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