| The Western Heritage | |
| Author: | Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | Western history |
| Publisher: | Macmillan |
| Pub Date: | 1979 |
| Pages: | 220 |
| Isbn: | 0-02-361840-X |
| Oclc: | 134198 |
| Dewey: | 909.09821 |
| Congress: | CB245 |
The Western Heritage[1] is an American history textbook used for the study of Western civilization and European history. It was published in 1979,[2] and has gone through twelve editions.[3] It was written by Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. It soon became a "standard survey text"[4] and is published in two volumes. Contributor Gregory F. Viggiano joined the authorship team during the preparation of the twelfth edition.[5]
Considered conservative and old-fashioned when it was published (though with scholarship "entirely up to date"),[6] reviewers chided it for ignoring the Byzantines and Ottomans as well as giving short shrift to Russia and Poland.[6] [7] Others indicated lack of attention to the role of the Islamic states[6] and ignorance of Islamic sources.[8] One reviewer included it among Western Civilization textbooks which "could be plausibly described as consistently following something close to a biblical-literalist line" on the history of Ancient Israel.[9]
F.J. Nothling described the 2nd edition as "altogether a useful textbook for those who want a survey of the entire field."[10] On the H-W-Civ network, David K. McQuilkin, reviewing a 1996 combined edition of the text, said, "The Western Heritage is a text that can be used by virtually any first-year college student. It is clear, concise functional, and adequately supported with recent historical scholarship. Moreover, the text achieves exactly what the authors intend it to achieve--that is, a succinct and balanced overview of Western culture and civilization suited to those whose knowledge of the subject is limited. Given this success, The Western Heritage has a definite place among current Western civilization textbooks, for it is compatible with a broad range of divergent teaching approaches and methodologies."[11]