A History of the World

by Andrew Marr

Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents and old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece and Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to the Caribbean. He looks at cultures that have failed and vanished, as well as the origins of today’s superpowers, and finds surprising echoes and parallels across vast distances and epochs. This is a book about the great change-makers of history and their times, people such as Cleopatra, Genghis Khan, Galileo and Mao, but it is also a book about us. For ‘the better we understand how rulers lose touch with reality, or why revolutions produce dictators more often than they produce happiness, or why some parts of the world are richer than others, the easier it is to understand our own times.’ Fresh, exciting and vividly readable, this is popular history at its very best.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, World History, Politics, Historical, Reference

614 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

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

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was at school (a long time ago!) history was one of my favourite subjects - well what teenage boy isn't fascinated by tales of epic journeys and heroic battles? But I was frustrated by the fact that our studies always focused on a very narrow band of history. Consequently we learned a good deal about a few things and nothing at all about the majority of events that have shaped the world we know. So this book, written by a journalist and television presenter I much admire, really appealed to me.

The book focuses on the history of mankind and tracks the stages of development through hunter gatherer to the acquisition of farming techniques and then the convergence of people into towns and then cities. The building of empires follows and here I started to learn more about how the two major causes of war (religion and conquest) started a re-shaping of the world that has continued to this day. Most of major players in world history seem to have been hugely driven bad guys; not the sort of people you’d invite out for a pint down your local. The text then explores how the growth of international trade and the introduction of industrial and scientific engineering were significant contributors to the evolution of the world as we know it. Here I was at last introduced to a few good guys (and girls) – about time too!

The final section reflects on the challenges we face going forward: population growth (it's quadrupled in the past 100 years), global warming, over-fishing and soil degradation to name but a few. It posts a warning that if we don't do something different then this could be the last century for Homo sapiens. Scary stuff! But this is off-set by a brief discourse on how our ability to continually make scientific leaps (artificial intelligence is used as an example) will hopefully mean that we are able to come up with solutions that aren't available to us at this point.

I was left to reflect on how events of yesteryear seem, in so many ways, to parallel what’s going on in the world today. Do we keep making the same mistakes? Are we destined to be the generator of our own downfall? There are no answers here, but it’s certainly a thought provoking tome. I’d recommend this book to anyone who feels they want to fill in a few gaps in their historical knowledge or just wants to be prompted as to why a knowledge of historical events (why they happened and what the ramifications were) is so important to our civilisation.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

It definitely is a big achievement to cram all of world history into a book of 560 pages. Marr does a good job in that sense that he is offering a very intelligible story and really does his best to bring the history of the whole world. But... The author has confined himself to present only the big developments, with the great personalities at the center. That way he can raise the level of insight and intelligibility, but it remains very reductionist; economic and cultural developments are rather underrated, with the exception of religion and the Industrial Revolution. On top of that the main focus is on Western history, with a slightly favorite position for the British share in it.
According to the bibliography Marr has consulted lots of studies, and to my modest estimation his number of faults is rather small. I learned some interesting facts (e.g. that Native Americans only learned how to use horses and ponies in the 18th century), but big new insights you will not find in this book. (2.5 stars)

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Marr himself admits, no book, no matter whether it’s titled A History of the World or not, can ever succeed in comprehensively covering the entirety of history. So, as he explains in his introduction, he has chosen to focus on “big man” history: well-known individuals who are often, though not always, rulers. This seems on the face of it a rather traditionalist approach to history, a throwback to decades past where historians only seemed to talk about kings and queens. That kind of history has fallen out of favour in the past 30 years, replaced by an interest in social history, gender history, world theory, and phenomenology; the heretofore “untold” stories. So why is Marr writing about powerful individuals? Marr explains that, like it or not, a small number of people throughout history had greater agency than others, the ability to act to change the circumstances around them. He sees these individuals as important because they drove the great changes of history, and although much of the human past is marked by consistency and continuation, it is the changes that have made the biggest difference in our social evolution.

Marr divides human history into defined eras and then selectively talks about a handful of key “change-makers” in each era. Naturally this type of history leaves out a lot, but the examples Marr chooses are, he feels, demonstrative of the most important changes of their era. By picking out key figures and identifying patterns that emerge in history, Marr is able to bring together the whole and explain the significance of the patterns he draws out. It’s left to the reader to decide whether the conclusions Marr draws are insightful or uninteresting.

