The Story of Man

by Cyril Aydon

1st edition Constable 2007 1st printing as new hardcover book fine condition dw owners name inside , In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, World History, Anthropology, Politics

452 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Cyril Aydon is a full-time writer. His previous works include A Brief Guide to Charles Darwin and Scientific Curiosities. He lives in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Reviews

[Sara Zovko · Rating 4 out of 5]

150 000 godina ljudske povijesti u jednoj knjizi. Od najranijih dana, početka ljudske civilizacije, do našeg doba.

[WarpDrive · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just bad - so bad that I had to stop midway - something that I do very rarely.
Had the author bothered to check and remove the too many glaring factual errors, rather than trying to shove his woke ideology and his crude, coarse-grained atheistic agenda down the unfortunate reader's throat, he might have delivered something worth spending some time and attention to.
There is a time and a place for this kind of discussions (and I may agree with some of the author's opinions) but definitely not in a serious history book.
The level of oversimplification and the one-sided, obsolete and amateurish interpretative approach are disheartening; I am not sure if this is a result of the author's intellectual laziness or his poor knowledge of the subject matter, but the result is ultimately dismal.
Yes, there is a definitely an important place for popular history, and you do not always necessarily need to be a professional historian to deliver something meaningful, but this is not an excuse for the general level of inaccuracy and oversimplification exhibited by this book, which is, I am afraid to say, something of History Channel-"quality".
A complete waste of time. Enough said.

[Cristian de Lima · Rating 3 out of 5]

good one to start a deeper study about the historical subjects of our humanity

["How Do You Pronounce That?" · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've recently spent a lot of time looking at photographs: old and new, bad and good. Can there be a bad photo? A bad piece of art? I say yes. Here's why this book sucked but I'll pretend its a photograph.

First off, this book was far too much in one frame. You can't expect to take a photo of an entire mountain range without it looking grossly overcrowded. Panoramas are only a pleasing picture when there is still regard for how everything comes together. There was no overarching narrative despite the claim that there was.

Then there comes the issue of there not being enough of anything. I mean, you have this picture of everything and yet it still feels empty. If you choose to commit to absolutely jam packing the frame with stuff, leaving empty spaces just looks like laziness. How on Earth can someone make such a loaded topic seem empty? Beats me.

Typically when an artist has to apologize for his work before he shows it to you, there are two reasons: 1) He is a phenomenal artist who's pursuit of perfection has driven him to the point where the only mistakes left are beyond his capabilities to correct them as a human being; 2) He knows his failures are prominent in the work and hopes that by acknowledging them himself he can somehow make the mistakes look like intentional choices. Guess which one happened here? I mean really, why on Earth did I not see the red flag?

Certain pictures have these amazing qualities to them. Some are incredibly sharp and detailed, drawing careful attention to every blade of grass and wick of moisture present - a testament to the wonders of technology and technique. Others are blurry and hard to decipher; yet, they are still good photographs because the effect looks intentional and not a result of any unforeseen circumstance. An artist is someone who can take all that is thrown at him and make it look as though it was part of his master plan. It's all a matter of using the right lens to take your picture. In this case, the lens was sharp in some places, fuzzy in the others, altogether blacked out in some spots, and hopelessly overexposed in others. I mean, it just felt so all-over the place. There was no intention behind his choice to include or omit certain events - even if there was, it came out a jumbled mess.

Further on the vein of technique, this book had no finesse. There was no regard for using interesting language or punctuation; we were limited to the comma, period, and same sentence structure put on loop for 400 pages. Perhaps this is the nit-picking nature I have, but I digress: starting a sentence with 'but' when a much better sentence could be written is not the work of a career author. Just because you write non-fiction does not excuse you from considering your language and how to best convey your information!

Finally, the cherry-on-top of this troubled sundae: the wrong title is put on the photo. How do you manage to get wrong the monumental dates of the deaths of Jesus and Hitler? How?

