Spielvogel's Human Odyssey ?

[Tiramisu]

Does this text include a discussion of the origin of man from an evolutionary standpoint?

 

Thanks for any information!!

[Lori D.]

Yes, the first 8 pages or so of chapter 1 discusses prehistory, early homonids, cave man cultures, etc. The only other place there *might* be any mention would be a little later in chapter 1 -- perhaps as much as 1-2 sentences when introducing first peoples on various continents. Other than that, there really isn't much; so if you are pro-evolutionary origins, there is brief mention; if you are not pro-evolutionary origins, it is incredibly easy to skip those 8 pages and read the remaining 1120+ pages.

 

 

What may be more of concern to you might be the editorial stance. Every history book comes from a specific viewpoint; Spielvogel's Human Odyssey is secular, but not (at least in my opinion) extreme. Some people have mentioned they feel there is a bit of an anti-church (specifically anti-Catholic) tone. We are evangelical Christian, and it strikes me that perhaps the text does occasionally have a slightly condescending tone toward religion, it more just doesn't discuss Christianity or the Church much at all, good or bad.

 

Spielvogel's Human Odyssey has worked well for us -- but we read it aloud together and discuss to bring out alternate viewpoints. We also read a wide variety of other history resources so we try to get a more balanced viewpoint, rather than rely on just the stance from one textbook. We would do this whether we were using a secular or a Christian history textbook. What attracted me to Spielvogel's Human Odyssey is that it has lots of photos and quite a few lengthy quotes from a lot of original source documents, writers, ancient historians, etc.

 

Here is an interesting review of the textbook: http://www.textbookleague.org/92odyss.htm

Alas, I can't seem to find sample pages online so you could "see" the book to decide for yourself. BEST of luck, whatever you go with! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Lori D.
fixed errors

[Tiramisu]

Thanks, Lori D. Thank you for your thorough description. This is exactly what I wanted to know.

 

I was looking at a Western Civilization book, not Spielvogel's, and was surprised about the early man stuff as well as well as brief comments about the Hebrew religious "literature". This is my first time around for high school, and I didn't really expect to see that in a history book. I thought I'd have to prepare for giving fair coverage to the Reformation issue since we're Catholic, but little did I know...