The Origins of the Modern World - (World Social Change) 5th Edition by Robert B Marks (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- Origins of the Modern World sets out an analytical framework that is accessible to students while providing a global approach to world history.
- About the Author: Robert B. Marks was Richard and Billie Deihl Professor of History at Whittier College and the author of China: Its Environment and History (R&L 2012) and Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial China (CUP 1998).
- 328 Pages
- History, Asia
- Series Name: World Social Change
Description
About the Book
Origins of the Modern World sets out an analytical framework that is accessible to students while providing a global approach to world history. Remarkable in its presentation of global narratives in such a brief text. Marks's book has a strong emphasis on economic and environm...Book Synopsis
Origins of the Modern World sets out an analytical framework that is accessible to students while providing a global approach to world history. Remarkable in its presentation of global narratives in such a brief text. Marks's book has a strong emphasis on economic and environmental factors as well as Western coercion and exploitation.
Review Quotes
[The] Origins of the Modern World is an impressive book with broad appeal. Senior scholars will find it a welcome read to refresh on numerous topics in modern global history, while young historians will benefit from the amount of information condensed into an enjoyable weekend read. General readers interested in history, additionally, will find the book appealing. The book also is ideally suitable as an assigned reading for college-level introduction courses on modern global history, although it may be difficult for a semester-long course to cover all the information included in the text.
By far the best of the current world history books on the market. Its main strengths lie in its non-Eurocentric viewpoint, its clear narrative, and its brevity. I would (and have) unreservedly recommended the book to colleagues teaching in the field as well as to others seeking a quick introduction to the history of the world.
Terrific! It's far and away the best of its type I've found in over thirty years of teaching. It's clear, succinct, and yet wonderfully comprehensive. It brings together all the current thinking in world history in about as nice a package as can be imagined.
The fifth edition adds timely discussions of the two deadliest pandemics (1918 and 2019-23) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The discussions highlight the reasons and repercussions of the two most recent global catastrophes connected with the larger framework of the book. Students who are keen to comprehend recent affairs will benefit from the additional coverage. The revision also adds three fascinating new sections titled "The China Shock," "The Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Ensuing 'Great Recession," and "Death of Despair." These three factors, according explain the rise in nationalist, anti-immigrant, and anti-China sentiments in today's United States. It is a persuasive argument that demonstrates to students the significance of historical perspective and well-rounded analysis from both the US and China viewpoints in understanding the current US vs. China conflict.
About the Author
Robert B. Marks was Richard and Billie Deihl Professor of History at Whittier College and the author of China: Its Environment and History (R&L 2012) and Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial China (CUP 1998). He is the recipient of Whittier College's Harry W. Nerhood Teaching Excellence Award.