Now to take the role of a more traditional art critic and begin my critique of the subjective. I think that some of Mr. Aydon's takes are utterly moronic. No, Keynes is not one of humanity's brightest, nor was he the model for postwar society. I am of the belief that if you are to mention Keynes, you must also at the very lest mention Hayek or Friedman. The two and their contrast of ideas are necessary to mention in a discussion of postwar economics. Also, I think Aydon doesn't understand how Keynesianism works. Furthermore, Aydon seems to attribute any and all successes made by Europe to be the fault of luck or by the graces of a higher, superior society showing them something. Endless apologies and excuses were made for the Chinese and Australians whose cultures were the products of careful choices and sophistication in its purest form. I mean, if you're going to take that route, at least take it well: structure your book around comparison and similarities of cultures and rates if change. Mr. Aydon, to me at least, seems as though his desire to be 'correct' in his interpretation of history led him into a rut where nothing good nor of substance was produced.

It was pretty boring too.

Want a better read? Check out the authors he recommended at the back of the book: Jared Diamond, Stephen Oppenheimer, Robin Dunbar, and (my own addition) Yuval Noah Hariri.

This book was ambitious, but not impossible. Unfortunately, Mr. Aydon couldn't deliver what he claimed to and left us with a mess that never truly committed to anything it did.

1.5/5

[Russell James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takes us from pre-human history to just before the 2008 Crash (how Aydon must have cursed cruel Fate) ending with what seemed then 'The Irish Miracle'. Lucid and splendidly opinionated. A huge subject deftly handled.

[David Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!
A must read for those who know, we as humans are much more alike than different.
So much is covered, and in a masterful way.
The periods I thought would be boring became my favourites. A book that covered it all without going too far on any one part of our history.

[Rohit Varma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. The edition that I just read - which I had picked up in Singapore about 10 years ago or so - is titled The Story of Man.

[Oguzcan Yesilyaprak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap insan türünün şaşırtıcı öyküsünü kısaca özetlerken,insanoğlunun Afrika dışına çıkmasından, yerleşik hayata geçişini detaylı ve kaynak belirterek okuyucuya aktarıyor. Tarımın ortaya çıkışı, dilin ve dinin yayılması, büyük medeniyetlerin yükselişi, Endüstri Devrimi ve 21. yüzyılın teknolojik gelişmelerine doğru birçok bilgiyi de okuyucuya aktaran kitap kimi yerde kaynak belirtemese de kaynak olmayan yerde kaynbağın neden eksik olduğunu belirtirken ele bilgilerden o bilgiyi okuyucuya aktardığını vurguluyor.
Aydon, hayvanların evcilleştirilmesinden para icadı,modern Çin’in yükselişi,rayların ülkelere yayılışı gibi birçok bilgi içeririken son olarak geçmişe dönük bilgilerden ve yıllara göre insan nüfusunun gelişiminden bahsediyor.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Както се казваше едно време в училище, тази книга представлява един преговор с допълнение. Да напишеш история на човечеството в 400 страници си е постижение. Авторът е успял сравнително неутрално да представи най-значимите събития на човечеството в един много достъпен стил. Беше ми приятно да си преподредя мозайката от исторически събития и дори да науча някои нови неща.

[Serkan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very concise summary of world history. It is a good read for beginners to history however will not satisfy the history fans since it covers the basic historical facts in general and thus not include any insights or a different perspective. I would suggest this to the people who are new to the subject.

[Mimi Kiryakova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps a very long read on my part for a “little book” as the author calls it. A lot of information packed in but gives a great understanding of how the world came to be. The chronological table and recommended literature at the end are very much appreciated :)

[Thady · Rating 4 out of 5]

All you ever needed to know and ever will about the spread of humans, our development as a species and the good and harm we've done and continue to do

