AP European History –
GET YOUR TEXTBOOK!! BEFORE LEAVING FOR SUMMER VACATION
Summer Assignments – Due the first day of school- YOU WILL HAVE A BUSY FIRST DAY OF
CLASS SO PLEASE BE PREPARED. IF YOUR CLASS DROPS THE FIRST DAY BE PREPARED
FOR A BUSY 2ND DAY OF CLASSES!
Part I – Reading-
Non-Textbook reading – PICK A BOOK AND READ IT THEN WRITE ABOUT IT
-
Textbook, Western Civilization; Spielvogel- read Chapters 11 THROUGH 12 and answer the
questions BELOW TYPED
Part II - Map
- Access an atlas online or in the library that includes the places listed below.
- Memorize the locations of the listed places on a current political map of Europe and North Africa.
- Be prepared to take a map test during the first days of school.
AP European History – Test the first day of class, Geography of Europe and quiz on Chapter 11
of the textbook
Chapter 11 homework will be due on the first day of class.
Book Review due first day of class
SEE BELOW PAGES!!!
Map Assignment- You will have to locate the below items on a map
1. Portugal
2. Spain
3. France
4. England
5. Ireland
6. Scotland
7. Belgium
8. Netherlands
9. Luxemburg
10. Germany
11. Denmark
12. Poland
13. Czech Republic
14. Slovakia
15. Austria
16. Switzerland
17. Italy
18. Hungary
19. Corsica (France)
20. Bosnia
21. Croatia
22. Slovenia
23. Macedonia
24. Serbia
25. Albania
26. Greece
27. Bulgaria
28. Romania
29. Ukraine
30. Russia
31. Norway
32. Sweden
33. Finland
34. Lithuania
35. Latvia
36. Estonia
37. Turkey
38. Morocco
39. Egypt
40. Algeria (Africa)
Bodies of water
41. North Sea
42. English Channel
43. Atlantic Ocean
44. Mediterranean Sea
45. Black Sea
46. Baltic Sea
Cities
47. Madrid
48. Paris
49. London
50. Dublin
51. Amsterdam
52. Brussels
53. Munich
54. Berlin
55. Geneva
56. Rome
57. Florence
58. Venice
59. Vienna
60. Prague
61. Warsaw
62. Athens
63. Moscow
64. St. Petersburg
65. Istanbul
Regions and Rivers
66. Iberian Peninsula
67. Balkan Peninsula
68. Crimean Peninsula
69. Normandy (France)
70. Alps
71. Rhine River
72. Thames River
73. Seine River
2012 Additions to the list- you should also be able to identify
Must also know the following locations,
The italicized locations have witnessed name changes over the years
Konigsberg- Kaliningrad
Pressburg- Bratislava
Danzig- Gdansk
St. Petersburg-Leningrad- St. Petersburg
Constantinople- Istanbul
Tsaritsyn –Stalingrad- VolgogradMemel- Klaipėda
Nuremburg
Leipzig
Budapest
Frankfurt
Gibraltar
Krakow
Kiev
Stockholm
Copenhagen
Pyrenees mountain range
Ural mountain range
Carpathian mountain range
Location of the Modern day European Parliament (look it up)
Location of the headquarters of NATO and the EC
Austrian Netherlands- post 1714 to approx. 1830
Westernmost major city in Europe occupied by the Ottomans at their Peak (following the Battle
of Mohacs)
Part II Outside Summer reading
AP European History
Summer Reading List 2012 Due 1st day of class
 Choose ONE book (some are novels, some non-fiction) from the list below.
o Consult a librarian or reviews on the web to find one you think you’ll enjoy.
 Do writing assignment below. Due first day of class.
For this project, you will complete a written review of a book from the following reading list
(historical fiction and non-fiction) in European History. The report should be about 4 pages
(typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins); in total, it should be about 1000-1200
words long. Your written report should integrate a discussion of the following (in no particular
order) with an introduction, a theme and a conclusion:
1.
A brief summary of the plot or topic.
2.
A description of the historical period and issues with which the book deals, either directly
or indirectly. Do some outside reading to help you with this part.
3.
A summary and an assessment of the author’s arguments and/or themes.
4.
