The West in the World tells the story of how Western Civilization has developed while interacting with the surrounding world. Using a political and cultural framework, the streamlined narrative weaves in many strong threads of social history to show how people of all ages and from all walks of life shaped their societies and the course of history. The authors bring history to life by using art and maps as a central feature of learning. They build discussions of art into the narrative to help students interpret artwork, and provide analytical map guides that reveal the connections between geography, politics, and other developments. This strong, rich narrative is short enough to allow instructors the flexibility of introducing other sources and books as supplement, while giving students a solid understanding of Western Civilization without overwhelming them.