This volume draws together the many discrete studies of tolerance to create a global and comprehensive synthesis. In a concise text, author Peter Stearns makes connections across time periods and key regions, to help clarify the record and the relationship between current tolerance patterns and those of the past. The work is timely in light of the obvious tensions around tolerance in the world today – within the West, and without. A historical backdrop helps to clarify the contours of these tensions, and to promote greater understanding of the advantages and challenges of a tolerant approach.
Chapter 1: Definitions and Rationale
Chapter 2: Early Societies and Civilizations
Chapter 3: Christianity and Islam
Chapter 4: New Directions and New Challenges: The Early Modern Period, 1450-1750
Chapter 5: Tolerance in the Long Nineteenth Century: new triumphs, new challenges
Chapter 6: Tolerance in Contemporary World History: A New Balance Sheet
Chapter 7: Globalization – and a New Retreat?
Conclusion
Biography
Peter N. Stearns is a Professor of History at George Mason University. He is the author of Sexuality in World History (2nd edition 2017), Globalization in World History (2nd edition 2017), Childhood in World History (3rd edition 2015), Gender in World History (3rd edition 2015), Peace in World History (2014), and Human Rights in World History (2012), all in this series. Other books include A History of Shame (forthcoming), Guiding the American University: Challenges and Choices (2015), and Satisfaction Not Guaranteed: Dilemmas of Progress in Modern Society (2012).
