Europe 101

The summer reading list for AP Euro is only three books long, but there is quite a bit of variety in the choices offered. There is a historical and philosophical novel (Sophie's World), a standard history (A World Lit Only By Fire), and then there's Rick Steves' Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveller. Most AP Euro teachers would never put this book on any reading list (I'll take the blame for putting it on the list.). After all, it's not a formal work of history. So what the heck is it? Why is this odd little book on the reading list?

Rick Steves is a travel writer and tour guide. He specializes in European travel and even has his own show on PBS. He claims that he is first, and foremost, a teacher. He teaches people how to travel and to get the most out of the experience. When it comes to European travel, the best way to have a meaningful experience is to know something about the history, art, and cultures of the continent. This serves as the focus of Rick's television show and everything else he does. He wrote Europe 101 with this in mind. It is a crash course in European history and art for people who are planning on traveling to Europe so that they may have a deeper understanding of what they are experiencing. Because it is not written with an eye toward history professors or your general history geek the book is written in a very easy-to-read and conversational style (He even cracks history jokes 0_o). It's a guide to history for people who usually don't find history all that interesting. That's whyI figured that this would be a great introduction to European history for most sophomores. It also has a great selection of full color pictures and diagrams to help you understand some of the things we will be discussing in class.

David, Michelangelo (1504)

I prefer to look at us all as travelers in the classroom. We will be taking a journey through history to places far away, and into cultures that seem familiar yet are clearly very foreign to us. To better understand why an artist uses a certain image, or why a particular ruler acted in a particular manner, or why a people might have reacted to that image or act in a certain way we must develop an understanding of the cultures that produced the artists, rulers, and people. If you look at Michelangelo's David through 21st-century eyes, it is just a 14 foot tall statue of a naked guy. But if we look at it through the filter of the Italian Renaissance, it becomes a symbol of the unlimited potential of man and a new vision of what it means to be human. If you're curious to find out more, welcome to AP Euro.