World History through Case Studies: Historical Skills in Practice

by David Eaton

Overview

This innovative textbook demystifies the subject of world history through a diverse range of case studies. Each chapter looks at an event, person, or place from prehistory to the present and from across the globe – from the Kennewick Man to germ warfare, Japanese industrialization and modern-day soccer – and digs deeper, examining why historians disagree on the subject and why their debates remain relevant today. Through these case studies David Eaton 'unwraps the textbook', introducing key skills and debates and showing that past is not nearly as tidy as most textbooks suggest.

This fully revised second edition includes updated historiography throughout plus:
- New discussion questions and chapter learning objectives
- Additional primary source texts, images and maps
- Four new chapters on Gender and the Mongols, the Swahili Coast c.1100-1300, the Itaipu Dam and indigenous rights, and Ebola outbreaks in modern West Africa
- A new companion website and online resources

Posing provocative questions and demonstrating how historical interpretations can be influenced by contemporary concerns, World History through Case Studies shows how the study of history is relevant to a new generation of students and teachers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350341746
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/06/2025
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David Eaton is Associate Professor of World and African history at Grand Valley State University, USA. He received his PhD from Dalhousie University in 2008, and co-hosts On Top of the World: A World History Podcast. His doctoral research focused on the history of cattle raiding along the Kenya-Uganda border, and he has published articles in several jourbanals including Nomadic Peoples, World History Connected, and African Affairs.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part 1 – Prehistory to 600 BCE
1. Urge Overkill: Kennewick Man and the Settling of the Americas
2. Horsing Around: The Domestication of Mammals
3. #AncientEgyptMatters: The Black Athena Debate
Part 2 – The Age of Empires, 600 BCE – 600 CE
4. Stretching the Past: A History of Yoga
5. Whose Key to China? Confucius in History
6. Making Waves: The Bantu Migrations across Central Africa
7. Bread and Circuses: Sport and Society in Imperial Rome
8. Empress Wu Zetian: Gender in the Tang Dynasty
Part 3 – Cross-Cultural Interactions, 600 – 1450 CE
8. Veiled Meanings: Islam and Gender
9. Going Berserk: The Vikings and Violence
10. Cosmopolitan Culture: Life along the Swahili Coast
11. Empire on the Move: The Mongol Empire
12. This Island Earth: Environmental Change on Easter Island
Part 4 – The Origins of Global Interdependence, 1450 – 1750 CE
13. Supreme Sacrifice: Assessing Aztec Religion
14. Orunmila Saves: Polytheism and World Religions
15. Heavy Metals: Silver and the World Economy
16. Commodities from the East: Opium, Tea and Indigo
17. “We'll Always Have Paris”: The Origins of Modernity
Part 5 – Accelerating Global Integration, 1750 – 1900
18. Germ Warfare: Disease and the Age of Revolutions
19. Tokyo Drift: Japan and the Industrial Revolution
20. Light and Shade: Studying Colonialism in the Dutch East Indies
Part 6 – The Modern World, 1900 – Present
21. Open Wounds: The Horrors of the Second World War
22. Global Goals: Soccer and Globalization
Conclusion
Index

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the 1st edition:

'David Eaton's inventive approach offers students a way to see and take part in the detective work that goes into analyzing and understanding the past. His case studies of key historical issues about which there is contemporary debate range widely across time and space. They provide a fresh perspective on commonly-taught topics in ways that will intrigue students, such as exploring globalization through South Africa's hosting soccer's World Cup, and also allow them to explore issues that rarely make it into textbooks but should, such as the impact of the horse.'” —Merry E Wiesner-Hanks, President of the World History Association and Distinguished Professor Emerita of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA

“In this new approach to world history, David Eaton helps his readers acquire the skills of the historian, and demonstrates how these skills can be applied to the construction of reliable knowledge both in the discipline of history, and in life more generally.” —Craig Benjamin, Associate Professor of History, Grand Valley State University, USA

“David Eaton's book is a game changer for teaching world history because it centers historiographical debates that are the beating, messy heart of our discipline. Breath-taking in thematic, temporal and geographical range, it also digs deep into well-chosen case studies with panache. The great French scholar Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie once divided historians into 'parachutists', searching out grand patterns for below them, and 'truffle hunters', their noses buried in the fine-grained details. With this book, budding historians and their teachers should trust Prof. Eaton to both pack their chutes and find them the tastiest morsels. A must read.” —Gerard McCann, Lecturer in African and Global History, University of York, UK

From the Publisher