I am giving this 3 stars for one reason. Although the instructor was terrific and the subject matter interesting, you cannot take the quizzes/tests without purchasing the course (I like to test my retention of the material). As I am an elderly and retired audit-only student and have NO interest in getting a certificate or using the course for college credit, I found that off-putting and dropped the class. Hopefully, other Coursera courses are not going to adopt the same requirement.

In the 10 years, I reckon I've spent about as much time doing courses as being asleep... I've done University degrees (graduate degree, 2 masters and a PhD), personal development courses, courses on sports and activities (sailing, long distance swimming, gliding) and, in the last few monts, I must have done about 11 MOOCs.

This course goes straight into my top 10 all time favorite courses list, and is definitely the one I enjoyed the most in 2017. The course helped me understand how societies and economies have evolved over the years, which is a prerequisite for appreciating the basis on which modern societies are built on. The course is delivering by a prominent academic who knows what he's talking about. There is a good flow from lecture to lecture and the presenter makes a solid effort to presents facts, rather than his own (or others') judgements.

All in all, I felt this is a great, eye-opening and thought provoking course, and I'd recommend everybody with an interest in politics, society and modern history to give it a shot.

An excellent synthesis of history. The teacher explains the topics very well and is entertaining. As a Latin American, I miss that nothing is mentioned about the history of independence and Spanish power at that time. It is logical that there are always topics left. Although the English and Americans have built the world since 1700, there are good stories from the Latin American side. No mention was made of the great inflation unleashed in Europe by Spanish gold. It would also be interesting to include the big scams that happened and some characters in France, who shaped capitalism. You could go deeper into banking and other characters like Robert Owen who I think was the first true socialist. But as I said the subject is extensive and I learned a lot. I am a 53 year old Colombian who studied by general culture. Convey the most sincere congratulations and thanks to the professor. A hug.

Una excelente síntesis de la historia . El profesor explica muy bien los temas y es entretenido. Como latinoamericano extrañe que no se menciona nada de la historia de la independencia y del poderío español en esa época. Es lógico que siempre se quedan temas. si bien los ingleses y los norteamericanos han construido el mundo desde 1700 hay buenos relatos del lado latinoamericano. No se menciono nada de la gran inflación que se desató en Europa por el oro Español. Seria interesante también incluir las grandes estafas que ocurrieron y algunos personajes en Francia, que moldearon el capitalismo. Se podría profundizar en la banca y en otros personajes como Robert Owen que creo que fue el primer verdadero socialista. Pero como dije el tema es extenso y aprendí mucho. Soy un colombiano de 53 años que estudio por cultura general. Transmitanle al profesor mis mas sinceras felicitaciones y gracias. Un abrazo.

I completed both parts of this course--a lot of work, but well worth the effort. My last formal history course was a two-semester sequence called "Modern Civilization," which I took as an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill back in the late 1960s. It's amazing how much my perspective on history and studying history has changed over a half century.

It might be helpful for a student to have had some exposure to European and American history prior to taking this two-course sequence. A knowledge of world geography would also be beneficial. The quizzes in part 2 seemed to cover more material than the quizzes in part 1, which required me to change my study habits a bit. This two-part course, however, was well worth the time and money spent. In fact, I can't remember when I got so much out of such a modest purchase!

An excellent history course and very thoughtfully presented. It doesn't rely on memorizing a bunch of dates and events but pulls it together in a story. Rather than focus on "What," "When," or "How," it focused on "Why." Its professor is a very learned and notable figure in both American Academia and Politic having lead the 9/11 commission but refusing to sanction the doctrine of pre-emptive strike. Frankly if they'd have taken his course, they'd have known why. I highly recommend this course to anyone who loves history and wants a different perspective or anyone who wants to know more or wants to pull together the facts they've had swimming around in their head for years!

Es el único curso de Historia general con el que cuenta actualmente Coursera para este periodo histórico.

La amplia variedad de temas que abarca, así como la diversidad de ideas y teorías empleadas en el curso, proporcionan al alumno una formación horizontal en el estudio de la disciplina histórica y a su vez, se le genera las ansias de conocer más de cada uno de los temas. Obviamente es un curso para iniciarse en el camino de este periodo histórico pero no por ello menos esencial e importante para futuros interesados o especialistas en la materia.

"Events, dear boy": yes, yes, we know, but Professor Zelikow is determined to steer his students beyond events to a questioning of causality - to the whys as well as the mere whats. In addition, the course is very well structured, and pitched I would say absolutely perfectly for the curious generalist. Only cavil is that one or two lectures are perhaps a touch too compressed, even for such a brief course (week three, for example). Overall I would thoroughly recommend this course: I'm not sure I've ever spent €46 so well. On now to Part Two!

Being a professor as well (though in computer science), I know how hard it is to get the full attention of the students. I congratulate Prof. Zelikow for his achievements. This course has capture my attention and I was eager to watch the next presentation. I learned a lot and I just have a single point (actually a suggestion), which is that each module should finish with a list of literature for those seeking more info on particular topics. Apart from this, a well balanced course. Not easy to put together stuff about 250 years of History.

There is much to praise: nice mapwork, a steady and organized march through time, and some interesting case studies (I especially enjoyed the lecture on Henry Adams).

However, the title is a complete misnomer, as the course is regrettably white bread history. I found the approach stale and western-centric, as the content actually covers western Europe and the stretch of its influence through the time period. I also found myself questioning the veracity of many conclusions, as the lecture often had difficulty citing more than a couple specific points of evidence for his arguments.

