Modern History Textbooks (3 Viewers)

[Will_Sparky]

as with all study guides though, you need to read them critically, apparently Excel have REALLY good revision tables. Synthesises everything into one succinct box.

 

[Steph9]

my teacher told me about "Key Features in Modern History"

 

[Nick]

my teacher from last year co-wrote that book

dennett

 

[Steph9]

wow! it's a really good book, it's saved my life a few times

 

[Anonymous1]

Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Pro's and Con's of both?
Without basing it on the generalised idea that Maquarie is always better than Excel, from personal experience which of the two would you recommend for the Modern History HSC Course?

 

[-pari-]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

i dont use any study guides.

i use compilation of textbook, teacher's notes + own research.

 

[bored6]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Pro's and Con's of both?
Without basing it on the generalised idea that Maquarie is always better than Excel, from personal experience which of the two would you recommend for the Modern History HSC Course?

Suprisingly, I found the Excel pretty useful for Modern. More specifically, it had good information on the Core. The Maquarie i've only had a brief look at but it doesn't look that flash.

 

[hopeles5ly]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Get your hands on these:

- Core Study: Evidence Of War: Studying The First World War Through Sources. By Anne McCallum.
- Key Features Of Modern History. By Bruce Dennett and Stephen Dixon
- Republic to Reich: A History Of Germany 1918-1945. By Kj Mason ( if you're doing Germany)

 

[Kujah]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

I've got the Excel HSC one, and I must say, it's pretty good. It has great information on the core study, and the national, international and personality studies. I only like Macquarie because its usually more structured than the Excel ones.

 

[Testpilot]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Excel was alright for background reading, i.e. to get the gist of what happened. For stats, quotes and in depth recounts etc consult proper history books (i.e. not school text books).

 

[kloudsurfer]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

I agree.

Ive got the excel one but I rarely use it.

Generally I avoid using study guides for modern, I think real textbooks are way more useful for this kind of subject.

 

[zaqwerty]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

I have the Macquarie one and I just use it to add extra info to my notes. I haven't exactly had the chance to compare the two.

 

[extraordinary07]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

well for modern i found that it did the personalities better, i did albert speer and maquarie was really good, but yeah excel gave some good information for the core. we are doing war in the pacific for our last topic and maquarie have that one in their book so maquarie wins today.

 

[el gwapo]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

i wouldn't buy one i'd borrow one from the libary or from a friend. if you know everything that's in that topic section that you are doing you should be fine. (e.g. if you're doing Germany remember they've changed it that its only up to 39 not 45)

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

i think the Excel textbook is an excellent starting point, but you have to expand...

 

[Vienna]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

My preference is Excel over macquarie but these are the main textbooks i use:

• For World War One : From Sarajevo to Versailles by Ken Webb
• For German National Study : Germany 1918-1939 by Ken Webb, this one is really good as it follows the syllabus and gives essay plans.

 

[el gwapo]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Hmm.. Ken Webb, didn't he do a lecture in USyd couple of months ago? I have an History Extension book on him.

For such a big subject with so many options it's hard to cover in 200-250 pages the core, your national study, studies of peace and conflict and a personality. It may not be even in the Excel or Macquarie, especially if it's a relatively small option.

 

[jellybelly59]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

Is a modern history excel prelim good to get a better understanding of what modern history is about or is another book better? + what textbooks for prelim can any of u suggest? i wanna see if i can borrow them from my teachers so i can get a head start and just learn some of the basics

 

[Kujah]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

I found both Excel and Macquarie books for the preliminary year were just crap. You might just have to ask your teachers for the textbooks that might be used for your topics this year, because each school is bound to have different ones.

As for me, I don't think I was issued any textbooks at all - a stark contrast to Year 12

 

[jellybelly59]

Re: Excel vs. Macquarie Revision Guides

lol ty kujah