By Andrew Marr A History of the World (Reprint) [Paperback]

by Andrew Marr

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, The World

Paperback

About the author

Andrew Marr is a Scottish journalist. He is a graduate of Cambridge University and has had a long career in political journalism, working for the Scotsman, The Independent, The Economist, the Express and the Observer. From 2000 to 2005 he was the BBC's Political Editor. His broadcasting includes series on contemporary thinkers for BBC 2 and Radio 4, political documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama, and Radio 4's Start The Week'.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book for me: someone who knows very little about history. Provides a good scaffolding for me to dive into areas in more depth.

I wouldn't recommend it if you already know quite a lot about history.

[MR RA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a marathon of a book that was dense with fact without being dull. Some of the eras were familiar to me while others were completely unknown. An antidote to the Britain-centric history lessons I had as a child. Inspired to fill my knowledge gaps with more reading now. Especially about the Muslim world and China.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t finish this book, but I need a lot more headspace to do that than I have now. I’ll keep it handy for another time. What I’ve read so far is great.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of The World by Andrew Marr

9 out of 10


This History of The World is a wonderful, impressive, great book, as one critic said ‘it is an extraordinary achievement to put it all in 614 pages’, when the topic is addressed in immense volumes by other authors, and albeit it would be impossible to get much attention to say my realm, it is mentioned through Vlad The Impaler

A note on a massive book cannot do it justice, anyway, I will not be able to say anything more than the above, express my admiration and gratitude to Andrew Marr, because, together with some familiar stories, World War II and the recent past in particular, there are chapters, details that are new to the under signed
Take Saul aka Saint Paul or the Apostle Paul – he is credited by many theologians as being the ‘real founder’ of Christianity, as a world religion, the transmitter of that religion all around the Western Mediterranean- few have had as much influence on humanity, given that without Paul, the Nazarenes would have been forgotten

This would have remained a Jewish sect, which would have remained within Judaism, however much this is speculation and this is one of those games that are played – what if Hitler got accepted as a painter, or what we have later in the book, the story of Lenin, who was caught abroad by the convulsions in Russia and could have missed the big beano
As it is, the Germans played a crucial role, for they wanted to weaken Russia, and what better way than send there an agitator – he was packed in a closed train, and indeed, he created the calamity we all know, we could argue, I for one am convinced that we can trace the war in Ukraine and the would-be czar to those days in 1917

After all, Putin said that ‘the greatest catastrophe of the last century was the disintegration of the Soviet Union’, and what the despot does today is try to patch it back together, with Crimea, some years back, when we had those arguments, pacifiers and appeasers said give it to him and we will be fine, only he will never rest
We learn from history how those ‘peace loving leaders’ allowed Hitler to arm, to invade other countries – now the Pope, Francis, is a huge disillusionment, for he said the Ukraine has to get out the white flag and talk to Russia, to make peace, that will mean giving the tyrant the land he took, and maybe more, and that is anathema
Alas, many fools will not learn anything from history -for that matter, they are opaque to any knowledge, they embrace conspiracy theories, worship idiots, dictators or both, instead of rejecting Orange Jesus, Putin and the like, they embrace them, and accept any heinous act, because they are abject themselves, in my view

Andrew Marr dedicates a chapter to Leopold of Belgium and the atrocities committed in Congo, but this was not the only monster, European powers fought over the lands of Africa, and elsewhere – indeed, there has been a documentary last night, on TV5, the French global channel, looking at the abominations in Algeria
The French left Algeria just before I was born, in 1962, and they had engaged in torture, atrocious acts at that time, though the other side, in the name of independence and throwing out the colonizers did bomb and killed innocents too, the stories told by those who had been in service are unbelievable and disgusting

What comes to mind is how they killed so many, then, in order to identify the bodies, they would have soldiers cut the heads off, to take them to the headquarters, only later they would use cameras, then they had this fellow, who had been badly shot in the abdomen, taken out of hospital, only to be abused and harmed further
These are snapshots, and evidently there is so much more, the Holocaust, though Hitler is only the third biggest killer, the first is Mao, and then Stalin, in terms of tens of millions of humans killed by these ghouls…The History Boys https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/... comes to mind

In that glorious novel by Alan Bennett, we have a female teacher who says “History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men…What is history…History is women following behind with the bucket” – indeed, what we see today is a tendency to repeat what has happened, and perhaps go further
For me, the rise of Orange Jesus (the name given by leaders of what was some years ago the republican party, and now we can only call it the cult of an idiot) is an incredible phenomenon, nay, an apocalypse, if Russia, and other places with little, or no democratic tradition looks like a place where you could have such a moron, the US seemed unattainable

Worse still, it is not just this mad clown, if he would be the only issue, then we could wait a little, and seeing what he eats, the lack of exercise, the obesity (or at the very least excess weight) we would not have to be patient for 27 years, he will be gone, but what do you do with the more than seventy million primitives that adore him
They will have the same tastes (or lack thereof) the imbecility, baseness, or both, for to look at this buffoon, immoral, abject, crazy, a show case for Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and say this is my role model tells volumes about the standards, the goals, character of the voters…



Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

[J E N N Y ♔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting!

[Daniel Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a history book, Andrew Marr wrote an excellent overview of the history of humanity. From the first humans out of Africa to the present, this book gives a broad overview of mankind. Andrew Marr did not write a book on grand narratives or with a particular myth in mind. After all, this book is a book written only around 12 years ago. Instead, there is a nuanced view that particularly views history being experienced by all people. Here, he emphasises that despite all the grandeur of empires and ruling classes, there were many millions who suffered as peasants.

His view of empires is in many ways quite shocking because he doesn't view the Europeans as any worse than other groups and makes a point that had the Europeans not been the imperialists, another group would have. This is of course surprising given how much has changed in historical narratives in just 12 years to the views today of European empires being particularly awful in nature. That isn't to say he downplays European imperialism. The Belgian Congo, perhaps the most horrifying example of European imperialism was analysed.

What big ideas does Andrew Marr put forward about the history of humanity? For one, Andrew Marr is a geographic determinist. He argues at multiple points in history being shaped by geography in the society that comes out. For example, he argues that Mesa-American society was heavily impacted by the geographic features of volcanos storms and earthquakes, that helped create a "culture of doom". Ancient Greece was shaped by its mountainous nature into allowing hoplite warfare into development of democratic values. Another point developed is how the gradual development of agriculture led from relative egalitarianism in places like the ruins of Catalhoyuk in Turkey to the hierarchy of early Kingdom States like Ancient Egypt or Ancient China.

Andrew Marr seems to lack depth in his research. Indeed one of the issues I have had with this book is the lack of source material. Unlike other authors, he is quite honest about his research, however. The book mentions multiple different books as sources in the bibliography and there are a handful of citations. I have seen worse books than this but it was noticeable.

Another point of criticism was at times, Andrew Marr did get things mixed up and overly simplified. For example, he said it was the Sumerians who came up with the 7 day week. This in fact was the Babylonians, although various sources on the internet say they got this from the Sumerians. The other point that I found to be a misconception was Ancient Judaism. The book argued that it was the first form of monotheism, which is debatable on two accounts. Firstly, it is debated whether Judaism is older than Zoroastrianism which is also monotheistic. Secondly, it is also debatable whether Judaism was monotheistic because scholarship thinks that Judaism evolved over time from more polytheistic roots and to a position of henotheism, which recognises the existence of other Gods.

That said, I enjoyed reading this history book. A thoroughly interesting view of history.

[Åsmund Heir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norge er nevnt hele to ganger: Vikinger og tidlig stemmerett for kvinner

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting blast through history.