Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)It would be wrong to say this book is completely infested with inaccuracy--most of what is said is true. Yet there are a handful of factual errors when it comes to more specific detail, and though they are not huge blunders, it shows that the author apparently is not thoroughly informed or invested in this material. It claims the 1980s was "the Jazz renaissance," which, to anyone who knows even the slightest about jazz history, is horribly false. Thats similar to saying the European Renaissance happened in the 1950s, or something like that. The historical narrative is filled with subjective statements which oversimplify and are vague, often times not supported with quotes or any sort of clarifying detail--not to mention citations for specific facts. For instance, the author writes, "If the nineteenth century was the age of romantic individualism, it was also the age of the virtuoso: composers wrote music that might be performed gracefully and accurately only by individuals with extraordinary technical skills." Since when didn't it require extraordinary technical skill to perform music!? Music written by any serious composer from any century requires a lot of technical ability to play "gracefully and accurately." She doesn't even explain what makes the music of the nineteenth so difficult apart from that of other centuries (she could have said speed, for instance, or harmonic complexity--it didn't have to be much). Wikipedia is in my experience both much more informed and accurate than this text. Not to mention cheaper. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one, was that I like the idea of including segments of literature with the historical narrative.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Humanistic Tradition, Book 6: Modernism, Globalism, and the Information Age (Humanistic Tradtion)
"The Humanistic Tradition is quite simply the finest book of its type. Fiero manages to integrate the political, cultural, and social history of the world into one coherent and fascinating whole. It is a masterpiece of scholarship . . . balanced, interesting, easy to read, and consummately beautiful. Our professors praise its accuracy and scope and our students unanimously say it is their favorite textbook." — Sonia Sorrell, Pepperdine University
The Humanistic Tradition features a flexible, topical approach that helps students understand humankind's creative legacy as a continuum rather than as a series of isolated events. This widely acclaimed interdisciplinary survey offers a global perspective, countless illustrations, and more than 150 literary sources. Available in multiple formats, The Humanistic Tradition explores the political, economic, and social contexts of human culture, providing a global and multicultural perspective which helps students better understand the relationship between the West and other world cultures.
0 comments:
Post a Comment