I would not call it an easy class, AT ALL, but if you are up for a challenge and really wish to LEARN history, he is the way to go. He is the most friendly and genuinely concerned professor I have had; for one thing, he always asks your name and tries to remember it if you ever happen to talk to him or ask him questions before/after classes. His lectures are unbelievably overwhelming at first, but if you get a hang of it and do your reading before the class, you should be fine. There are tons of stuff to memorize and quite a few themes you have to keep in mind. He didn't give us any study guides but he held a review session which turned out to be very helpful. Important themes for midterm(optional) and finals are pretty obvious as he states them over and over again in class. But still, in order to get an A from this class you should study really really hard (that's for sure). For final, I recorded all his lectures from the beginning and re-listened to all of them- basically I started studying for this class 2 weeks before the final- and that's how I managed to get an A. I think lectures are way more important than the readings, because readings are just there to help you better understand the lecture, so I urge you not to skip any of his classes. Overall, it was a hard, time consuming class, but I enjoyed it a lot in the end.

Dont take this class. Dont get me wrong, he is a nice professor, but I have never been more frustrated in my life. Impossible to take notes, he throws so much information at you it will make you want to cry. He does tell you the themes he wants you to talk about on the midterm and final but there is too much information making it impossible to study for. Midterm is optional, I studied my a-- off for it and got a B+, I watched him pass them out and I dont think anyone got an A. Final will be cumulative, hopefully it is easier.