Whether you thought the book was helpful to learning about history—and an explanation
of the reasons why (or why not) you thought so. This question is especially relevant for
novels. How useful are novels in learning about history? Try to go beyond making the
argument that “textbooks just have a bunch of facts while historical accounts told from a
personal point of view bring history alive.” That’s a good starting point, but it’s just a
starting point. (In your conclusion, you can comment on whether or not—and why or why
not—you personally liked the book. It’s possible to dislike a book personally but still
decide that it’s useful for learning history.)
European History Reading List
Below are but a few books that focus on events in Europe during the
period we study. Some are fiction. If you read a fictional account
make sure you garner some information on the actual events so that
you are able to discern the difference between the story and actual
history. You can select a book outside of the below list, but ensure
that it is primarily focused on European history during the period 14502000. The books below should help flesh out the textbook material. It
is likely that I will try to incorporate some of the books in our
discussions over the course of the year.
Classics Non-Fiction—For the really really ambitious!
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber( Early 20th Century Social
Science)
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer (Epic book written in the early 1960s)
Das Kapital by Karl Marx (late 19th Century economic theory)
Emile by Jean Jacques Rousseau (Late 18th Century social science)
The Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau (late 18th Century social science)
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (17th Century Political Philosophy)
Classic Fiction
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes (Spanish late 16th Century novel)
Faust by Gothe (German- late 18 Century deal w/the devil story)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (French- late 18th Century descript live around 1800—later a
book and Broadway play)
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (English, London/Paris French Rev.)
Bleakhouse by Charles Dickens (English social conditions 19th C)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russian- Napoleonic Wars)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Russian society 19C)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzehinitsyn (Russian late 20C, novel
life in a gulag)
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Russian late 20C, Communist Rev. and aftermath)
Ulysses by James Joyce (Irish- early 20C life)
Razor’s Edge by William Somerset Maugham (English- coming of Age 1920s)
Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham (English- Novel life in early 20C)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian- 19C)
The Metamorphisis by Franz Kafka (Czech 19C)
The count of Monte Cristo by Dumas (French written 19C about 16C)
Biographies
Nicholas and Alexandra by Peter Massie (last Tsars)
Catherine the Great by Peter Massie (18C German Tsar of Russia)
Peter the Great by Peter Massie (17/18C Russian Tsar)
The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir (16C English Queen)
Churchill by Roy Jenkins (19/20C British Prime Minister)
Bismarck: A Life [Hardcover] Jonathan Steinberg (19C German leader)
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love [Paperback] by Dava Sobel
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture [Paperback] by Ross King
A World Lit Only by Fire (fiction?) by William Manchester- Descript of life medieval ages, the
Church/Prot. Ref. and Exploration- scholarship questioned
The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe [Paperback] by Brian Levack
The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age by Simon Schama
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama
King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild
Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe
Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World (Treaty of Versailles and its aftermath- written
by Lloyd George’s granddaughter)
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (WWI)
A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman (14C Europe)
Prague Winter by Madeline Albright (Secr. Of State under Bill Clinton- her hidden Jewish
background 1937-1948)
All Quiet on the Western Front Publisher: Ballantine Books by Erich Maria Remarque (1987)
(scenes from WWI by a German veteran)
Macro European History –
Eric Hobsbawm’s chronicles of modern Europe:
Age of Revolution 1789-1848
Age of Capital 1848 – 1875
Age of Empire 1875-1917
Age of Extremes 1917-1993
Niall Ferguson:
Civilization: The West and the Rest
Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power
Other Fiction
The Return of Martin Guerre [Paperback] 16C France
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Deluxe Edition Natalie Zemon Davis- 17C Holland
More Recent Books
In the Garden of the Beast- Erik Larsen 1930’s Germany from the US Ambassador’s vantage
point
Sarah’s Key- French, the Vichy govt. and the Holocaust
Atonement- post WWI life in England
The Pope and Mussolini- David Kertzer
Part III:
The Jackson Spielvogel textbook, Western Civilization, is a highly readable wonderful starting
point to understanding European society in the period 1450-2000. Over the course of the year
we will supplement the textbook with primary source material. Generally you will be required to
submit two typed assignments for each chapter. While some questions are simple and
straightforward, others will require you to critically analyze the material and come to your own
conclusions with support from examples in the textbook. It’s important that you integrate the
material rather than simply memorize it, moreover, history becomes dynamic when you develop
the relationships between society, events and people.
