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A Little History of the World, by E. H. Gombrich
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In 'A Little History of the World' Ernst Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. There emerges a colourful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, the spread and limitations of science and tribes evolving towards society.
- Sales Rank: #24130 in Books
- Brand: Yale University Press
- Published on: 2008-10-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x 5.50" w x 1.00" l, .79 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This is an unusual work for Yale: a children's history originally published 70 years ago. But it is a work one can quickly come to love. Gombrich, later known as an art historian, wrote this primer in 1935, when he was a young man in Vienna (it was soon banned by the Nazis as too "pacifist"). Rewritten (and updated) in English mainly by Gombrich himself (who died in 2001, age 92, while working on it), the book is still aimed at children, as the language makes clear: "Then, slowly the clouds parted to reveal the starry night of the Middle Ages." But while he addresses his readers directly at times, Gombrich never talks down to them. Using vivid imagery, storytelling and sly humor, he brings history to life in a way that adults as well as children can appreciate.The book displays a breadth of knowledge, as Gombrich begins with prehistoric man and ends with the close of WWII. In the final, newly added chapter, Gombrich's tone sadly darkens as he relates the rise of Hitler and his own escape from the Holocaust—children, he writes, "must learn from history how easy it is for human beings to be transformed into inhuman beings"—and ends on a note of cautious optimism about humanity's future. (Oct. 13)
Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This is the first English translation of a book written in 1935 in German and translated into 18 languages. Thirty years later, a second German edition was published with a new final chapter. In 40 brief chapters, Gombrich relates the history of humankind from the Stone Age through World War II. In between are historic accounts of such topics as cave people and their inventions (including speech), ancient life along the Nile and in Mesopotamia and Greece, the growth of religion, the Dark Ages, the age of chivalry, the New World, and the Thirty Years' War. Much of this history is told through concise sketches of such figures as Confucius, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Jesus Christ, Charlemagne, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon, and Columbus. Gombrich was asked to write a history geared to younger readers, so the book is filled with innumerable dates and facts, yet it is one to be read by adults. With 41 black-and-white woodcut illustrations and nine maps, it is a timeless and engaging narrative of the human race. George Cohen
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"This little history' has aged amazingly well."
"This little history' has aged amazingly well."
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"The true fairy tale of the evolution of mankind.""--Die Zeit
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"This 'little history' has aged amazingly well."
0;This 6;little history7; has aged amazingly well.1;
0;The true fairy tale of the evolution of mankind.1; "2;Die Zeit
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"Imagine the full story of human habitation on our planet being told in such flowing prose that you want to read it out loud. If you can''t imagine that, read "A Little History of the World "and experience it!"--Patricia S. Schroeder, President & CEO of the Association of American Publishers and Former U.S. Representative from Colorado
-- Patricia S. Schroeder "7."
"Magical, transporting. . . . A children''s history that adults will want to sneak off with and read on the sly."-VeryShortList.com
N -- Best Book of the Year Selection "Los Angeles Times" (01/01/2005)
"Brilliant, irresistible: a wonderful surprise." -- Philip Pullman "Philip Pullman"
"Brilliant, irresistible: a wonderful surprise."Philip Pullman -- Philip Pullman "Philip Pullman"
"Christmas gift of the year is surely . . . A Little History of the World. This is a magical work for children. . . . Perfect for bedrime reading." -- John Banville "Irish Times"
"His enthusiasm for his subject is irresistible... With Gombrich's Little History, at last available in English there will be many generations of future historians who will attribute to it their lifelong passion for history - and for truth." -- Lisa Jardine "The Times" (09/13/2005)
"Though written for kids, this is a book the whole family will love."--Christy Karras, "Salt Lake Tribune" (Best Books of 2005)
