One of the most prominent cultural and intellectual historian of our time, Frank M. Turner taught a landmark Yale University lecture course on European intellectual history that draws tens of students over the years. His lectures lucid, beautifully written, accessible and delivered with a notable lack of jargon, distilled modern European history from the Enlightenment to the dawn of the twentieth century and conveyed the turbulence of a rapidly changing era in European history through it idea and leading figure. Richard A. Lofthouse, one of Turner's former students, has now become a college edited volume that includes the experience of a great historian in forging the modern European idea. In addition, it offers a good example of how intellectual history should be taught, firmly rooted in the evidence of biography and history. …show more content…
Turner at Yale written by his colleagues and students. it is a brief but intense introduction to the topic of the book cover as the name implies: Rousseau, Nietzsche, Marx, Race, darwin, Nationalism, etc. It is very fun, especially if you have a love for history and politics. There are a lot of background knowledge is implied but even if you do not know much about these people, this is still a nice introduction to their
This book is a "Short History," of western empires which explain how European civilization and includes chronology of key events are influenced by the empires that was formed in it, like the Roman empire. It starts with Alexander and his Greek army and ends with the EU. Major events between these two events are empires like the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, the Catholic Church as an Empire, the Spanish Empire, British Empire, and the European Colonial influence into the 20th Century.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages era Europe made technological advances and continued to grow as a community. Gray C. Boyce in his excerpt from “The Medieval Period” describing the middle ages, argues, “Even at its worst it performed the function of guarding, frequently by accident and chance, the knowledge and treasures of what had come before, but even more it was creative and inventive, and transmitted to later ages great riches of its own,”. The author is proving that although Europe was indeed imperfect like most things, it was exceptional as well. The author is making the point that even during the worst times it was protective, creative, and knowledgeable. All of the attributes the author described are what made Europe so successful, and shows the reader that Europe was a prosperous, creative, and successful community.
During the period of 1492 to 1750, Europe experienced drastic changes during their Age of Discovery. As a result of contact and colonization, Western Europe’s economy, political, social, and military systems changed, but also maintained certain aspects that enabled them to build strong civilizations. Such changes include increased (international) trade routes, more centralized governments such as monarchies, decreased unifying influence of the Catholic Church, and increased interest in military conquest and expansion.
“Although it has often been stated that the nations of Western Europe were far superior to the rest of the world at the same time of their initial contacts, this, in fact, is not true.”
From 100 CE to 1000 CE, Europe’s geography and political system changed dramatically due to new needs. A once powerful empire sank to its knees and receded like a flood, lighting the way for many new territories and borders and leaving war and chaos behind as they attempted to settle down.
Throughout history society has to go through many changes that not only affect many of the people but also the areas around the transformation. The main point of Fredrick Jackson Turner’s thesis is what the real essence of America is, and how we’re all influenced by the many changes we have to go through. He believes that American history should not be focused on the extension of European enterprise. The society will have to realize that America will have to be emancipated because of the fact that we had a country with an unlimited amount of boundaries and have to come to realization that we have many closed-spaced limits. The views in the seminal essay share his thoughts on the idea of how the frontier shaped
The Great Divergence is term used to portray the gradual shift of dominance that Europe gained by establishing itself as the most powerful world civilization by the 19th century. While a case could be made that the Great Divergence occurred because of the pre-eminence of Europe and Britain, as well as their supposed superiority in invention and innovation above anywhere else in the world, this argument is flawed. A more compelling argument would be to state that it was rather through the geographical advantages that Europe obtained that lead it into eventually becoming the most powerful civilization after 1500 A.D., as this essay will strive to demonstrate.
The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. It was an age of reason and philosophes. During this age, changes the likes of which had not been seen since ancient times took place. Such change affected evert pore of Western European society. Many might argue that the Enlightenment really did not bring any real change, however, there exists and overwhelming amount of facts which prove, without question, that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of change-specifically change which went against the previous teachings of the Catholic Church. Such change is apparent in the ideas, questions, and philosophies of the time, in the study of science, and throughout the monarchial system.
1. '77: To what extent and in what ways may the Renaissance be regarded as a turning point in the Western intellectual and cultural tradition?
‘dark ages’ no progress? Regression he argues that there are things and events that happened which form Europe as it is today …
The fact that the European influence was largely reflected upon world’s culture and economy is indubitably true. Such an impact, that has been deeply rooted inside the world for past several decades, acknowledged part of its people to notice its clear interference that has been covertly embedded over time within world’s evolution. Blaut reveals the secret of the phenomenon also known as “Eurocentrism”¹ in his article. Blaut proposes that “Eurocentrism is quite simply the colonizer’s model of the world.”². This statement beholds the dominant evidences behind inequal history between Europeans and the non-Europeans that will correspond and clarify colonial events.
The study of history and the teaching of history has come under intense public debate in the United States in the last few decades. The “culture-wars” began with the call to add more works by non-Caucasians and women and has bled into the study of history. Not only in the study of history or literature, this debate has spread into American culture like wildfire.
What Frank lacked in the idea of culture in the Rise of the West is given credit for by David Landes. Landes believes the Rise of the West occurred mainly because of European’s innovative culture after 1000 C.E. that led it to transform world power during the Industrial Revoltion. (pg.4) Landes’ argument that innovative minds of Europe helped in creating the superpower
Some examples of the course material that will be analyzed in class discussions consist of early Christianity, the emergence of Islam, the fall of the Roman Empire, Barbarian Kingship, and Feudalism. Carolingian Europe will also be examined with a focus on culture, economy, and politics that are post and present to Charlemagne’s rule. Students will learn to think historically through these topics while enhancing reading and writing skills. The course will conclude with an explanation of how the Middle Ages is viewed by the modern
Prior to World War One Europe had been the central world power. They looked at themselves as being above all other, this including countries and the people within those countries. In the first part of Michael Adas essay he explains the feelings and ideas that Europe had towards other countries and the peoples who lived within them. Not only does he touch on this subject, but also how