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A Short History of the World
This is the paperback edition of the ebook (ISBN 9780957111615)
The paperback will be available in all good bookshops in the UK from 01 October 2012.
See ebook link for full description.
Ebook available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Apple iBookstore, BN.com and Kobo.com
More information available here.
The paperback will be available in all good bookshops in the UK from 01 October 2012.
See ebook link for full description.
Ebook available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Apple iBookstore, BN.com and Kobo.com
More information available here.
165 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2011
799 people are currently reading
1871 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Lascelles
5 books42 followersChristopher Lascelles studied modern languages and history at St Andrews University in Scotland. His first book, A Short History of the World, became a New York Times and Amazon bestseller and was translated into seven languages. He is currently writing A Short History of the Future. He lives in London with his wife and daughter. Visit www.lascelleshistory.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
September 13, 2015
An interesting concept--condensing human history into 150 pages of readable prose--but unevenly executed. First, the positives. Lascelles correctly focused more space on recent history as that tends to be neglected in public schools and imperfectly understood by the populous. Also, his writing is readable, if opinionated, even sarcastic. Words like "unfortunately", "inevitable" and "needlessly" betray his approach.
On the negative, Lascelles wasted space on pre-history, confused facts, and accentuated minor facts while ignoring major ones. Inserted quotes, like one by Voltaire, often did little to illuminate the topic. He uses undefined colloquialisms--"pole position" and "laissez-faire". He declares that tea and coffee consumption explained the seventeenth century world's increasing demand for sugar. He credits Pasteur for the invention of vaccines, even though they'd been used for a hundred years before. He decries the exploitation of women in "Africa, India and the Middle East" seeming to give the rest of Asia a bye. He discussed Marx and his theories but, even though he referred often to capitalism, he never defines it nor refers to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Similarly, he focuses on Gorbachev's role in the collapse of the USSR, but credits neither the USA nor Reagan. He implies Kennedy softness solved the Cuban Missile crisis. His section on the micro-electronic revolution is out of place. He praised the "inspired leadership" of Nelson Mandela but reduced Gandhi to a "figurehead". His Anglophile bias showed.
Finally, his closing "What's Next" is a subjective environmental screed.
While I agreed with many his opinions, I simply found the book too opinionated to take as serious history. Looking at the footnotes for his quotes, his use heavy reliance on one source stands out. I realize that the norm for revisionist historians is to rewrite the record according to personal preference, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should condone it. (Yes, I majored in history.)
Neat cover.
On the negative, Lascelles wasted space on pre-history, confused facts, and accentuated minor facts while ignoring major ones. Inserted quotes, like one by Voltaire, often did little to illuminate the topic. He uses undefined colloquialisms--"pole position" and "laissez-faire". He declares that tea and coffee consumption explained the seventeenth century world's increasing demand for sugar. He credits Pasteur for the invention of vaccines, even though they'd been used for a hundred years before. He decries the exploitation of women in "Africa, India and the Middle East" seeming to give the rest of Asia a bye. He discussed Marx and his theories but, even though he referred often to capitalism, he never defines it nor refers to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Similarly, he focuses on Gorbachev's role in the collapse of the USSR, but credits neither the USA nor Reagan. He implies Kennedy softness solved the Cuban Missile crisis. His section on the micro-electronic revolution is out of place. He praised the "inspired leadership" of Nelson Mandela but reduced Gandhi to a "figurehead". His Anglophile bias showed.
Finally, his closing "What's Next" is a subjective environmental screed.
While I agreed with many his opinions, I simply found the book too opinionated to take as serious history. Looking at the footnotes for his quotes, his use heavy reliance on one source stands out. I realize that the norm for revisionist historians is to rewrite the record according to personal preference, but that doesn't mean the rest of us should condone it. (Yes, I majored in history.)
Neat cover.
May 22, 2018
‘…It aims to give a short and succinct yet broad overview of the key developments and events in the history of mankind in a way that is, I hope, enlightening and interesting’.
