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Choosing a Textbook for AP European History
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by Michael Galgano
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia
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| | A Cornerstone for Success
Choosing the proper textbook is a cornerstone for success in teaching the AP European History course and in preparing students adequately for the AP European History Exam. The process demands thoughtful, individual research and considering the right questions, so that the textbook ultimately selected will best complement all other elements of your course: the outline, primary documents, secondary interpretations, maps and visuals, writing exercises, and test questions.
At the same time, beginning AP teachers should learn as much as possible about their prospective students and what they may reasonably handle in an assigned text. For example, sophomores may prefer a less detailed or substantive tome than seniors (or vice versa, especially after the latter have received their desired college admission). Fortunately, the College Board offers valuable guidance to streamline the process and direct teachers to the most likely textbooks to support their courses.
Where to Start
Teachers should begin the process of selecting the most suitable textbook with a close review of the AP European History Course Description to gain a clear understanding of the goals of the European survey, the variety of themes that must be emphasized, the overall course chronology, and the type of examination questions their students may reasonably anticipate. (The Course Description is available free as a download from AP Central below.) In the description, attention is given to a balance between intellectual and cultural history, political and diplomatic history, and social and economic history. Textbooks that ignore or downplay one or more areas may thus be less appropriate or may need to be supplemented with other textbooks or readings.
 AP European History Course Description
Once the information from the Course Description is reviewed, the next step is to study the equally valuable AP European History Teacher's Guide, available from the College Board Store. The guide includes extensive information about designing a course, teaching strategies, sample course outlines, and an extensive resource bibliography. Since the AP course is so connected to the year-end examination, it also makes good sense at this stage to review the published examinations, questions and answers from which are available online at AP Central in the Exam Questions section and for purchase in print in the College Board's online store to understand the kinds of questions previously asked in either multiple-choice or essay formats. This knowledge is very useful when reviewing textbooks to measure how complete the coverage of major topics has been.
The AP European History Exam
CB Store: Products for AP European History
With this introductory background, teachers should begin to rough out an outline for their own course that focuses on the chronology and themes they will address, making certain they are consistent with the intent of the themes and periods outlined in the Course Description. Once this preparation is complete in rough form, consider several sets of questions as you actually handle different textbooks. How do you plan to use the book or books in the class? Will the basic text be read out of class to provide a skeletal framework within which you will teach? Will it be a reference work to be perused for specific assignments only? Will topics covered fully in the text be central to class discussions or will the textbook serve as the student's primary source of information? If your strategy is to focus class time more on social, cultural, or intellectual issues, should the text offer a stronger political/diplomatic narrative? Are you searching for a text that offers some ambiguity in its explanations?
The Best Resource for Your Classroom
A second set of questions relates to your personal requirements in the way of peripherals. How important are maps in the textbook? How important are documents? Visuals? If you are comfortable using display software, scanning documents or images from the Internet or printed sources, or having your students access such materials in the classroom from their class computers, ask yourself, how critical are the support materials found in the actual textbook? If you have neither experience with nor access to such resources, then images, maps, and documents imbedded in the textbook may be more essential.
A third set of questions relates to the textbook's currency, coverage, organization, and writing. Before examining these questions, you should peruse the online reviews found in the Teachers' Resources area of AP Central or in journals like The History Teacher and others. How up-to-date is a text's scholarship? Does it include a full listing of suggested readings that reflect recent historical trends, methodologies, or concepts? How does it address areas you consider central to your teaching? If Cavour's role in Italian unification is a major topic in your course outline, and the textbook you are considering focuses its chapter instead on Bismarck and Germany, will the omission help or hinder your classroom instruction?
Teachers' Resources
If the textbook is weak in gender history, or does little beyond the obvious in examining intellectual currents, can you compensate for the deficiency with other resources? Is there a balance between Eastern and Western Europe? How does the textbook's organization connect with the themes and chronology found in your outline? Finally, how is the text written? Is its language clear? Can your students understand it? Is the narrative sufficiently engaging that they will actually read it? Study chunks of material from several textbooks on the same topics before making your selection to see how the coverage relates to the ways in which you plan to present the material.
No textbook is "best" in all classrooms, and none is ideal (with due apologies to friends and colleagues who have authored European history texts). What works wonderfully in one class may fail miserably in another, or what works well in one year may not the next. Teachers must think carefully about why they are using a text, how it will be used, and how their students will probably respond to it. Even a cursory examination of the AP European History Electronic Discussion Group indicates undying loyalty to one textbook or another, and the arguments put forward may often appear compelling. Some texts have been held in high regard for generations and certainly merit the praise they have received. Yet the decision regarding the best textbook must be a personal one based upon close examination of course needs and how the book will fit into an overall package designed by an individual teacher. Relish the process and select the text that helps you accomplish your own teaching goals.
Michael J. Galgano is chair of the AP European History Development Committee. He is chair of the Department of History at James Madison University, where he is a professor of history.
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