Barron's AP World History

This book contains so much information, ensuring that it will cover everything but also hindering its ability to serve merely as a review book. It has so much information that, to some extent, it might as well be a world history textbook. Based on the detailed curriculum that the College Board has on its webpage for AP World History (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/4484.html?excmpid=MTG243-PR-16-cd), this book may contain too much information. Even if you are self-studying for the exam and this book is your only source of information, it still may contain too much information. This book also suffers from some organizational problems. For example, the book denotes important vocabulary terms in boldface. The problem is that there are too many boldfaced terms throughout the reading sections (some chapters have over 100); this may make studying all of the vocabulary terms highly inefficient. Another example of this book's organizational issues is its Short Cut chapters. These chapters are supposed to act as shorter versions of the larger review chapters but instead serve as analysis-focused chapters that introduce some new information. Furthermore, the book organizes the information in the Scenic Route chapters (the larger review chapters) solely into dense paragraphs. This may not trouble some readers, but I prefer the way that other prep book brands (such as 5 Steps to a 5) tend to organize information in a way that makes the information easier to process. Through the possibly excessive information and organizational issues, the book ultimately makes it difficult for the reader to know what is most important. There are boldfaced terms throughout the reading, so the reader cannot pinpoint any especially important parts. The Short Cut chapters cover some different information, so they, too, do not help the reader to pinpoint especially important parts. Other review books (such as those of 5 Steps to a 5) usually have review sections at the end of each chapter; this review book does not. However, the book has some features that prevent it from earning less than three stars. The Short Cut chapters do provide some analysis that should prove helpful on the exam's essays. The book has some practice tests in which the questions are formatted to match the most recent exam (which is something that 5 Steps to a 5's 500 AP World History Questions to Know by Test Day does not do). The book also has some interesting tips regarding the structure of the exam. Furthermore, if you do bother to study all of the book's information (which I would say is inefficient), you will probably know enough to guarantee a 5 on the exam (however, other prep books probably have enough information to help the reader earn a 5 as well).

This book is, without a doubt, the best book for the AP World History examination. Without any prior knowledge in World History, I self-studied the material to a great level of detail (I had studied it for about 3.5 months in order to fully understand the material, which is quite dense). I also purchased the Princeton Review book which appeared to contain several minute facts that were not covered by the Barron's book, however these tiny concepts proved utterly useless in the AP exam. The Barron's practice tests were absolutely amazing. They were almost identical to the questions of the test with a slightly increased level of difficulty. As a result, the real test (particularly multiple choice) seemed incredibly easy in comparison.The material covered in the book (particularly the short cuts) immensely helped with the essay section of the test. However, I can understand the difficulty a person may have if they have already taken the course and have limited time to review the material. My recommendation to those who wish to self-study this topic is to read the scenic route for each unit followed by a reading of the short cut to fully understand the themes and concepts, with annotations (my book was completely gray and yellow from highlighting and comments) or notes on a separate sheet of paper. (Although, there are going to be major changes to the test in the 2016-2017 year, I have no doubt that Dr.McCannon will create a revised edition of the book in order to account for said changes.) In addition, I recommend not to disregard the commentary and tips in the margins as well as the diagrams and photos. (However, those who wish to review material from the class would find the practice tests and short cut sections most useful.) Currently, I am anticipating a five on the exam and cannot thank Barron's enough for the usefulness of their book throughout the study process. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend.

My daughter used this book to prep for her AP World History test (2015) I bought both the Kaplan and Barron's books based on other people's reviews as one was described as better for obtaining the information needed for the test (Barron's) and the other was better at test prep (Kaplan). We found this to be very true. The short answer is she preferred the Barron's book but both had their pros and cons.The long answer: She thought the Barron's was easier for studying and is a better way to learn the information needed for the test. You don't feel like you are studying but rather reading a book. However, it was better then her textbook as Barron's ONLY gives the information you need for the test and presents it in an interesting way (not a dry read where you have to pick out the info you need). Kaplan gave bits of information (still sufficient) but was not as in-depth. Kaplan's book is better if you are trying to prepare for taking the test itself. It gives you strategies for answering the questions and how you should approach the essays. My daughter's teacher provided this information so she really did not need it from a book. The information Kaplan gives is more the key points only. Kaplan has more practice tests but both books had an adequate number of tests and the questions were set-up like the real test. Both were helpful.Best described as two different books for two different types of students. If you like to read about the topics and want to learn the information more in-depth, choose Barron's. If you want just what you need to pass the test, prefer general overviews, and need help on test strategies, pick Kaplan.

My son aced the AP exam :)

Met the needs of the students.