Lascelles starts off with prehistory from the Big Bang to the rise of the Homo Sapiens. Then into civilization with Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and Greece. The book then flits between the Romans, Europe, Middle East and China with the birth of Christianity and Islam. Onwards, chronologically we go.
The difficulty, I presume, with writing any book like this is looking at it from a world perspective rather than a world perspective through English eyes and also trying to avoid too much British history. Does he succeed; not entirely. Not that it mattered to me. I lapped it up. My notebook was full of interesting stuff. It is not written in that awful academic language where you first have to decipher the sentence to even begin to understand what the author is going on about. It is a very easy read and, for that, I thank the author.
It was nice, for me, that my understanding of a lot of historical events was backed up here as well. You have to remember that the title is a ‘A Short History..’ so, of course, there will be lots not in it but for a quick re-cap of world history it does the trick.
Lascelles starts off with prehistory from the Big Bang to the rise of the Homo Sapiens. Then into civilization with Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and Greece. The book then flits between the Romans, Europe, Middle East and China with the birth of Christianity and Islam. Onwards, chronologically we go.
The difficulty, I presume, with writing any book like this is looking at it from a world perspective rather than a world perspective through English eyes and also trying to avoid too much British history. Does he succeed; not entirely. Not that it mattered to me. I lapped it up. My notebook was full of interesting stuff. It is not written in that awful academic language where you first have to decipher the sentence to even begin to understand what the author is going on about. It is a very easy read and, for that, I thank the author.
It was nice, for me, that my understanding of a lot of historical events was backed up here as well. You have to remember that the title is a ‘A Short History..’ so, of course, there will be lots not in it but for a quick re-cap of world history it does the trick.
November 3, 2013
This book doesn't quite deserve 4 stars but I think it's better than its current average goodreads rating of 3.52. It's a condensed history of world that attempts to hit all the major events and people and put them in context with each other.
It's certainly not perfect: other reviews note some important missed topics and even with my only cursory knowledge of history I noticed a few inaccuracies (e.g., saying that Henry the VIII's roving eye fell on Anne Boleyn "soon" after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon when in fact over 15 years elapsed and the real problem was that of their 6 pregnancies/children, most died at birth and only one daughter, Mary, survived).
But overall I enjoyed the book and liked the connections it made for me. If I could only remember everything in this book, I would feel like I had a pretty solid grasp of the important events in world history. I clearly need a memory upgrade!
It's certainly not perfect: other reviews note some important missed topics and even with my only cursory knowledge of history I noticed a few inaccuracies (e.g., saying that Henry the VIII's roving eye fell on Anne Boleyn "soon" after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon when in fact over 15 years elapsed and the real problem was that of their 6 pregnancies/children, most died at birth and only one daughter, Mary, survived).
But overall I enjoyed the book and liked the connections it made for me. If I could only remember everything in this book, I would feel like I had a pretty solid grasp of the important events in world history. I clearly need a memory upgrade!
August 27, 2012
Not bad. The book was quick and informative, with attempts to be truly global in its reach (although it did not reach my academic specialization, 20th-century Brazil). On the other hand, the book's historiography was far too Whig for my liking: the Protestant Reformation was portrayed as a Good Thing, for example. A good enough book for beginners if they realize that history can be interpreted a myriad of ways: Lascelles' version is far from being the only correct way to see world history.
March 21, 2012
Wonderfully concise and yet still informative narrative of the key points in history. An excellent first read for all budding historians without all the lengthy hyperbole of some stodgy tomes. Highly recommended.
December 24, 2023
Gross oversimplification and a few factual mistakes asides it lives up to its purpose of providing a broad overview of world history.
October 28, 2012
This book on a short history of the world overall was well constructed and read easily. Though I am not a history buff per se I am always interested in how history impacts our lives today and maybe get some insight as to what is in store. Christopher Lascelles related this past in an interesting way and for me shed light on what seems to be constants in our past that will probably dictate our future. The themes seem to be power, war, religion, and economics.
