As·phi·er

Booklist for AP WH & Euro & SAT II WH

Booklist for AP World History & European History & SAT II World History

 @verrelune 

# All based on VERY subjective [biased] evaluations

# Best wishes to anyone taking history this year or next year :-)

# Any further questions & discussions are welcome!

——For AP WH:

“The Earth and its Peoples”: two volumes; could be used as self-study textbook [seriously] but I strongly doubt if anyone comes to the second volume, he or she could still remember the “Homo Erectus” of the first chapter, first volume. Its first purpose is not for test preparation! So strongly recommend anyone taking AP WH test to leave enough time for books listed below!

“Barron’s AP World History”: VERY GOOD. STRONGLY RECOMMEND. Bold KEY Words are both plenty and trustworthy. But maybe it has covered too much? Don’t think the test would be so detail-focused…

“Princeton’s AP World History”: Well at the end I didn’t have much time left so I just read one chapter of it [to sixth century BCE]. It is… kind of hilarious. The writer tries hard to make everything funny. And every chapter provides a timeline, which is kind of cool.

“AP世界历史（陈优骥编著）”: the only book in Chinese I found for the test. So-called “AP bilingual textbook series”: some specific terms have English names. [BUT IT IS RUBBISH. Even I can point out some mistakes. And those exercises provided after every chapter contain wrong answers, so I gave up doing them eventually.] Suitable to read it on the night before testing to review those unfamiliar terms.

——For AP EURO:

“Europa”: You may hear this name while checking online “how to self-study Euro His”. Highly don’t recommend it. First, it is too heavy [very unfriendly to me] Second, it contains TOO MANY details. Too much on contemporary life-styles, but too little about historical events. It even fails to mention who and who fight the Austrian Succession War even it was one of the few times my OTP (FraPru) got to be allies.

“Europe: the Struggle for Supremacy from 1453 to the Present”: It is PERFECT. Its time range perfectly fits with the test syllabus. And it doesn’t mention anything about cultures, etc. Totally focus on politics & military, and it does have a Chinese version. [And the language would make any Hetalia fangirl cry with tears]

“Barron’s AP European History”: the bold key words become Italic. Covered too much as usual. Very good as usual. 

 

“Princeton’s AP European History”: it has both bold key words and my recommendation. I think it is better than Barron’s even I read the latter first… Mostly because of its bold key words. 

“Five steps to a five: AP European History”: I only did the exercise questions. But it feels good. It is not a heavy book but it tells all those historical events in a very clear way. Has my recommendation. 

“500 AP European Questions you got to know by test day”: I forgot its existence after finishing the first chapter, because I had so many books! Well, you know the AP history tests have reformed these years, and those questions in this book have entirely different types with those which will appear on the test, as the multiple questions in the test are more focused on the skill of analyzing specific documents based on historical contexts. You can do the exercises in this book for checking if you get all the knowledge memorized correctly. 

About those past testing questions of AP WH & Euro: You can find them on Taobao, but I don’t suggest anyone buy them. First, they are expensive. Second, as I mentioned above, the tests have experienced a huge reform, and the question types have changed greatly. If you are only preparing for the test, you can finish all the sample tests in those books mentioned above. Believe me, they are enough. 

——For SAT II WH:

“Barron’s SAT II World History”: VERY GOOD. STRONGLY RECOMMEND. Praise its bold key words! Despite my personal feeling that it still covers too much, it is still what you deserves to own. Every chapter has many exercises [“MANY” I mean it], so it is really good. [Contrast with this one below even highlights its excellence]

“Princeton’s SAT II World History”: Rubbish. Everything mentioned is what I already know, everything in the exercises is what I don’t know and itself fails to mention. 

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