Sources Of World Civilization, Volume I - A Diversity Of Tradition - 3rd edition

Those familiar with previous editions of this book will immediately notice some significant changes. First, the number of selections has been greatly reduced. Second, sources from Western civilization are less predominant. Finally, study questions have been added before each selection and at the end of each major section of the book. These changes reflect my desire to update the book and at the same time remain true to the vision of previous editions. For this edition, the total length of the book needed to be reduced, while the geographic scope needed to be widened. This could have been done by either shortening the selections or by eliminating entire selections. I chose to keep the selections relatively long. There are other world history readers on the market that include a great number of brief excerpts. I have found this to be bewildering to my own students. Thus, this edition continues to affirm that any document significant enough to be included in an anthology such as this deserves to be excerpted in such a way that it retains some of its integrity and meaning. To make room for a broader scope of sources, I eliminated many of the documents pertaining to Western civilization. Even so, there is still a bias toward Western sources in this volume. As in previous editions, the assumption is that North American college students not only should be introduced to a variety of world cultures but also should dig more deeply into the origins of the culture in which they find themselves.

Acknowledgements

There are, as always, many people to thank at the end of a project like this. I would not have been involved in this project if the editors at Prentice Hall had not asked me. Nor could this project have gone forward had Dr. Johnson's estate not trusted me with making changes to the previous edition. Reviewers of the second edition, Nupur Chaudhuri (Texas Southern University), John Lyons (Joliet Junior College), Kurt J. Peterson (North Park University), and Robert Walker (Jackson State University), provided valuable insights into how this book might be improved. This project would have gone on much longer and been much less pleasant without the help of my assistant, Kelley Burke. Judson College greatly facilitated my work by awarding me a Surbeck Research Grant and relieving me of some of my faculty duties. My children, C.J., Tommy, and Anna, were constant sources of rejuvenation. But all this would have been for naught without the encouragement, patience, and support of my wife, Terri.

I. EARLY CIVILIZATIONS.

The Epic of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh.
Egyptian Society: Hymn to the Nile; Lansing Papyrus.
The Code of Hammurabi: The Code of Hammurabi.
Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis; Exodus; Isaiah; Lamentations.
Rig Veda: Song of Creation.
The Hindu Caste System: The Laws of Manu.
Early China: Mandate of Heaven.

II. THE CLASSICAL WORLD.

Homer: The Iliad; The Odyssey.
Plato: The Republic.
Aristotle: The Politics.
Polybius: Histories.
Suetonius: The Lives of the Caesars.
Juvenal: The Third Satire.
The Christian Scriptures: The Gospel According to Matthew; The Acts of the Apostles; The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans.
Confucius: Analects.
Ssu Ma Chi'en: Records of the Grand Historian..
Hinduism: Bhagavad Gita.
Buddhism: The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness; Dhammapada, Ashoka; Buddhism in China.

III. THE POST-CLASSICAL ERA.

Augustine of Hippo: The Enchiridion.
Muhammad: The Koran.
Al-Farabi: The Perfect State.
Futo No Yasumaro: The Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters.
Benedict of Nursia: Rule of St. Benedict.
Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne.
Cultural Conflict in the Post-Classical Mediterranean: Perspectives on the 1st Crusade.
Magna Carta: Magna Carta.
Ssu-Ma Kwang: Ancestral Rites.
Marco Polo: The Book of Ser Marco Polo.
St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Contra Gentiles.
Southeast Asia: Thai Civilization.
D.T. Niane: Sundiata.