History Alive!: The Medieval World and Beyond

This book and curriculum program is an excellent tool for grabbing student attention and giving a solid, albeit basic, foundation of the Medieval World. I find it a bit shocking and ridiculous that there are reviewers condemning this book because it is not judgemental enough about one of the world's main religions. Seriously, get back to reality here...don't our children hear enough hateful news about Islam and isn't our responsibility as history educators to teach the basic foundations of all the religions? The political and social aspects of all religions can have a place in the classroom, presented in a balanced and accurate way (which I suspect is not happening in some of the reviewer's classrooms and homes), but is not part of the foundations of those religions. That said, not sure why the reviewers feel the need to point out some of the problems with Islam, but not any of the other religions. I used this book for 4 years and my students found it easy to read and understand, even when it addressed some of the more complex issues of the world's religions/past. Don't let the other reviewers' political leanings keep you from buying this book for your students.

I am a social studies teacher in North Carolina and use this textbook in my class. I teach sixth grade, so I only touch on the subject of Islam in my curriculum, but I have found this book to be an excellent resource and teaching tool. To use the textbook properly and to understand what it teaches, one must take the History Alive! training. I had that training two years ago and fell in love with this book. I have done lots of begging and borrowing to get a class set of these books and the supplementary materials for my students. I do teach an introductory unit on the five major religions and use this book as a resource for that. I do not believe that a middle school textbook is the place to go into the fundamentalist sects of the five major religions, but rather a place to teach the basic beliefs of the mainstream followers of each religion. Important terms and beliefs are treated properly in the History Alive! textbooks, from Hinduism to Islam and everything in between. For any reader who is concerned that this book contains propaganda, I would caution you to do your own research and understand that to focus on Islam in terms of terrorism would in itself be propaganda. If we are to look at Islam in terms of terrorism, we should also examine Christianity, Judaism, and all other religions in terms of fundamentalism and terrorism. I have found all TCI products to be very straightforward and fact based. Please consider this textbook and its supplementary materials for use in your classroom if you are a teacher.