[Halil Asarli · Rating 5 out of 5]

bbvc

[Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente, everyone should it!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally managed to finish a book!!!! It wasn't the book's fault that it took me so long to read.
I really enjoyed this book. The reason is because it gives an overview of history, starting 150,000 years ago, in broad strokes. As the back of the book says: it gives history not as a series of names and dates but as "developments that have shaped the lives of human beings around the globe[.:]" And I like my history in this way, big, broad sweeps that I can more or less remember.
I also liked how the author took those big developments, especially the ones that happened early like the Bronze Age or the Iron Age and helped me understand just how much work went into these developments and how they effected ordinary people. Plus how the effect spread into many different aspects of life. And not just of "technology" but the domestication of animals and plants, how the movement from hunting/gathering to agriculture played such a huge role in civilizing peoples, how not just domesticating the horse but finally (after 2000 years) figuring out how to ride it effected warfare, how disease played a role in how one country could and did conquer another country or peoples, etc.
I also liked it when the author would from time to time editorialize. For eg, while discussing the Cold War and America's position about the "free world", the author says: "What mattered was maintaining the power and freedom of action of America and its friends. That didn't necessarily make it bad, but it does no harm to call things by their proper names. The "free world" is a weasel phrase that was, and is, used to cover up much that is not very free at all." I just think that is funny!
Again, I really liked this book. And there is a whole series of them. I intend to read more.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

+
Приятно поднесена разходка във времето за опресняване на знанията (ако човек не се вторачва в недомислици като "ухото на плуга" или "Същевременно (1860 г.) нарастването на населението на големите индустриални центрове във Великобритания довело до нарастване на необходимостта от хранителна енергия под формата на захар.")
Припомня не само какво се е случило, но и обяснява защо.

-
Много, много грешки от всякакъв източник и естество.
На автора, понеже историята и науката са му хоби, могат да се простят някои дребни пропуски. Но не и на останалите, отделили (или не) време за тази книга. На тях това им е работата.
Но това е Сиела все пак, нищо ново. Всеки ропот е излишен, глас в пустиня.

(И съвсем в скоби, що за естетическо чувство вирее там? Под тази хубава корица се бият шрифтове и размери на буквите...)

[Scott Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first picked up this work, it had potential. Granted, to try and have a single volume cover the whole history of mankind is probably not a realistic goal, but it showed some promise of covering some key eras, locations. Yet, especially towards the end, there appeared some rather glaring factual and date errors...the type of things that even a decent editor should have caught. The work went quickly, but I was quite disappointed when finished, especially with some of the issues.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a concise summary of 150, 000 years of human history. Aydon takes us from the ice age right up until the internet age. Her style is effortless and never dry. Good for fans of brief histories or anyone wishing for an accessible overview of world wars, agricultural revolutions and new technologies.

[David Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read, but not really what I was looking for. It gave the impression it was a book on the mindset/attitude/zeitgeist etc of mankind in a certain age in time, a more organic free flowing book on changes in perception of the world - we humans inhabit: what it is, is a history book, not a bad one, but not really what I was after. Still, a pleasant read.

[Marija S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four stars instead of three is not due to the content itself, because attempting to summarize thousands of years of history in 360 pages is nothing short of ludicrous, but because of the point of view which refrains from glossed-over stereotype history book lessons. A recommendable book as basis for further reading.

Notable Croatian translation by Predrag Raos.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Story of Man in just 425 pages! It was a nice broad brush 10,000 foot level history until on page 363 the author writes that Adolf Hitler committed suicide in January of 1945. A massive historical mistake. It wrecked the entire book for me.

Of course we all make mistakes but this was a huge blunder and for me called all other facts to question.

[Welzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una muy buena novela que nos lleva desde los orígenes del hombre hasta la actualidad. La única pega que le pongo es que confunde a Isabel la Católica con Isabel la mujer de Carlos I de España. Pero a parte de eso un gran libro.

[Matthew Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was fantastic, but thats because im a fan of history being told in the wider sense. He does a fantastic job of cutting out the boring bits and focusing on what was the route cause of broader changes. Though it did take me 3 years or so to get around to finishing it.

[Paulo Villaverde Novais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro muito bem escrito e sucinto. Em poucas páginas, o autor teve a mestria de "navegar" pelos últimos 150 mil anos da nossa história, de forma bastante lúcida, sem cair na tentação de julgar e adjectivar permanentemente a nossa própria história. Um bom momento de leitura.

[Cobramor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Childish like and too many incorrections, like the date that jesus and hitler died. If you can't get that right, you can't get anything else right.