As the book moves right along being a short history one can readily see how these play out again and again. Lascelles intersperses maps throughout much of the book to give a visual tie in on how things looked geographically during the period at hand. Though they were helpful as a visual, on my electronic media they were a bit difficult to view as clarity of the type was not that great.
Overall as a work giving a fast moving account on such a far reaching subject I would definitely recommend it. I found myself highlighting passages throughout that I had not known even though I am fairly well versed on world history. For those looking for a good overview on the subject without getting too bogged down in detail this would fit the bill. A concise and enjoyable read.
As the book moves right along being a short history one can readily see how these play out again and again. Lascelles intersperses maps throughout much of the book to give a visual tie in on how things looked geographically during the period at hand. Though they were helpful as a visual, on my electronic media they were a bit difficult to view as clarity of the type was not that great.
Overall as a work giving a fast moving account on such a far reaching subject I would definitely recommend it. I found myself highlighting passages throughout that I had not known even though I am fairly well versed on world history. For those looking for a good overview on the subject without getting too bogged down in detail this would fit the bill. A concise and enjoyable read.
March 31, 2012
Full disclosure: I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads program.
As someone with an interest in history and maybe a slightly better than average knowledge basis, I was excited and nervous to read this book. I was excited to fill in gaps in my knowledge but nervous that the book would gloss over or super-simplify things or not keep my interest. But the book really was everything it promised to be: "succinct yet broad." The book provided a good jumping off point for topics that I wanted to learn more about and a basic understanding of things I was less interested in. The way it was written in short sections with a topic heading made it easy to put down and pick up if I didn't have a lot of time to read at any given point in my day. The timeline in the back really helped to tie everything together. The book did seem slightly western-centric but explained this by saying that there is just less information about those times and places (ie, Native American cultures before the Vikings). I would recommend this to anyone who wants to brush up on any part of their history. I've already recommended it to my mom and sister who are both excited to read it.
As someone with an interest in history and maybe a slightly better than average knowledge basis, I was excited and nervous to read this book. I was excited to fill in gaps in my knowledge but nervous that the book would gloss over or super-simplify things or not keep my interest. But the book really was everything it promised to be: "succinct yet broad." The book provided a good jumping off point for topics that I wanted to learn more about and a basic understanding of things I was less interested in. The way it was written in short sections with a topic heading made it easy to put down and pick up if I didn't have a lot of time to read at any given point in my day. The timeline in the back really helped to tie everything together. The book did seem slightly western-centric but explained this by saying that there is just less information about those times and places (ie, Native American cultures before the Vikings). I would recommend this to anyone who wants to brush up on any part of their history. I've already recommended it to my mom and sister who are both excited to read it.
March 14, 2014
a world history lesson, but it's a short book: and in an amazingly small text Lascelles grabs historically significant people and places and tells you how they tie together. Very well written - surprisingly interesting - easy to read. My only complaint is that the maps were hard to see on my Kindle and couldn't be enlarged. But that's a function of my Kindle and not the author's fault.
September 22, 2020
History is generally taught in an episodic, fragmentary fashion, leaving students with a lifelong lack of understanding as to how each part relates to the whole. We learn about the Fire of London, Christopher Columbus and the Second World War, but we are seldom given a coherent picture of how they all fit together.
Those who wish they had a better general knowledge of world history often find themselves time-poor and caught up in information overload. The result is that not everyone has the time, or the focus, to read a long history book.
This book is a response to all these problems. It aims to give a short and succinct yet broad overview of the key developments and events in the history of mankind in a way that is, I hope, enlightening and interesting. The inclusion of 32 different maps should allow readers to visualise where events occurred and how they relate to each other.
Those who wish they had a better general knowledge of world history often find themselves time-poor and caught up in information overload. The result is that not everyone has the time, or the focus, to read a long history book.
This book is a response to all these problems. It aims to give a short and succinct yet broad overview of the key developments and events in the history of mankind in a way that is, I hope, enlightening and interesting. The inclusion of 32 different maps should allow readers to visualise where events occurred and how they relate to each other.
