Book excerpt: For today's busy student, we've created a new line of highly portable books at affordable prices. Each title in the Books a la Carte Plus program features the exact same content from our traditional textbook in a convenient notebook-ready, loose-leaf version - allowing students to take only what they need to class. As an added bonus, each Books a la Carte Plus edition is accompanied by an access code to all of the resources found in one of our best-selling multimedia products. Best of all? Our Books a la Carte Plus titles cost less than a used textbook! The West: Encounters & Transformations takes a new approach to telling the story of Western Civilization. Rather than looking at Western Civilization only as the history of Europe from ancient times to the present, this groundbreaking book examines the changing nature of the West-how the definition of the West has evolved and transformed throughout history. The text presents a balanced treatment of political, social, religious, and cultural history and emphasizes the ever-shifting boundaries of the geographic and cultural realm of the West. Overview of Western Civilization. Readers interested in the history and development of Western Civilization.