A wonderful course that gives you new insights in world history, amply illustrated with maps (not always the case in history courses), and - something I appreciated even more - with paintings from the epoch. I can only recommend this course to anyone who is interested in an overview that allows you to see the general trends as well as more specific developments in countries. (I loved the examples from 6 different countries given at the end of the course.)

It's a great course where you will learn in a comprehensive and detailed way about the entire history of the world. The professor explains the content very well and ensures there is always a clear thread, leaving no topic untouched. It's possible that at times it may feel slow and boring - it's normal, it's history class! However, if you're an enthusiastic learner and interested in history, you'll definitely find it interesting and learn a lot

I like the alternative way of looking at history the lecturer brings.

By looking at history as real people looking at a situation and making choices, by looking at what could have happened but did not, I come to apprecate the study of history better, not just as a list of dates and facts.

Although the course is quite broad overview and I need to do a lot more reading to fully understand, I think this course has been a very rewarding experience.

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.

I really enjoyed this course, as it gives a big picture of what has been happening during the reference period, without so many details but putting what happened into perspective, and encompassing the whole world. I will take some time to digest all the information and dig deeper into some topics, and then will surely enroll into Part Two of the course.

A special thanks to Professor Zelikow, for making such a compelling history course!

Dear Professor,

Really I enjoied this course a lot. The explanation of history, examples, resources, illustrations as well as the presentation, every things were well organized. As a Political Science student, I could revise my some bachelor's courses and learned new information in a nut shell.

However, If this certification course was avilable for all students, they could be more interested to learn the crucial history of the globe.

An excellent course drawing together so many facets. We tend to learn history in silos - where we know about European history, Latin American history, American history and Asian history, but largely in isolation from one another and thus fail to see many of the interconnecting themes, and how what happens in one part of the world influences change in another. With this course, and part 2, you can begin to attain that perspective.

This is a perfectly structured course. The professor is one of the best instructors one could hope for on a subject like History. The course delves into the events unfolding around the world. However, it also manages to tie them together into a sort of "why" and "why not" and "what else could have happened" perspective, which is essential to understanding the events. I've already enrolled for Part Two, and I cannot wait to begin.

Excellent class. I made myself comfortable and listened intently to a professor whose demeanor both vocally and visually invited spirited attention. I enjoyed how it was not a linear depiction of history but one that demonstrated history as ongoing and alive when dealing with situations, solutions and then new and different problems. Thank you Professor Zelikow. I am looking forward to part 2 of history in the modern world.

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.

Excellent course! I highly recommend it! Philip Zelikow is an excellent professor who helps you gain more than knowledge of global history. he helps you gain understanding by methodically answering the who, what, where, when and especially the why, questions. and showing the connections between events. I also love how he brings artwork and literature in. All very relaxed and enjoyable. What a treat!

An enjoyable, concise lecture, from a well-reputable lecturer, who gave it much-needed spirit, for such an expansive course on recent human history, from the times of the stirring of the American Revolution to the times just before the horrendous First World War. A brilliant thing to involve one's self within, and I can recommend it well, to anyone who wishes to know of the times which we live in now.

thought invoking and very insightful! Really constructive to understanding the reasons and choices made by individuals rather than the traditional narrative. These ideas and patterns can be continually observed in present day, all culminating to the fact that history is interconnected and a ongoing narrative. Big words aside, this class really fueled my love for history! would strongly recommend!

A fantastic introduction to the world contemporary. This was the first course I took with Coursera and I did not know what to expect. Professor Zelikow helps us revisit and put in perspective facts and historical episodes we think we know. The quality of the course went beyond my expectations. Highly recommended and delighted to see there is a second course covering the contemporary period.

What an amazing journey it was through modern world till 1910. I have really learned a lot from this course. History of various countries through various perspectives is really important plus point of this course. Prof. zelikov makes you think and goes deeper in every aspect of the history. I feel myself lucky to have this online course.

Thanks coursera and the team of University of Virginia.

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.

An excellent global illustration of the great era when the entire world was transformed. I had some earlier readings on this subject which unfortunately only focused on the Atlantic world. The best part of this course is that it narrates the story of Asia and other parts of the world very eloquently and links to developments of Europe... Looking forward to the second part of the course

The course is really interesting with and provides a great, broad perspective on the events of 18th and 19th Century. It's not focused on the dates and single events, but rather looks at the processes their origins and consequences. The lectures are a pleasure to watch and are packed with facts and analysis. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about the modern history!

The lecturer focuses on the reasons and circumstances which drive historical events, rather than just lay out the events without reasoning. It is shown how art in its many forms demonstrates and mirrors the views of the common people, of the elite, and of whole ideologies. The course motivates initiative by showing how historically initiative was the reason for progress and success.

Fascinating and broad, I have studied this time period on two occasions at different educational establishments as part of other courses but I still found this course engaging. It gives a broad and fairly global view of events - and shows the interconnections, which I thought was very good. I hope to be able to find time to take the second part of this course in the near future.

This course gave me an overall understanding of the globe of that period of time. This course helped me to understand why individual countries were in the situation they were. I am not into academic pursue but fully enjoyed the course. The professor was very clear about his ideas and pleasant to follow. Highly recommend for all people interested in modern history.

It is a great course. Professor Zeliklow smiles and converses with us the great events of world history. He explains to us in depth why did the things happened as they did. In this 7 weeks course, I have learned a lot about the world history from 1760 to 1910. Many gaps in my knowledge has been filled by the depth of the matter. Thank you for this great course.

This is an excellent overview that provides a great framework to question the rationale of the players at the time. There is enough meat on the bones to provide real insights without getting bogged down in the details. The presenter/ professor is clear, factual and entertaining at times. Thoroughly and unreservedly recommend both part I and II of this class.