Used by over one million students, Western Civilizations is renowned for its balanced presentation, clear prose, and exceptional treatment of the West in a global context. In the Brief Second Edition, the authors maintain the breadth, elegant design, and pedagogical tools of the full edition—all at a price students can afford.

Judith G. Coffin is an associate professor at the University of Texas, Austin, where she won a 1999 University of Texas President's Associates' Award for Teaching Excellence. Previously, she taught at Harvard University and the University of California, Riverside. Her research interests are the social and cultural history of gender, mass culture, slavery, race relations, and colonialism. She is the author of The Politics of Women's Work: The Paris Garment Trades, 1750–1915. Professor Coffin received her Ph.D. in modern French history from Yale University.

Robert C. Stacey is professor of history and chair of the department and a member of the Jewish Studies faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle. A long-time teacher of Western civilization and medieval European history, he has received Distinguished Teaching Awards from both the University of Washington and Yale University, where he taught from 1984 to 1988. He has authored and coauthored four books, including a textbook, The Making of England to 1399. He holds an M.A. from Oxford University and a Ph.D. from Yale.