Sources for the History of Western Civilization is a primary source reader designed specifically to allow undergraduate students to interact with historical documents. Michael Burger provides only the editorial guidance that students truly require, without unnecessary interventions.

The third edition gives special stress to certain genres, including letters and biographical writings, to facilitate comparisons across time. Introductions to sources are brief, encouraging students to make their own assessments and giving instructors the freedom to supplement where desired. The third edition features substantive revisions and additional coverage of key topics throughoutas well as new material  on the Crusades, Jewish persecution, and European expansion.