Taking sides : clashing views on controversial issues in Western Civilization / Joseph R. Mitchell and Helen Buss Mitchell

Contents


pt. 1. The classical world
Was a slave society essential to the development of Athenian democracy?
Does Alexander the Great merit his exalted historical reputation?
Did Christianity liberate women?
Did the Roman Empire collapse due to its own weight?
Did same-sex unions exist in the Early Middle Ages?
pt. 2. The medieval/renaissance worlds
Were the crusades motivated primarily by religious factors?
Did women and men benefit equally from the Renaissance?
Did Martin Luther's reforms improve the lives of European Christians?
Did convents expand opportunities for European women?
pt. 3. The pre-modern world
Was the West African slave trade a precondition for the rise of British capitalism?
Were the witch-hunts in premodern Europe misogynistic?
Was the Scientific Revolution revolutionary?
Was the French revolution worth its human costs?
Did British policy decisions cause the mass emigration and land reforms that followed the Irish potato famine?
pt. 4. The modern world
Were economic factors primarily responsible for nineteenth-century British imperialism?
Were German militarism and diplomacy responsible for World War I?
Did the Bolshevik Revolution improve the lives of Soviet women?
Was World War II the result of Hitler's master plan?
pt. 5. The contemporary world
Was Stalin responsible for the Cold War?
Were ethnic leaders responsible for the disintegration of Yugoslavia?
Will the European Monetary Union increase the potential for transatlantic conflict?
Should contemporary feminism ally itself with individualism?
Is Western civilization in a state of decline?