In my opinion, some of what Marr presents to us in this book is a little dubious. For example, Marr suggests that humans left Africa around 70,000 BCE, but Stephen Oppenheimer’s (ancient population geneticist) book Out of Eden, presents highly convincing, multiple and independent evidence that it was much earlier, around 100,000 BCE. Marr suggests that humans had not even left Africa by the time of the Sumatra eruption c. 75,000 BCE, but Oppenheimer, who Marr actually refers to in his book, presents evidence outside of Africa both above and below the ash layers that human populations survived and thrived both before and afterwards. Marr also presents the view that homo sapiens was probably responsible for wiping out the Neanderthals and megafauna such as woolly mammoths etc. In fact this is still hotly debated, and many theories are put forwards as explanations for these extinctions, including climate change at the end of the Ice Age, which have interesting points of their own. Not to rubbish A History of the World, but just don’t take everything at face value, and keep in mind that many of these questions are still up for debate. Marr uses Orlando Figes as a source about modern history in Russia at one point – awkward, given Figes’ current state of disgrace after the debacle in which he used a sock puppet account on Amazon to rubbish the works of his rivals.

The above caveat aside, the whole work is smoothly written and very readable, I definitely found it an enjoyable read, and Marr picks out both well known and lesser known figures to discuss, and I found his identification of certain patterns in history very intriguing.

7 out of 10

[Sense of History]

This is a rather classical overview of human history, global in scope but undeniably western in focus. Remarkably Marr gives a lot of attention to "big men" (only few women) as a consequence of this being the written companion to a television series (BBC), in order to make it more transparant. But Marr also states "History is about change, and it makes sense to concentrate on the biggest changemakers ".

Of course, as a way to make the complex human history more transparant, I can follow him: history is about men (and women), and there's nothing more practical then presenting the story of real persons to illustrate the complexities of history, or to give the (rather general) story of history a real human feel.

But then, there is this statement on 'change-makers'. Now, that is a bit tricky, because this leads us into the interminable debate on the role of individuals in history. Undeniably some people have had a greater impact on history than others, or if you want it in a more prudent way: some people had a greater ability to act to change the circumstances of their time. Marr cleverly doesn't limit this to kings and presidents, his examples cover a much broader range of sectors (economical, cultural...). But still, he has chosen only about 30 personalities; each of them gets one to three pages, set in a certain timeframe. Well, this is too short, it gives the impression these men "defined" their era, and that is wrong.

Now, I'm not an follower of the (marxist or other) theories that state that individuals just are ruled by their tribe, class, nation or society, or just are the willess instruments of higher powers and forces. People/individuals matter and can make a difference. But the method Marr has used, is way to limited to transcend the traditionalistic view on history as driven by great men.

[Michel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its really bad when a book of history is full of historical mistakes,, it is biased far from being objective and consideing the many huge mistakes in it i decided to quit reading . I have finished so far about 20% of it and the following examples will give you an idea about its quality:
- jews invented the monotheism: that's not correct of course since Akhenaten introduced Atenism way before the Judism
- using the old testement as a historical book about the history of the Jews: i really found that so weird but i might understand it since the author aparently wanted to talk about the Jews' role in the history of the middle east but since there is not any historical evidence suggests that they had a role he had to use the bible.
- Egyption civilaztion was nothing and presented almost nothing for the humanity
- Seleucus accepted 500 elephants from king Chandragupta of India on the year 321 B.C and he took them back to Baghdad: nothing to add here more than that Baghdad was built by 762 A.D

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very difficult book to review. Marr clearly has a passion for history and has obviously done a huge amount of research. I am impressed that this book covers the history of so many areas of the globe, though I note that some reviewers have criticised it for leaning too much towards western history, so possibly I'm showing a bias too. It's well-written and, clearly showing Marr's style throughout, is not at all dry. But...I had difficulty with it. Partially this is because it presents a very traditional style of history - focused on the movers and shakers, the powerful and the wealthy - and that's never been the kind of history that interests me (although Marr does explain in the introduction why this is his where his attention lands, and I can't fault his reasoning). And partially it's because it's a gallop through history. It romps forward at a breakneck pace; I found that for the places and eras with which I was unfamiliar, this meant I had nothing on which to hang the information, and it simply poured in one ear and out the other. And for those periods for which that I did have a little knowledge, it seemed to swoop through them with almost no time to digest and connect what I was learning to previously-acquired information. I mostly did audio, and found myself repeatedly hitting the button to go back a couple of minutes - and sometimes realising that I hadn't taken in anything for a few minutes and resignedly going forward anyway. I can't help but feel that if this had been a series, with more time and detail for each section, I'd have got more out of it. But then would I have read an entire series? Hard to say. So I'm going with 2.5*, rounded up to 3. I do feel that it would benefit from a second go, for me anyway, but given the length of my to-read list, it seems unlikely to get it anytime soon.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many factual errors. Also, before you get anything out of this book, you have to already be fairly knowledgeable about world history to be able to have any sense of continuity.

