The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople

This volume chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Popes continue to preach crusade, but the hope of a Christian empire comes to a bloody end on the walls of Constantinople. Aristotelian logic and Greek rationality blossom while the Inquisition gathers strength. Kings and emperors continue to insist on their divine rights, but ordinary people all over the world seize power. New currencies are created, new weapons invented, and world-changing catastrophes alter the landscape: the Little Ice Age and the Great Famine kill millions, the Black Death millions more. In the chaos of these events, our own world begins to take shape. Originally written for adults who want to learn more about history, it can also form a world history spine for advanced high schoolers who enjoy the subject – just add the Study & Teaching Guide for a complete year’s study.

Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.