--Christy Karras "Salt Lake Tribune "
.".. the main body of the book retains an irresistible, boyish energy and enthusiasm... Here, in this little book, are answers to many of the questions you never dared to ask."--Margaret Drabble, "New Statesman"
--Margaret Drabble"New Statesman" (11/25/2005)
"In simple, vivid prose, Gombrich surveys the human past from pre-history to his own time. . . . Lucky children will have this book read to them. Intelligent adults will read it for themselves and regain contact with the spirit of European humanism at its best."--Anthony Grafton, "Wall Street Journal"
--Anthony Grafton "Wall Street Journal "
"Gombrich accomplishes what many university-level Western Civilization classes cannot--a riveting account of events that shaped the world from the Stone Age to the 1930s, illustrating the relevance of history to current events. Teachers and schools should add this to their reading lists."--Claire Martin, "The Denver Post"
--Claire Martin"The Denver Post" (10/01/2008)
"A remarkable book, written in an amiable, conversational style, effortlessly explaining, without condescension, difficult matters like the achievements of Charlemagne, the monetary system of medieval Europe and the ideas of the Enlightenment. . . . This resurrected history deserves reading for all its delights."--Edward Rothstein, "New York Times"
--Edward Rothstein "New York Times "
"A brilliant piece of narrative, splendidly organised, told with an energy and confidence that are enormously attractive, and suffused with all the humanity and generosity of spirit that Gombrich''s thousands of admirers came to cherish during his long and richly productive life. It''s a wonderful surprise: irresistible, in fact."--Philip Pullman--Philip Pullman
"A masterpiece of nonfiction writing for children. It is a wry and charming book, perfectly suited to the capacities of a 10-year-old, but also remarkably free of condescension. An adult can read it with pleasure. And, indeed, with instruction."--Scott McLemee, "Newsday
"
--Scott McLemee "Newsday "
.".. ostensibly a book for children, designed to present a chronology of world history, but it''s a delight for all ages. The pages sparkle with the learned author''s wit and wisdom - and reading them, one feels as if Gombrich, one of the greatest ever art historians, is guiding one through time with a grandfatherly gleam in his eye."---;i>The Observer"
--Ben Schott"The Observer" (12/12/2005)
''...an enduring joy... We have no shortage of historians eager to tell us what was important in the past and why; but few of them dare speak straight to the imagination of young people, to open their minds and to enrich their vision in the manner that Gombrich achieves so effortlessly here.'' -;i>Times Higher Education Supplement"
--Peter Furtado"Times Higher Education Supplement" (03/10/2006)
"A beautifully concise volume [that] will remind readers of any age that the past 5,000 years have been one big slugfest between darkness and enlightenment, unreason and reason."--Mary Ann Gwinn, "Seattle Times"--Mary Ann Gwinn"Seattle Times" (10/23/2008)
"It is history to read aloud, on a cold evening, preferably by a fire."--Susan Salter Reynolds, "Los Angeles"" Times"
--Susan Salter Reynolds"Los Angeles Times" (10/01/2008)
'What was the bestselling title this Christmas at Foyles in London? Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning "Wolf Hall"? Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"? Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"? Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol"? No. It was EH Gombrich's "A Little History of the World.'"
--Mark Sanderson"The Sunday Telegraph" (01/17/2010)
Most helpful customer reviews
80 of 84 people found the following review helpful.
A Wonderful history of the World
By Andrew Liptak
In history, context is vital. Events seldom make sense when presented individually, and often, the only way to fully understand, comprehend and appreciate any given event in history is to know the chain of events that led to it. Learning about the Second World War is difficult without at least a basic knowledge of the First World War and how that was influenced by the Industrial revolution. Context is vital.
Over the weekend, I picked up a book that I've long wanted to read, shown to me by a friend several years ago when it was first translated into English: A Little History of the World. First written and published in 1936 (written in six weeks - SIX), this book covers a staggering amount of history, starting from the very beginnings of human history and culture, from the prehistoric eras, and running up through to the dropping of the atomic bombs in 1945. Needless to say, in 284 pages, this is not a book rife with specific details, names and dates. Rather, this is an extremely broad look at how human history progressed.