You must read Chapters 11 through 12 before the first day of class and submit responses for the
questions below- ALL HOMEWORK MUST BE TYPED
(I will try to post questions to future chapters on my study guide. It’s expected that your
work is your work. Plagiarism will not be tolerated; you will receive a zero on the
assignment as well as a referral to administration.
The study guides will be provided on the webpage
Homework answers can be encapsulated in as few as 2 extremely well organized and thoughtful
paragraphs. Copying the material out of the textbook will at best earn you a “C” since the
question asks for you to synthesize the material.
The questions herein are designed to require you to think about your answer and carefully edit
your response. The homework will count as a quiz grade (30 to 35 points). ANSWERS MUST
BE TYPED.
Chapter 11—Adaptation and response to crisis. ANSWERS MUST BE TYPED.
1.What was the relationship between trade, disease and medical knowledge in the 15th and early
16th century?
2. Resolve; the plague led to a spiritual and economic crisis.
3. What was the 100 year War about and how did it reshape France?
4. Compare and contrast the power of English, French and German (HRE) and Italian leaders.
5. To what extent was the Roman Catholic Church a political institution rather than a religious
one?
6. To what extent is the growing development of mysticism and the use of the vernacular related
to the decline of the institutional power of the Church?
7. Why did the conciliar movement fail and how do you think it would’ve changed the modern
day Papacy had it been successful?
8. How did society and science/technology evolve as a result of the difficulties of the 14th
Century?
9. Which of the inventions of the 14th Century do you think had the greatest short term impact
and long term impact? Explain your answer
Chapter 12 on next page
Chapter 12- Spielvogel Questions
Chapter 12 is an unusually important chapter because it deals with so many issues and it provides
a foundation for a host of future events (for instance, the roots of World War I and the
Reformation). Some European History textbooks break the period down into two or more
chapters, ours does not. We will spend more time on Chapter 12 than on several other chapters
in the textbook. As a result there are a lot of questions assigned for this chapter.
The first six questions will be due on Thursday, August 30th (quiz grade) and the remaining
questions will be due on Thursday September 6th (quiz grade). Books have been written on each
of these questions, I’m not expecting you to have that level of knowledge, however, I am
expecting that you integrate the reading in a manner that you can boil it down to its essence.
Writing down the information in your own words will help you in that endeavor.
All responses should be double spaced (which means typed!). Be ready to discuss your
answer in class. Make a copy for me and keep a copy for yourself, that way you can discuss the
answers in class!
1. We’ve come to call the period of time in Europe from the mid 15th Century to mid 16th
Century, the Renaissance. To what extent was it really just an Italian event (compare and
contrast).
2. Did Renaissance culture trickle down to the “little” people (the 99%) or did it really just
affect the elites? Discuss.
3.
a. What did you find most disquieting about family life during the Renaissance?
b. What did you like best of Renaissance life?
4. As the 2012 election gathers steam
a. Compare and contrast these three thinkers; Pico de Mirandola, Machiavelli and
Erasmus;
b. Of the three who do you think would make the most popular President and who
do you think would be the most effective President (you can choose the same
person for both parts of (b))?
5. How did the role of women remain unchanged from previous eras? How did it change?
6. Is it fair to say that in comparison with prior eras of art, renaissance artists possessed a
streak of narcissism?
7. More than five centuries later we still glorify renaissance art. Using two specific pieces
from the textbook explain why.
8. Trace the relationship of the Habsburg’s and their connection to France, Spain and
Austria in the 15th/16th Centuries.
9. In a sentence characterize England’s state of government during the late 15th and early
16th Centuries.
10. Perhaps because so many early immigrants to the Americas were from northwestern
Europe or maybe as a result of the Cold War, nonetheless we often discuss Europe with
little focus on central and eastern Europe. Who were the powers of central and eastern
Europe during this period and what were their strengths and weaknesses?
11. What was the Council of Constance and what did it seek to resolve?
12. Who were the Lollards and the Hussites and what did they have in common?