October 30, 2024
My new bedtime story! This book is absolutely perfect for falling asleep. It's interesting enough to keep coming back, but it doesn't say anything new, so you can check out any time, and won't miss much. Narrator had a soothing voice very appropriate for content of the book. I'll listen to this again from the beginning tonight!
May 25, 2012
This is THE history book everyone should read! It does exactly as its title implies, it's a brilliant, short history of the world and it is full of information. It touches on nearly all subjects, continents, peoples, leaders, events, etc... that everyone should know about, but it does so in an easy, likeable way, not like some stodgy, professor who has been teaching/droning history for years. This book is a great introduction to the world: it educates and entertains!
May 5, 2018
The generous third star is awarded to the excellent narrator of the audio book version.
I realize that Mr. Lascelles had to pick and choose his events to create a “short history” but he left out an entire continent and gave short shrift to others. This book would have been better titled “A short history of the world as told by a white man”.
Disappointing.
I realize that Mr. Lascelles had to pick and choose his events to create a “short history” but he left out an entire continent and gave short shrift to others. This book would have been better titled “A short history of the world as told by a white man”.
Disappointing.
Want to read
March 6, 2014Wanda says: "There are maps - 32 of them! I am swooning. Click on Read Book and read it on your computer, iPhone or tablet. Fun! "
Who can resist that?
Who can resist that?
January 16, 2016
Incredible book - very captivating, and the only history book I've read written in a sequential format making it easy to see where major events in history tie into one another.
August 16, 2021
Most of the book is fine but wtf is this…
“The establishment of the the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 was met by a joint military offensive of Arab countries including Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, only for Israel to reverse the situation and increase the territory it had been given by a third. During this conflict, some 500,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled or fled in panic in what has since become known as the ‘Nakba’, the Arabic word for catastrophe. The UN partition plan proved to be a terrible failure and laid the foundation for repeated conflicts in the Middle East such as the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973. The latter of these led to a global increase in the price of oil that directly contributed to a severe world recession.”
“Led to a global increase in the price of oil” lol I wonder why that was?
Also “joint military offensive” has to be the euphemism of the century
“The establishment of the the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 was met by a joint military offensive of Arab countries including Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, only for Israel to reverse the situation and increase the territory it had been given by a third. During this conflict, some 500,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled or fled in panic in what has since become known as the ‘Nakba’, the Arabic word for catastrophe. The UN partition plan proved to be a terrible failure and laid the foundation for repeated conflicts in the Middle East such as the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973. The latter of these led to a global increase in the price of oil that directly contributed to a severe world recession.”
“Led to a global increase in the price of oil” lol I wonder why that was?
Also “joint military offensive” has to be the euphemism of the century
July 16, 2019
For a book that claims to be a history of the WORLD it sure gives the majority of the book’s attention to Europe and about 5 sentences to Africa. Also weirdly judgey for a book that purports to be just a history. Also, the Bible got cited as a straight up historical document and that just... that just ain’t right. The author’s biases definitely showed and it seems like little was done to curtail them. Additionally, just so so many things left in the book that should have been caught in copy edits. Yikes.
That said, I did learn some interesting stuff I wasn’t aware of before.
That said, I did learn some interesting stuff I wasn’t aware of before.
July 6, 2021
Comprehensive!
Spectacular and faultlessly jotted down.
Spectacular and faultlessly jotted down.
March 11, 2019
Very well structured
It covered most of human history in a short and concise way, very interesting to see where did humans turn their fate throughout the history.
It covered most of human history in a short and concise way, very interesting to see where did humans turn their fate throughout the history.
April 7, 2012
A Short History of the World is a very well written account of world history from the start of the planet (the Big Band theory) to the events of the 20th century and ending with what we can expect from the near future in terms of our natural resources and the world's population.
The book flows easily and clearly through all phases of world history. It gives short, concise details and moves on to the next chapter. This is a history book that anyone, whether you're a history buff or someone just wanting a general overview, will enjoy reading.
