Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History by historian David Christian explores a “modern creation myth” (2). Christian takes his readers from the big bang to modern day in a technical and historical narrative. He believes that big history is a new, yet important, area of history ignored by historians. Christian tells us big history is “a coherent story about the past on many different scales, beginning, literally, with the origins of the universe and ending in the present day” (2). The strength in Christian’s argument is in that he carefully takes his readers through each stage in history, much like a textbook, using charts, graphs, pictures, and the language for each area, like astronomy or biology. However, Christian’s goal is not complete. Christian, at multiple points, tells his readers there are many more details and theories that surround any one of his given subjects. Although his book is a great overall coverage for a topic as large as big history, his readers may wonder if such the idea of big history is a good one.
David Christian a historian who specializes in Russia and the Soviet Union is currently a Professor of history at San Diego State University. There he teaches courses in world history, big history, world environmental history, Russian history, and the history of inner Eurasia. Christian was born in Brooklyn, New York to a British father and American mother. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. at Oxford University. He then taught at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia for thirty years. During this time he wrote several books, to include, A History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia (1998), Bread and Salt (1984), Living Water (1990), Imperial and Soviet Russia: Power, Privilege, and the Challenge of Mode...
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...History and World History, a professor only has a small portion of one class session to teach, for example, the Cold War. The devotion to a topic in such a large scale could become even more desperate because now teachers have to teach a whole new world of vocabulary along with the historical vocabulary that is necessary for students to succeed in future history classes.
Maps of Time was a very interesting read, with lots of great information. The average person would never dream of hearing about the big bang, stars, and the universe in a history book. While arranged beautifully, which makes it for an easier read, the technicality in the language leaves a stutter at each new word. The book should be read by those interested in ‘big history’ but also by those who are curious about the grand connection of it all, the “modern creation myth” which most people crave.
In a comprehensive summary and analyzation of the history of mankind’s record of affairs, Mark T. Gilderhus tackles the many aspects of the overall biography of human existence. Through scrutiny of the goals of past and present historians, a brief explanation of the origins of historiography, a thorough exploration of the philosophies behind history, and a review of the modern approach to past events, Gilderhus sums up the entirety of historical thought in one hundred and twenty-five pages. His superior knowledge is exemplified through his work which effectively conveys the full extent of historiography.
This was, of course, only a humorous exaggeration, a case of political satire. Yet beneath the humor, there lies a very profound testament to the belief that Russia's political culture has been inherited from its czarist days and manifested throughout its subsequent development. The traditions from the pre-Revolution and pre-1921 Russia, it seems, had left its brand on the 70-years of Communist rule. The Soviet communism system was at once a foreign import from Germany and a Russian creation: "on the one hand it is international and a world phenomenon; on the other hand it is national and Russian…it was Russian history which determined its limits and shaped its character." (Berdyaev, "Origin")
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
In Part I Christian begins with the origins of the Universe, beginning with the big bang and ending with the formation of Earth. Part II traces the genesis of life on Earth, from organic chemicals to far more complex organisms. Part III follows the evolutionary creation of Homo sapiens through their dispersion across the globe. Parts I through III depict largely a history without humans, and, therefore, are dominated by interdisciplinary studies, an aspect Christian describes as big history’s distinguishing feature. Such sciences as cosmology, geology, biology, and more are employed in these sections to present an accurate picture of a global past with no written historical records. In Part IV begins the more traditional historical narrative, where Christian examines the discovery and evolution of agriculture. Parts IV and V follow how the discovery of agriculture would create opportunities and dilemmas, the solutions to which led to the development of civilizations, and eventually to our modern world. In Part VI Christian leaves history behind and looks toward what is coming next, breaking down the future into three parts: the somewhat predictable near future (the next one hundred years), the unpredictable middle future (the next several hundred to several thousand years), and the eminently predictable remote future (the remainder of time), ending his
Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a reminder that books can provide answers to questions we never asked, but yearned to know. For that reason alone, The Death of Ivan Ilyich should be considered a work of art. However due to the many subtle hints and clues pointing at the underlying Christian nature of the book, it deserves to be added to the list of great modern Christian literature.
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
Starr, Chester G., Nowell, Charles E., Lyon Bryce, Stearns, Raymond P., Hamerow Theordore S. A History of the World: Volume II- 1500 to Present. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1960.
In the first five chapters of The Landscape of History, Gaddis describes many aspects of the field of history, and makes multiple allusions, references, and analogies in order to explain his points further. One point that he makes a special effort to explain is the difference between history and various “social sciences,” such as sociology, psychology, and economics. He asserts that history is more similar to certain “hard sciences,” such as geology, paleontology, and evolutionary biology. In his writing, however, he seems to be extremely critical of the “social sciences,” in favor of his own field, history.
The patterns of living that the world witnesses today are greatly influenced by history. This is because of the fact that history plays an immense role in forming one’s future; the abundant interactions socially, economically, politically, result in repercussions that can hardly be unraveled. However, this does not in anyway mean that one cannot trace today’s state of affairs back to its roots. Tracing today’s occurrences back to their origin is possible due to the fact that the agents’ (nations) origins are known.
Iggers opens the book by talking about a revolutionary way that the Western world was taught about history. Throughout the book he ascertains the changes that take place throughout historiography and the nature of history itself. He also examines prior historical notions and the way that historiography was altered after World War II. History morphed from previous antiquarian teachings into a deeper, more evaluated approach. Historians gained a more intimate relationship with postmodern ideas and began looking at history in an objective manner using contemporary discipline. Iggers studies the way postmodernism was changed by new social sciences which allowed more detail into cultural influences and the problems surrounding globalization theories. He also explains the birth of microhistory which replaced macrohistory.
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
John Lewis Gaddis, in his book, The Landscape of History, generates a strong argument for the historical method by bringing together the multiple standpoints in viewing history and the sciences. The issue of objective truth in history is addressed throughout Gaddis’s work. In general, historians learn to select the various events that they believe to be valid. Historians must face the fact that there is an “accurate” interpretation of the past ceases to exist because interpretation itself is based on the experience of the historian, in which people cannot observe directly (Gaddis 10). Historians can only view the past in a limited perspective, which generates subjectivity and bias, and claiming a piece of history to be “objective” is simplistic. Seeing the world in a multidimensiona...
Impey, Chris. How It Began: A Time-traveler's Guide to the Universe. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 123+. Print.
Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past in Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964)
Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia I. Shabaka. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2009.