Abstract

For undergraduate or graduate courses in World History

This impressive collection of readings illustrates that the history of the world is as much about the relationships among societies as it is about transformations and continuities within societies.

Exchanges:  A Global History Reader is designed as an introduction to the discipline of world history. Unlike other source collections, Exchanges helps students look beyond strictly delineated regionalism and chronological structures to understand history as a product of ongoing debate. Structured around a series of interconnected themes and debates, and pairing both primary and secondary sources, Exchanges challenges both students and teachers to rethink history.

The authors have successfully produced a text that will allow students to explore the ways in which historical writing has

generated important debates about world history.... It offers a rich and diverse compilation of reading materials that provide

students with ideas about world history, but also with models of historical writing.... Moreover, it offers examples from a wide

range of geographical areas, something that will help broaden the horizons of the average student.

The method of placing competing narratives side by side is one of the best strategies for demonstrating the nature of history as

an interpretation.... I am very excited about the possibilities that this text could provide for transforming my World Civilizations

course. An attentive student will find his or her basic assumptions challenged on every page, and it is this kind of intellectual

transformation that I seek to facilitate as a teacher.

I think this textbook goes a long way toward helping students to think more deeply and more historically about the state of the

world today.... The fact that the book is focused upon the five big questions of world history is a great plus. Too many world

history readers have a diffuse focus and don’t really add up to a book that promotes sustained, focused inquiry.

I would describe the book as an introduction to being a world historian. Through a selection of thematic case studies,

students are able to compare theories, test historians’ interpretations against the primary evidence, and access the range

of material that allows them to develop their own interpretations of the worlds they inhabit and inherit.

Exchanges focuses more than any other reader on the interconnectedness of regions and the debates pertaining to the new

world history.... The authors successfully demonstrate that history is contested to this day. Not only is this a more accurate

portrayal of historical scholarship than most readers provide, it is also more interesting for the students, who are more likely

to appreciate history if they see it as contested, often for reasons closely connected with the state of the world today.