Included in the book are 33 maps which show the changing world and a easy to read and follow timeline which shows the changing continents, religions, key events and key people.
This would be a great starting book for students, teachers and anyone with little knowledge of the world's history.
I would recommend this book for everyone.
I won this book through FirstRead GoodRead contest and my review is unsolicited
The book flows easily and clearly through all phases of world history. It gives short, concise details and moves on to the next chapter. This is a history book that anyone, whether you're a history buff or someone just wanting a general overview, will enjoy reading.
Included in the book are 33 maps which show the changing world and a easy to read and follow timeline which shows the changing continents, religions, key events and key people.
This would be a great starting book for students, teachers and anyone with little knowledge of the world's history.
I would recommend this book for everyone.
I won this book through FirstRead GoodRead contest and my review is unsolicited
July 23, 2012
This is an amazing history book. It is very concise but keeps you well informed about what was going on from the start of the world to today, including minor sections for explaining the religions going on through the times. I was amazed about how it connected past events to what was going in the next section and showed the relationships of the different countries in each era making a good flowing read.
I've read history textbooks for school before and often they give a lot of "fluff" details and aren't written very well but I found that it was the opposite for this book. The book is pretty engaging, there are many helpful maps (33 to be exact), footnotes, and mini sections to explain an idea or religion that was mentioned.
I would recommend this book for anyone! I'm glad I received it through the first reads program. It gives a way to brush up on history of the world in an easy, fun (but complete) way!
I've read history textbooks for school before and often they give a lot of "fluff" details and aren't written very well but I found that it was the opposite for this book. The book is pretty engaging, there are many helpful maps (33 to be exact), footnotes, and mini sections to explain an idea or religion that was mentioned.
I would recommend this book for anyone! I'm glad I received it through the first reads program. It gives a way to brush up on history of the world in an easy, fun (but complete) way!
April 7, 2018
Excellent, brief history of the WHOLE world
While dubious at first of the author's ability to describe even the highlights of the entire planet, I ended up being very impressed of how he identified the critical path events and do it in a concise manner. While there is much that got left behind, this discourse provides an excellent overview from which the reader can decide where to delve into grater depths. I would recommend to all to help develop a better understanding of what was going on in different parts of the globe that may not have been highlighted in each of our national perspectives of the world.
While dubious at first of the author's ability to describe even the highlights of the entire planet, I ended up being very impressed of how he identified the critical path events and do it in a concise manner. While there is much that got left behind, this discourse provides an excellent overview from which the reader can decide where to delve into grater depths. I would recommend to all to help develop a better understanding of what was going on in different parts of the globe that may not have been highlighted in each of our national perspectives of the world.
May 12, 2017
A short history of the world must pick and choose what is important. The author does try and move outside the European-centric history which is all the history education I ever received in school. I appreciate trying to get a more balanced view of the world but to me there seemed to be a marked Anglophile bias in the presentation. Major events are missing, inaccuracies show up. I thought it was a good overview, the writing was straightforward. I thought it was an okay book.
January 19, 2013
I never was into world history. This book was great. It held my interest, and I learned a great deal about our world.
I was also a hard read. Only 174 pages and it took me three weeks worth of lunch breaks to get it all.
I was also a hard read. Only 174 pages and it took me three weeks worth of lunch breaks to get it all.
Read
September 23, 2024Book Review 📖
Book Name: A short History of the
Author: Christopher Lascelles.
People always suggest me that in the world of 21st century you do not need to read books, we are living in the world of technology you just need to put a keyword on Google and everything in front of you in just a click. Yes! I agreed with all of them but I believe that when you read a book of 200 or 300 pages, you just not getting a knowledge of these pages but you are gaining whole experience of author' s life, you are understanding how he has analyzed the world and how he has been describing situations in simple words. Like this book 👇
The book A short History of the world has written by Christopher Lascelles, he studied modern language and history at St Andrews university of Scotland. His experience living in Russia, France, Italy, India and all around world made him curious about how world history fits together in a bigger picture and that drove him to write this book.
