Roots of the Western Tradition: A Short History of the Ancient World

by C. Warren Hollister

Book Overview

This brief, chronological survey covers the Ancient world in three parts: Prehistoric Europe and the Ancient Near East; Ancient Greece; and Ancient Rome. Succinct enough to be used with supplements,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 007235089X
• ISBN13: 9780072350890
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Langua
• Length: 263 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A well written 200+ page overview

This book is a survey of the main themes in ancient history. It is not, and obviously is not meant to be, a detailed history. It provides a good overview for the casual reader, and a basic foundation for those wanting to learn more. I disagree with the reviews that state the book is inaccurate or a waste of time.

This review is of the 3rd edition

...The 3rd edition is a very, very good summary of the key contributions made to Western Civilization by the various ancient civilizations, with emphasis on the Greeks and Romans, but also covers the Mesopotamian, Egyption, and Persian civilizations. This edition has 18 illustrations and 14 maps to augment the text, and I have found it very useful and informative, and recommend it to people as a good basic text. I also like the list of suggested additional readings. All in all, a very good book. Perhaps the other, more recent editions have been altered too much. If so, look for this one.

Harmoniously balanced summary and references to more detaile

Creative attempt to overcome overwhelming students with too much information. In avoiding the encylopedic approach, Hollister offers the broad outlines of Ancient History and suggests the most authoritative sources for further study of Ancient World topics. This enables the student to pursue topics which are of further interest to him. It is important to know that the late Professor Hollister was not only an outstanding scholar, the foremost authority on the Norman Conquest but a very popular and entertaining lecturer. He had the ability to animate his lectures with wit, humour and in his course in the Middle Ages was known to chant monastic music of St. Gregory.

Lively and balanced history of teacher-scholar ideal.

Result of teacher-scholar ideal. Those who sat in on the late Professor Hollister's lectures know how talented he was in breathing life into the Middle Ages. His texts are based on the popular history courses he taught for many years and his equally outstanding talent as scholar. Warren was the probably the most outstanding authority on the Norman Conquest. In this text on the Ancient World, Hollister offers his insights into the generalized side of European history. He attempts to get away from encylopedic history by offering managable summary and suggesting more study by including lists of the most authoritative sources. This is an effective way of overcoming loss of interest through saturating students with too much information.