Modern Perspectives

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: D. Scollard; V. P. Seary. MAPS BY: S. A. Sauer, B.A., Map Curator, Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London. CONTENTS: 1. THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM 1. Two Leaders of Europe 2. Despots and Revolutionaries 3. European and World Wars 4. The Scientific Revolution 2. THE AGE OF REVOLUTION 5. The Age of Enlightenment 6. The Background of the French Revolution 7. The French Revolution 8. The Napoleonic Era 9. Europe After Napoleon 10. The Revolutions of 1848 3. THE AGE OF IDEOLOGY 11. Industrialism and Reform in Great Britain 12. The Generation of Materialism 13. Italy, France, and Germany (1850-71) 14. France and Germany (1871-1914) 15. The Age of British Greatness 16. The Background to World War I 17. "The War to End All Wars" 18. The Russian Revolution 4. WAR AND PEACE 19. Society and Technology after the War 20. Economic Forces 21. The Rise of Totalitarianism 22. The Twenty Years' Crisis 23. Global Warfare 5. THE WORLD IN TRANSITION 24. Cold War and Coexistence 25. The Evolution of the United Nations 26. New Nations in Old Continents 27. Towards the Twenty-first Century; Source Readings; Bibliography; Index. EXCERPT: . . . Historians seek to place the events of the past within a perspective, to discover some meaning, some order, in what often appears to be an arbitrary, chaotic experience. This is what the authors of Modern Perspectives have attempted to do. But it is clear that the authors do not share a single viewpoint. The reader, therefore, is challenged to compare viewpoints, to discover the underlying values and interests that distinguish the authors. In doing so, you should learn more about your own values and interests. In Modern Perspectives the reader is also provided with some of the tools of the historian - illustrations, maps, and documentary readings grouped around themes. It is hoped that the reader will be able to use these tools to participate directly in the process of historical thought...