While there are plenty of details lacking, this book is not intended as a grand work of history. It's written simply, for a younger audience, to tell the tale of our existence - it helps to provide a broad context for our history to anyone who is mildly interested in the subject, and at this, the book succeeds wonderfully. As a student of history, I can appreciate the task at hand, and having read through the book in a day, I was astounded at just how much information is here. Almost every major era of human history is covered, and linked to the next - reading over the pages, we move from the Egyptian dynasties to ancient Babylon, to Greece, to Rome, to the Middle Ages and so on, up through to the present day. Most of the major events in the world are touched upon, but only so much to move the story along from point to point.
While there is a high degree to completeness to this volume, there are aspects of history that are not examined, even lightly - the American Civil War is talked about briefly, but only in the context of the role of Slavery (which is really not the right way to examine the war) nor is the European involvements in Africa really looked at, except in the context of the buildup to the First World War. This book is largely a view of the world through Western eyes, and talk from the Americas and Asia aren't really examined as much, which is a disappointment, not out of any sort of nationalistic sense, but to the degree to which some of the major events in US history have played in the world - the Great Depression is not mentioned (although the history here really ends after the end of the First World War), but there is very little about the history of Central and South America or Africa. Reading the preface, it was mentioned that Gombrich intended to expand the book with the translation of an English version that would have talked more about Shakespeare, the Bill of Rights and the English Civil War, but he passed away before he was able to do this. I would have been interested to see how he would have characterized the rest of the 20th century, with the incredible changes and advancements that we have experienced since the end of the Second World War.
That being said, this book is a good examination of the world from a very high level - while smaller details are largely not talked about (specific important battles, such as Marathon, Waterloo, etc, are mentioned), the notion of how all these events fit together is the dominant one - specific knowledge of battles is not really necessary at most points, save when they are truly decisive historically, changing the course of nation's histories. In my day of reading the book, I feel that I have a somewhat better understanding about how parts of the world fit together - while I knew most of the details of what had gone on, there were points in history where I was fuzzy on the broad details. This is a book that I wish I had read when I was in middle or high school, because of the broad examination here.
An interesting point that I found here was the voice to which Gombrich takes throughout - very light, and while military matters are covered frequently, warfare is never glorified - the preface notes that the publication of the book in Germany was halted because it was deemed too pacifist in Nazi Germany.
On an aesthetic level, the book is easy to read - the language is simple, intended for somewhat older children, and is divided into forty short chapters, each with a specific section of history. One of the most interesting parts here is the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter - a simple woodcut that is best representative of the theme or period of the chapter, which is very characteristic of the work here - it adds beauty and a bit of elegance to the pages here.
I loved every minute and every page of this book. While this is the broadest possible view of human history, it is done with skill and grace, with an impartial voice throughout, that points out our successes and our flaws as a race, with an incredible amount of wisdom behind it. To best describe this book is an introduction of history, from which any reader would be inspired to find more about any aspect of history that they so wished. I'm now going to make it a point to seek out his second major work, The Story of Art. In the meantime, this will become a treasured addition to my own library of books.
The title of this book can be somewhat misleading - A Simple History of the World might be more accurate, but A History of the World would be the best, because Gombrich has done a nearly impossible task - distilled the world's history into a concise, yet interesting story that is optimistic, critical and inspiring.
(Originally Posted to my blog)
58 of 63 people found the following review helpful.
easy to read STORY of history
By Ken Maguili
this relates history as if an older relative were sitting down and telling a child a story. full of mysteries, adventures and surprises...beautifully written...
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Every kid should read this, and good for adults too.
By Reviewer
Extremely well-written, thoughtful history. It touches on most of what an educated person should know in history. It's written in a very conversational manner, directed towards children, but is very readable for adults. Every kid should read this. Far, far better than most of what pretends to be history nowadays. It looks harder than it is, because you get smarter as you read and can read more. It doesn't cover the last several decades because the author passed away, but in the scheme of history over thousands of years, except for certain unique events, what's a couple of decades? The book makes you comfortable with the expanse of history. You can feel the intelligence, knowledge, and humanity of the man behind the book. I read it from the library, then bought one copy for my own family and several for gifts.
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