It starts from the beginning of the world (Big Bang) to the 21st century of the world and how human came out from hunter gathering to farming? When was stone age, bronze and iron ages in the world? that how they tie into one another, He described very comphrensively and a clear way that where did the world's great civilizations(3500 BC to 500 AD) developed and how disappeared from the world map. He writes about The Early Middle ages ( 500 AD to 1000) and define how people surge out from The Dark ages, greatest empires of the time and define the legacy of Mongols, the crusades and who was Kublai Khan? Christopher has provide a very detailed history of The ascent of the west (1450AD to 1780 AD). including so many brilliant topics such as the European Reformation, the Colonisation of North America, Alexander the Great, Buddhism, The Unification of China where he discusses the Warning States Period, the first emperor of China Shi Huang-Ti and also the largest man-made wall known as the Great Wall of China. He furthermore writes on the Roman Republic, Punic Wars, Jesus: the Birth of Christianity and Decline of Rome which was caused due to several reasons. For instance, lack of a bold leadership, the rise of the eastern empires, civil wars between renegade armies and so on.
As student we had listend about fire of London, Christopher Columbus, first and second world war, Napoleon may well have been defeated at Waterloo but on earth where was Waterloo? With that this book give a deatil concept of the 20th century how 20th century destroy the world that many of the nations still struggling to emerge out from diastor. The writer helps the reader put events, places and empires into context and understand.
The book A short History of the world a clearly written and comphrensive guide book. In an age when schools have forgotten the importance of narrative history, anyone can pick up this book and learn an instant where the great people and events of the past fit in.
Book Review by: Kishor Kumar Suthar
#bookreview #booktoday #Pakistan #history #historyoftheworld #bookstagram
Book Name: A short History of the
Author: Christopher Lascelles.
People always suggest me that in the world of 21st century you do not need to read books, we are living in the world of technology you just need to put a keyword on Google and everything in front of you in just a click. Yes! I agreed with all of them but I believe that when you read a book of 200 or 300 pages, you just not getting a knowledge of these pages but you are gaining whole experience of author' s life, you are understanding how he has analyzed the world and how he has been describing situations in simple words. Like this book 👇
The book A short History of the world has written by Christopher Lascelles, he studied modern language and history at St Andrews university of Scotland. His experience living in Russia, France, Italy, India and all around world made him curious about how world history fits together in a bigger picture and that drove him to write this book.
It starts from the beginning of the world (Big Bang) to the 21st century of the world and how human came out from hunter gathering to farming? When was stone age, bronze and iron ages in the world? that how they tie into one another, He described very comphrensively and a clear way that where did the world's great civilizations(3500 BC to 500 AD) developed and how disappeared from the world map. He writes about The Early Middle ages ( 500 AD to 1000) and define how people surge out from The Dark ages, greatest empires of the time and define the legacy of Mongols, the crusades and who was Kublai Khan? Christopher has provide a very detailed history of The ascent of the west (1450AD to 1780 AD). including so many brilliant topics such as the European Reformation, the Colonisation of North America, Alexander the Great, Buddhism, The Unification of China where he discusses the Warning States Period, the first emperor of China Shi Huang-Ti and also the largest man-made wall known as the Great Wall of China. He furthermore writes on the Roman Republic, Punic Wars, Jesus: the Birth of Christianity and Decline of Rome which was caused due to several reasons. For instance, lack of a bold leadership, the rise of the eastern empires, civil wars between renegade armies and so on.
As student we had listend about fire of London, Christopher Columbus, first and second world war, Napoleon may well have been defeated at Waterloo but on earth where was Waterloo? With that this book give a deatil concept of the 20th century how 20th century destroy the world that many of the nations still struggling to emerge out from diastor. The writer helps the reader put events, places and empires into context and understand.
The book A short History of the world a clearly written and comphrensive guide book. In an age when schools have forgotten the importance of narrative history, anyone can pick up this book and learn an instant where the great people and events of the past fit in.
