This concise survey of Western civilization (based on the best-selling The Western Heritage, Seventh Edition), provides an exceptionally balanced survey of the political, social, and cultural development of Western civilization—its strengths and weaknesses, and the controversies surrounding it. This brief edition condenses the central narrative—without compromising on vocabulary or conceptual level—to make it more fully accessible to today's students, and to allow instructors greater opportunity to supplement the course with extensive outside readings, if desired.