A critique of Walsh’s (1996) Modern World History

A critique of Walsh’s (1996) Modern World History

The book Modern World History written by Walsh (1996) describes a series of historical and social events that took place mostly in Europe and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) during the nineteenth century. This book is divided into four sections: the first is called the First World War; the second deals with the USSR, Germany and the USA between the wars; cooperation and conflict (1919-1945) is the third one; and international relations (1945-1990) take part of the fourth section.
In the first place, the causes of the First World War have been presented as well as a reflection on how Britain was affected by this war is revealed. Furthermore, the peace treaties after the First World War are also described. Taking into account the second section, the political and social situations in the USSR (1905-1941), in Germany (1918-1945) and in the USA (1919-1941) are explained and supported with different sources, such as pictures, cartoon comics or graphs.
The League of Nations’ successes and failures are stated in the third section called cooperation and conflict. Furthermore, the causes of the Second World War are also presented. The international relations are mentioned in the last section. Therefore, the beginnings of the Cold War and the Cold War in itself are examined. The roles of China and the Red Empire between the 1940s and the years 1989 and 1990 are also described.
In this preliminary interesting book, not only does Walsh (1996) present factual information, but also shows significant sources. For instance, maps, real pictures, cartoon comics as well as graphs are used to illustrate the book. The use of different and varied tasks is remarkable throughout this piece of writing. All in all, Modern World History (Walsh, 1996) is a useful book either for people who are studying history or for those who are interested in reading modern world history.



Reference

Walsh, B. (1996). Modern world history. London: John Murray Ltd.