Book Review by: Kishor Kumar Suthar
#bookreview #booktoday #Pakistan #history #historyoftheworld #bookstagram
September 29, 2020
I'm not the type that generally enjoys history. I'd say it was my least favorite subject in school, or maybe tied with English (I hated to read, and even now have a on again/off again relationship with reading which I'm trying to keep "on again"). So, a history book needs to more than meet me halfway to capture my interest and this one mostly did not.
The book does do what it says, for the most part. It captures history from the beginning (i.e. big bang) to as current as it could be, and does it in less than 200 pages. Given 13 billion years of universe history, 4 billion years of earth history, and something like 2 million years of human history packed into so few pages, things are bound to be missed or glanced over. Adding or expanding one event means removing or shortening another event, or adding to the length of the book. So, yeah, perhaps he missed some events, but I doubt if any book of this length would satisfy everyone and I think the intent was to keep the history of the world short.
In many cases, he does try to link events, so you get a "meanwhile in this area of the world". There is some attempt at trying to connect the dots.
For me, what didn't work is the book is so dense and switches from event to event so quickly and covers such major events in a sentence or a couple paragraphs. I think someone who has an adequate knowledge of history as a whole and general interest would find this book most beneficial. History buffs probably can speak more to where the book failed in its explanation. But for someone like me, who is largely ignorant and generally uninterested in history, but interested in wanting to be interested, the book just seems like a collection of facts that I mostly forgot. Is that the fault of the author? I don't think so. But from my perspective, it just didn't pull me in.
I did find the non-white historical events of the 1000s-1700s interesting and something I didn't realize, learning a largely European/American history in school. It's interesting to see how much Asian and Islamic influences contributed to the progress of humans.
The book does do what it says, for the most part. It captures history from the beginning (i.e. big bang) to as current as it could be, and does it in less than 200 pages. Given 13 billion years of universe history, 4 billion years of earth history, and something like 2 million years of human history packed into so few pages, things are bound to be missed or glanced over. Adding or expanding one event means removing or shortening another event, or adding to the length of the book. So, yeah, perhaps he missed some events, but I doubt if any book of this length would satisfy everyone and I think the intent was to keep the history of the world short.
In many cases, he does try to link events, so you get a "meanwhile in this area of the world". There is some attempt at trying to connect the dots.
For me, what didn't work is the book is so dense and switches from event to event so quickly and covers such major events in a sentence or a couple paragraphs. I think someone who has an adequate knowledge of history as a whole and general interest would find this book most beneficial. History buffs probably can speak more to where the book failed in its explanation. But for someone like me, who is largely ignorant and generally uninterested in history, but interested in wanting to be interested, the book just seems like a collection of facts that I mostly forgot. Is that the fault of the author? I don't think so. But from my perspective, it just didn't pull me in.
I did find the non-white historical events of the 1000s-1700s interesting and something I didn't realize, learning a largely European/American history in school. It's interesting to see how much Asian and Islamic influences contributed to the progress of humans.
September 26, 2021
[See end for info about the question I've asked!]
This was close to perfect for what I wanted: an overview short enough to be able to 'hold in mind' the major themes of history, so that when I read more detailed books, I could 'slot in' what I read to the big picture. Something that covered all the key things, and not too Eurocentric.
.
(Ultimately I don't have enough knowledge of world history to be the perfect judge.)
.
But to me it seemed to cover each major thrust of history with knowledge and intelligence, cleverly describing it in a few words that communicated its significance. It wasn't just a recounting of battles, but also touched on social-cultural stuff too (though I think the Renaissance and Enlightenment could have got a few more words, considering the effect they've had).
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The maps were very valuable to help understand. More history books should make liberal use of maps because without them, you get lost and may lose interest. They're essential.
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Sadly these days I'm easily bored as a reader so the fact that I read the whole thing is high praise: it was intelligent without being boring. I definitely learnt some new stuff I haven't picked up from all those docos I've watched.
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I liked it enough that this is my first in-depth GR review.
