Forging the Modern World A History

by Carter, James; Warren, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780190901899
• ISBN10: 0190901896
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-07-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In Forging the Modern World: A History, Second Edition, authors James Carter and Richard Warren offer an accessible explanation of key transformations in global economic, political, and ideological relationships since the sixteenth century. The book is distinct from most world history texts in three important ways. First, it explores the ways in which historians use and produce information. Each chapter delves deeply into one or two specific issues of historical inquiry related to the chapter theme, showing how new primary sources, methodologies, or intellectual trends have changed how we engage with the past. Second, it clearly explains the political, economic, and ideological concepts that students need to understand in order to compare events and trends across time and space. Finally, the chapters are organized around global historical themes, which are explored through an array of conceptual and comparative lenses. While the book chapters proceed chronologically, each chapter is written with some chronological overlap linking it to preceding and subsequent chapters. This strategy emphasizes the interconnectedness between the events and themes of one chapter and those of surrounding chapters.

Author Biography

James Carter is Professor of History at Saint Joseph's University.

Richard Warren is Professor of History at Saint Joseph's University.

Table of Contents

List of Maps
Acknowledgments
About the Authors

Introduction: Forging the Modern World
What is this Book About?
The Modern World
Sources and Methods
Practicing History
Recommended Reading
Agency and Contingency
A Few Good Books

Chapter 1. The Many Worlds of the Fifteenth Century, 1405-1510
Political and Economic Order on the Afro-Eurasian Supercontinent
The Rise and Fall of States in Afro-Eurasia
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE VOYAGES OF ZHENG HE
American Empires of the Fifteenth Century
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 2. The New Global Interface, 1486-1639
The Conquest Era
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: INDIGENOUS POPULATION DECLINE
From Conquest to Colonialism
A World Connected
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 3. The Paradoxes of Early Modern Empire, 1501-1661
The Words and Deeds of Empire Building
Tangled Loyalties and the European Wars of Religion
Collapse and Restoration of Empire in China
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE QING CONQUEST
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 4. Production and Consumption in the First Global, 1571-1701
Agricultural Production
Staple Foods
The Sugar-Slave Plantation System
Global Trade Networks
Silver and Global Economy
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: SILVER MINING IN SPANISH AMERICA
States and Economic Activity
Conclusion
A Few Good Reads

Chapter 5. Global War and Imperial Reform, 1655-1765
Consolidating the Center: Modernizing Monarchies
The Question of Control in the Atlantic Seaborne Empires
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE SLAVE TRADE
The Path to World War Zero
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 6. A New Order for the Ages, 1755-1839
What is Enlightenment?
Revolution and Reaction
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: HOW RADICAL WAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION?
The Collapse of Iberian Empires in the Americas
New Challenges of Political Organization
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 7. The Engines of Industrialization, 1787-1868
What is Revoluationary about Industrialization?
Spinning the Industrial Revolution Story
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Life During the Industrial Revolution
The Transformation of Global Power Relations
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 8. Modernity Organized, 1840-1889
Reform versus Revolution
Nation and Citizen in the Western Hemisphere
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: ABOLITION, MIGRATION, AND THE GLOBAL LABOR FORCE
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 9. Globalization and Its Discontents, 1878-1910
The New Imperialism and Neo-colonialism
The Impact of Imperialism in Africa and India
Sovereignty and Conflict in East Asia
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE SINO-JAPANESE WAR
Challenging Modernity at its Core
The Price of Progress in the Western Hemisphere
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 10. Total War and Mass Society, 1905-1928
Theory meets Reality in Modern Warfare
A Great War
The Global Repercussions of the Great War
Negotiating the Future in the Shadow of the Great War
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: LITERATURE AS SOURCES
Which Way Forward?
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 11. The Ongoing Crisis of Global Order, 1919-1948
Eurasia After the Great War
A Communist World Future?
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: FAMINE IN THE UKRAINE
The Global Economy in the 1920s
The Collapse of the Post-War Order
War Without Limits
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 12. Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and Decolonization, 1942-1975
Uncomfortable Allies Plan the Future
The Global Cold War
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: KENYA AND DECOLONIZATION
Economic Development and Nonalignment: Three Worlds?
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Chapter 13. The Many Worlds of the Twenty-first Century, 1972-2012
Shifts in the Global Political Dynamic
Transitions in the Communist World in the 1980s
HISTORIANS EXPLORE: THE END OF THE COLD WAR
The End of History and Its Quick Return
Economic Integration
Conclusion
A Few Good Books

Epilogue
Credits
Index