World History Since 1500: An Open and Free Textbook

Reviewed by Mark Norris, Professor of History, Grace College on 12/21/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

"World History Since 1500: An Open and Free Textbook," by John Rankin and Constanze Weise is an ideal textbook for those who want a very concise work of the important aspects of modern world history but want to include links to additional primary and secondary sources. There is no index or glossary, however.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This content is very accurate and I did not see any errors or noticeable bias.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The textbook is up to date. The work, itself, concludes with the evacuation of American troops from Iraq in 2011 but there is also a summary concluding paragraph that looks at the thirty years after the Cold War. This will be fairly easy to update by including further subheadings at the end of the book as needed.

Clarity rating: 4

First-year world history students will find this to be very readable. Terms are defined naturally within the text, but unnecessary jargon is avoided. There are very helpful summaries of important historical terms such as Shintoism and the Great Wall of China that we see in chapter three: "Cultural Encounters
and Expanding Empires in Asia and Eurasia, 1500-1700." It would, however, help to have a glossary. for easy access in one place to alphabetically placed terms with their definitions.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is written with simple straightforward prose throughout. The framework of themes and contributions appears to be consistent throughout the text. There is a consistent inlay of helpful pictures, the occasional primary source, and maps throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is written such that many smaller sections may be assigned when needed throughout the course. Subheadings appear often. In specific, first-year general education students will never find the reading of this to be onerous.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text's organization will be familiar to those who use concise world history textbooks. There will be no surprises. The flow of the textbook is broken up with numerous subheadings. This would only be a problem if one is looking for a larger more comprehensive narrative.

Interface rating: 5

There are no interface issues. The book is easy to navigate and all pictures and maps appear quickly. There are no distortions. Images are in color and are visually appealing.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I could find no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally sensitive. It is a true world history textbook that is global in nature. There is a clear balance between the histories of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Formerly marginalized voices are sensitively presented and explained. An excellent example of this is in chapter two, "Expanding Empires, Europe and the Americas, 1500-1700," where we see an inset entitled: "AFRO-CARIBBEAN RELIGIONS – SANTERIA AND CANDOMBLÉ IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA." This includes a beautiful picture of members of the Candombles religion in procession in the city of Salvador, Brazil.

Comments

I enjoyed reading this text. I tend to like to use concise textbooks and then I will include extra readings. I found this work by Rankin and Weise to be very helpful.