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I am now looking for the NEXT world history I should read, that is, say, 50-100% longer, with a bit more detail. Then eventually I am going to tackle a couple of those massive textbooks with all the pictures and maps and/or a similarly long world history. I'm after recommendations though for that next 'shorter' world history, and have asked a question on here!
This was close to perfect for what I wanted: an overview short enough to be able to 'hold in mind' the major themes of history, so that when I read more detailed books, I could 'slot in' what I read to the big picture. Something that covered all the key things, and not too Eurocentric.
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(Ultimately I don't have enough knowledge of world history to be the perfect judge.)
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But to me it seemed to cover each major thrust of history with knowledge and intelligence, cleverly describing it in a few words that communicated its significance. It wasn't just a recounting of battles, but also touched on social-cultural stuff too (though I think the Renaissance and Enlightenment could have got a few more words, considering the effect they've had).
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The maps were very valuable to help understand. More history books should make liberal use of maps because without them, you get lost and may lose interest. They're essential.
.
Sadly these days I'm easily bored as a reader so the fact that I read the whole thing is high praise: it was intelligent without being boring. I definitely learnt some new stuff I haven't picked up from all those docos I've watched.
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I liked it enough that this is my first in-depth GR review.
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I am now looking for the NEXT world history I should read, that is, say, 50-100% longer, with a bit more detail. Then eventually I am going to tackle a couple of those massive textbooks with all the pictures and maps and/or a similarly long world history. I'm after recommendations though for that next 'shorter' world history, and have asked a question on here!
September 4, 2021
Christopher Lascelles deserves appreciation for collecting such a long history of human evolution into a single book. This is exactly what it claims to be - a short, very readable, history of the world, which I quite enjoyed and can imagine myself continuing to use as a basic reference work for general information. The frequent maps are a much welcome inclusion. The author was able to connect the dots of history. I like his style, history is not dull and he is able to convey this to the reader. True is indeed stranger than fiction, and Mr. Lascelles easily shows us this with his book. The book excellently gives a broad overview of the generally accepted version of events so that non-historians will feel less ignorant when discussing the past. While the book covers world history from the Big Bang to the present day, it principally covers key people, events, and empires since the dawn of the first civilizations in around 3500 BC. If you think you want an overview of all human history in a shortish dispassionate read, Christopher Lascelles Short History will entertain and inform. If you want more, Christopher Lascelles's blog (http://lascelleshistory.tumblr.com/) is designed to extend the reader’s experience.
September 18, 2022
I am not a person who had much interest in history because I think it is a boring subject and does not have much significance in our daily life but then I came to realized that "To be ignorant of what had happened before you were born is to be ever a child". I found this book which is very brief and cover every event of history so, as I started reading it I find it very interesting author explain everything in chronological order and he really helped readers put events, places and empires into context as where and how they fit in history. Christopher Lascelles explained every historical event from big bang to 21st century briefly in a way which will keep you interested in reading the book to end without missing anything important. Although in "The late middle ages" and "The modern period" at some point I think author focused mostly on Western, American and the History of china and less on central Asia but than again with such a broad subject to cover it is difficult to please everyone one. If you are really not interested into learning history I do recommend to read this book at least for some brief general knowledge of history. You will learn about history very clearly as how and when great events took place without getting bored.
March 21, 2021
This book does well to sample major events across 13 billion years of development. I appreciated the inclusion of Asian history, particularly relating to the Tigris and Euphrates and Middle Eastern events, and the little he included of North and South American history, but wished for more. As he says in the beginning, history can get overwhelming without also providing a context, such as where in the world events took place and events that preceded major historical events, and he did attempt to provide some of this contextualizing. I was interested in the context of history and also in cross-references to historical events taking place at the same time but in vastly different areas of the world. However, most of this book focused on European and later American history towards the end. Furthermore, much of his narrative includes such judgemental language and questionable quotations as to be distracting and sometimes annoying, and possibly misleading. I`d recommend it for people who are looking for a quick taste of history from which they can choose to follow up with further reading on events that piqued their interest.
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