At the end of each chapter of Ways of the World is a set of primary sources called Working with Evidence that represent the kind of evidence that historians use in drawing their conclusions about the past. In addition, there are primary source activities surrounded by a distinctive and sophisticated pedagogy of self-grading exercises called Thinking through Sources available only in LaunchPad, the interactive course space for this book. (For more information about LaunchPad, visit launchpadworks.com, or to arrange a demo, contact us at history@macmillan.com.) Some of the primary sources are written—inscriptions, letters, diaries, law codes, official records, sacred texts, and much more. Others are visual—paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, posters, cartoons, buildings, and artifacts. Collectively they provide an opportunity for you to practice the work of historians in a kind of guided “history laboratory.” In working with this evidence, you are “doing history,” much as students conducting lab experiments in chemistry or biology courses are “doing science.”

Since each feature explores a theme of the chapter, the chapter narrative itself provides a broad context for analyzing these sources. Furthermore, brief introductions to each feature and to each document or image offer more specific context or background information, while questions provide specific elements to look for as you examine each source. Other more integrative questions offer a focus for using those sources together to probe larger historical issues. What follows are a few more specific suggestions for assessing these raw materials of history.