A Short History of the World

by Geoffrey Blainey

Book Overview

Here is a masterly account of the grand adventure of human history, brilliantly narrated by a distinguished historian.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566635071
• ISBN13: 9781566635073
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Short and Sweet

I always struggled with history: grammar school, high school, and college. I wish I had this book back then. It is easy to read and makes history enjoyable instead of the slog it was back in my school daze.

An interesting, fast paced journey through the history of mankind

As Geoffrey Blainey put it himself in the introduction, this book is a sinuous long journey which had to be fast, otherwise the destination would never be reached. This is not an encyclopaedia, but a sequence of narrative images designed to catch essential historical developments. The author tried to capture the most influential technological events and evolution of skills rather than listing dates and names. Although the book has a fine literary style, Geoffrey Blainey avoids as much as possible giving interpretation to the facts, and when he does it, he usually points that out. Of course, one can have an opinion by simply selecting the convenient facts, and every history book is open to criticism produced by people with strong opposing views. This book is not about detail, but about more about analysis of trends, patterns and evolution from a historical perspective. I liked the book because it offers a fresh perspective. This book manages to integrate quietly views that belong to many disciplines in discussing evolutionary trends that occurred over tens, hundreds or thousand of years. As an example, when Geoffrey describes Europe of 19th century he briefly flies over many wars that were fought over that period. Instead he chooses to talk about land usage, evolution of transportation, the role of wood, the impact of deforestation and the fragile balance between the cultivation of land for food and energy, the coal revolution and the nutrition value of the average meal across the continent. When you read that, you realise the environmental disaster of the wood based economy. You understand the gigantic role of oil in the modern world, and most importantly, that the change is around the corner when different form energy will transform the oil based economy. The historical impact of this type of change is incalculable. The author almost avoids the most talked about events. Perhaps this is why the most boring part is about WWII. I could not read it; it was all known stuff, and after you read all the previous chapters, you feel that WWII really is just a detail, albeit an important one, in the long history. We talk a lot about it because it is closer to us in time. To be honest, I think it was a wise choice, but other readers might have a different view. The book is divided into three parts: from dawn to the spread of the main religions (Christianity, Buddhism and Islam), the conquest of the planet during Middle Age, reformation, and European scientific revolution and finally, the third stage starting with the American Revolution until today. The book has a natural flow, a way of placing the events so that you can see how they are interrelated to each other. I liked the attention paid to technology and its role in the creation of new worlds. The writing style is at times captivating and you cannot miss the passion when used to paint significant developments, especially when they occurred in the distant past. The author travels with you aroun

A panoramic analysis of the world's people

Geoffrey Blainey's SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD provides a panoramic analysis of the world's people during the last four million years; from before the human race moved out of Africa to explore other continents to modern times. Getting this lengthy history into a single volume and making it accessible to ordinary readers is no mean fete: Blainey's title provides plenty of intriguing insights into not just historical facts, but the sentiments and perceptions of those who lived the times.

A gallop through history

This book provides a fascinating and readable account -- even, at times, an absorbing and enthralling one -- of the whole history of the world. Obviously in such an effort some sacrifices have to be made. Some of the major political upheavals of history are given short shrift. Barely mentioned are the first Persian empire, the conquests of Alexander, the Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the Thirty Years War. What Blainey gives us instead is a gradually evolving look at the way life was lived: the crops, the farming techniques, the inventions, the technology, the philosophies and religions. The general political trends are there, as a backdrop, but Blainey's considerable narrative gifts are more often on display in his descriptions of social history. (The steam engine and the telegraph, for example, get more play than Napoleon.) He has a particular genius for creating vivid word pictures and making the strange and unfamiliar seem perfectly natural.He has gone to considerable trouble to bring in areas of the world often missing from such a "global" history: Africa, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. In fact, one of the amazing things about the book is that it DOES include so much material, and yet it never feels rushed. You'll find yourself going from the first fragile boats crossing the Pacific to the first moon landing without breaking a sweat. Only when you look back to the beginning -- which Blainey himself does in a final reflective chapter -- will you realize with a shock how much territory you've covered.

Highlights the major moments in human events

Short History Of the World is anything but short, despite its title: well over four hundred pages covers world history for the last four million years, from pre-African roots to modern times. Considering the expanse of time covered, however, Short History Of the World could well be an abbreviated modern history, highlighting the major moments in human events and providing a lively coverage of facts.