Many of the works suggested by others sure look intriguing, but here are a
few more possibilities.
When I taught the Renaissance in the past, I used Two Memoirs of Renaissance
Florence, edited by Gene Brucker. It is a relatively short and inexpensive
paperback but, unlike many other texts, it allows students to follow the
lives of two fairly ordinary merchants from the city that spawned the
Renaissance. Because the memoirs date from the late 14th and early 15th
centuries, the documents are really good for raising questions about the
medieval to modern debate. In addition these documents show different
aspects of marriage, family life, religion, politics, and culture that are
nonetheless more typical that some other sources.
On the imperialism course I would recommend two works that I used in a World
Civ. course. Alfred Crosby's The Columbian Exchange works well and is fun
for students to read. It shows clearly the mutual impact Old and New Worlds
upon each other. Like many others I think that Acebe's Things Fall Apart, a
masterful story about a village in Africa and one of its leading inhabitants,
shows the effects of a few Britons arriving in the area. It is a complex
story of imperialism.
Neal R. McCrillis
Dept. of History & Pol. Sci.
Methodist College
nmccrillis@aol.com
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