AMERICAN PASSAGES places a unique emphasis on cause and effect relationships over time, allowing students to in a complete, compelling narrative. Rather than categorizing facets of historical change into ahistorical abstractions, such as "themes" or "topics", AMERICAN PASSAGES emphasizes the intertwined nature of three key characteristics of time ' sequence, simultaneity, and contingency. With an unparalleled sense of clarity and purpose, the authors convey how events grow from other events, people's actions, and broad structural changes (sequence), how apparently disconnected events occurred in close chronological proximity to one another and were situated in larger, shared contexts (simultaneity), and how history suddenly pivoted because of events, personalities, and unexpected outcomes (contingency). To further highlight this unique framework, this text includes two new essay features. "Flashpoints" take a closer look at pivotal events specific to a given time and place. These events emphasize contingency and show students how key events, personal decisions have influenced historical outcomes over time. The "Enduring Issues" feature traces topics across time to emphasize how recurring patterns appear in different forms as time changes the context. Both features help students understand the historical significance of pivotal events and recurring patterns over time. By grasping these concepts, students can better apply historical lessons to their own lives. AMERICAN PASSAGES is available in the following splits: *AMERICAN PASSAGES, Comprehensive, Third Edition (Chapters 1-32) ISBN: 0495050156; *AMERICAN PASSAGES, Volume I: To 1877, Third Edition (Chapters 1-16) ISBN: 0495050628; *American Passages, Volume II: Since 1863, Third Edition (Chapters 15-32) ISBN: 0495050636.