Illuminating course to help understand how the world got to be the way it is today and frankly to help understand the whys and hows the Western world dominated so much during this period. Also, extremely eye opening on non-Western histories of Africa, India, and China. I was shocked at the calamities and instability that China went through during this period and the resulting precariousness of their survival at the turn of the last century. The course also whets the appetite for more because the professor emphasizes the "whys" and not just the "hows". I've sought out other books, Hollywood movies, and web searches based on what the professor has shared in the course. I look forward to taking part two.

A great course on predominantly the western course of history from 1760 to 1910; one that focuses on ideas and movements that shaped the world, not a course that focuses on western history for reasons of eurocentrism alone. Where the course is eurocentric, it is so by necessity, a symptom of a well-balanced, well-structured course that strives for an approach that poses questions in an earnest and truthful manner.

The professor who runs this course is a highlight. His voice and presentation style makes the course that much easier to enjoy. I hope to later follow him and pay attention to his external writings and insights, even in my time beyond studying this online course.

This is a phenomenal introduction to what happened in the world between 1760 and 1910. Not only the professor is able to explain ''what'' happened but most importantly he makes a super emphasis on ''why'' things happened the way they did. The split between the ''what'' and the ''why'' is about 50/50 which I find quite rare as many of my previous learning experiences concentrated primarily on the ''what'' which is not enough to truly understand life and the world. Super course for those interested in the innerworkings of human beings, the choices they have made and the systems those chhave created.

This is an exceedingly well constructed course presented with ease and confidence. It takes a rather difficult subject and explains it with fluency and most importantly clarity. Even someone who is marginally acquainted with world history from the 18th century onward will find it illuminating and very insightful. It really encourages the student to look deeper into specific issues raised in the course of the lectures. I thoroughly enjoyed all the video lessons and the graded quizzes were just difficult enough to be interesting. I am looking forward to taking the second part of the course.

I was interested to learn History but books were so boring for me, so I chose Coursera and now I can explore World History, how global forces interact with each other and influence lives of people in the community through this course.

Throughout the course Dr. Philip will not only explain about the history but he also tries to reason "Why it happened ?". In some of the videos, he even decodes the message hidden in art works of the past.

It is indeed a fascinating subject which is beautifully narrated. I look forward to take the second part of World history.

Thank you

The course covers an extensive important period of time and in a very organized way. You never get lost. The quizzes are of remarkable level, very well-thought and never superficial. The way things get related and start making sense helped me get to another level in my knowledge of history. I will never study any subject without making reference to other important events that happened elsewhere. And will always refer my readings on this theme to what I learned in this course. Great chance to watch Professor Zelikow's classes from Brazil. Thanks Coursera!

An absolutely blissful course. A well organised and balanced review of an immense topic, delivered in an engaging and personal style. I can not recommend this course high enough, especially for those who have some understanding of the 19th century history, but are looking for a more overarching and cohesive view. Dr. Zelikow delivers the information at a perfect pace and in an engaging manner, and it is hard to imagine how the course can be improved, as it clearly achieves what is sets out to do.

I'm enjoying this course very much and looking forward to Part II. I appreciate the approach that ties everything together with larger themes and trends -- and identifies the reasons and motivations behind them as well as identifying regional causes for global events and the impact of global events on individual regions. This class is accessible to students who are not history majors but on the other hand is not simplified -- it's challenging enough to keep intelligent people interested.

Wow, what a fantastic class. I love how Philip doesn't just talk about a bunch of dates, but really brings in humor, paintings, poems or things from literature, and really does a great job of painting a global view. But it doesn't feel overwhelming considering the topic. Things are presented in an easy-to-understand way each class, and you can tell he really likes this topic, as I found myself more and more interested in all that he was presenting. That's the sign of a great teacher.

The course covered a huge amount of material but was presented in a clear concise way. I liked the way it pulled together so many different ideas and referred to places all over the world, giving the big picture as well as a fair amount of illustrative detail. The presenter was clear and concise in his delivery and paced it so the student could follow quite complicated material easily. I would have like to have the results of the quizzes before deciding whether to purchase

This is a fantastic course. I have read many books on this period in history including Eric Hobswam, some on China, the American Civil War etc. This course very nicely summarizes the relationships of these events and also take a look at the WHY part.

I highly recommend this to student of history. I also recognize thanks to the help of the course on the IT revolution that we currently see and the disruption that is caused by it in our lives.

Es un excelente curso en el que te sumerges en la historia global del siglo XVIII a inicios del XIX. El único pero que le pondría es que no profundiza demasiado en la historia de Latinoamérica, se centra en algunos países en específico lo que hace que se pierdan algunas cosas que me gustaría conocer más a fondo. En términos generales es un curso excelente, bien explicado e incluso entretenido además de interesante.

I just audited this course for the fun of it with an interest in seeing patterns from the past in order to understand our present. I enjoyed the presentation and the professor's thematic approach and his relaxed conversational presentation style. I feel like I got exactly what I hoped to get out of it. I particularly found his use of images from the various countries and time periods helpful and memorable.

Professor Zelikow is making the subject interesting and is presenting me, for the 1st time with insight into the causes of many wars and revolutions in not only the Americas, but also in Europe and how they were all largely tied to the same causes. It has also opened my eyes to what is going on in the World today and how similar some of the underlying causes are the same now as they were in centuries past.

I actually took the pair of courses in backwards order and as I was finishing Part one (after part II) I was ready to go and do Part II again.

Really enjoyed these to courses very much. Enough detail but also broad enough to cover many things that were happening in the world.

Highly recommended as a course to get an overview on what was happening in the 2 plus centuries this course covers.