Duncan Sidwell

Duncan Sidwell was born in the UK. After graduation he became a teacher of languages and then a languages adviser in the English county of Leicestershire. Later he researched teacher evaluation. He worked as a national inspector of schools, before joining the Open University, a distance teaching university, where he was in charge of German and then of English. At the OU he worked for a time on English language materials for the Central China Radio and TV University. He taught at the CUN in 2005 – 6 and enjoyed it so much that he returned this year. He has published a number of German and French textbooks, and books about language teaching and learning. His book on western culture is at present being prepared for publication by the FLTRP.

本书作者Duncan Sidwell具有多年语言教学和教材编写方面的经验，从西方人的视角叙述欧洲文化的发展变迁，语言地道　、见地。本书既可用作高样英语专业文化课教材，也可供水平相当　的英语学习者参考，具有　如下特点： 结构清晰，系统、全面地介绍了欧洲文化，注重史实，详略得当。 图文并茂，并配CD－ROM光盘，最大限度扩充内容，提供更多教学参考。 提供了详细的教学建议，每章均有引言和总述，每节标题下均附重点内容提示，概要介绍该部分内容。 每章设复习题及讨论题，注重文化的横向比较，把欧洲文化的发展放在世界文化发展的宏观背景中，有意识地引导学习者深入思考。 附录中提供了大量实用的信息，如：哲学术语汇总、英语人名地名汇总、希腊罗马神话中诸神对照表等，方便读者查阅。 本书分10章按时间顺序介绍了欧洲文化的源流发展。最大的特点是，避免了一般历史书枯燥乏味的叙述，代之以具体的历史史实，从而增加了趣味性和可读性。本书内容丰富，配有许多精美图片，由于需要扩展内容较多，延伸的部分以光盘的形式出现。