[Louis Armitage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an absolutely fantastic book.

Though spending the majority of its time detailing critical events and individuals that have influenced world history, Marr’s work transcends the boundaries of a mere historical account and examines the human psyche - the extensive attributes and flaws of what he calls the “Clever Ape”.

Despite the size of the subject, where the potential of dull abstraction or bewilderment from the hubbub of vivid tales threaten the reader at every turn, Andrew Marr provides a succinct, intriguing and intellectually stimulating account of world history. I am amazed at how each topic - from the development of monotheism under the Hebrews to the collapse of colonial Empires - is concisely summarised into a surprisingly readable, and at points even humorous, chronicle.

As with any historical tale of such range, it is inevitable there will be lulls in tempo and periods of dwindling interest, yet the author predominantly provides a gripping account. There were many instances, especially in the first half of the book, where I was exposed to entirely new topics and ideas, which was incredibly exciting.

Marr often treads the line between challenging and upholding historical narrative - within his assessment of humanities relationship with slavery for example.

Somehow he even made stories of the Neolithic age exciting - the same can be said for 20th century, which is often over examined as opposed to other periods.

What was most pleasing for me is Marr didn’t simply stick with the main historical events - he also tackles the development of culture through philosophy and religion, alongside offering compelling comparisons between, for example, the decline of incredibly complex Northern African and Middle Eastern Empires and the development of Europe.

My major gripe is the authorship. Opinionated intrusions within his work are commonplace, from his opinions on the strength of Qing Empire at the time of the Opium war, to his skeptical assessment of the architecture of ancient Egypt.

But this would be a rather dull book without them - read this with an open mind, despite some passages having the potential to challenge your views.

Overall, this is an ambitious, and successful
attempt at detailing the intricacies of human history in an entertaining fashion

[Adebayo Oyagbola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of mankind from our remotest origins to the 21st century. Andrew Marr tells many tales - of themes, of trends, of cataclysmic events and of iconic characters. His approach to history is not only the usual accounts of conquerors, tyrants and kings and their doings but also stories of the deeds of unusual men and epoch defining ideas. He takes the reader behind the scenes into the lives of extraordinary men and analyses their amazing and history making deeds.

This is an extremely well written book. It is organised into the economic periods of mankind and further broken up into the themes that have led us to the here and now. The book ends with a look into mankind's future and the threats that face us - such as global warming, huge population pressures and the global slow down in economic growth, growth we have come to expect and project for. The only thing I would change is the title - which I believe would have been more aptly called "The History of Mankind".

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I decided to take the Texas certification test for history grades 8-12. It covers historical topics from world history, US history, government, world geography, and economics from pre-civilization to the present. I thought to myself, "wow, that's a lot to know." I have my English certification, so I've taken one of these tests before. I've also taken the GRE, but the vast scope of the material of this test made me nervous. I decided that I needed to brush up on my world history as part of my preparation.

I bought this book on my Kindle and started reading a little bit every night and more on weekends. I immediately liked it. The tone is not dry, as many history books can be. The transitions from topic to topic were logical and meaningful. I was refreshed on some points that I knew already, and I learned quite a few things about others.

I wouldn't recommend it as comprehensive for anyone who didn't already have a basic foundation in history. There are spots where the author more or less assumes that the reader knows what will happen next. And toward the 19th and 20th centuries it felt rushed, like Marr was just trying to wrap up the whole thing.

But really, it was a well rewarding read. I think it helped me on the test, which was what I needed it to do.

[Gogelescu Ion Petre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este una din cele mai complexe cărți pe care le-am citit pe acest subiect în care se prezintă o mulțime de evenimente și personaje, pe scurt, desigur. Poate nu este 100% exactă(am mai auzit vorbe pe ici și colo), dar evenimentele/personajele pe care le-am căutat să aflu mai multe detalii despre ele au fost întocmai.

Nu m-am plictisit o secundă pe parcursul lecturii și din această cauză am găsit-o foarte interesantă și o recomand oricui pasionat de istorie.

Recomand clar!

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hugely ambitious venture which delivers on its promise - a delightfully engaging and informative read

[Umair Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

CONDENSING all known global history in a single book is an ambitious as well as a monumental task. British historian Andrew Marr has undertaken this endeavor in his book, A History of the World and a documentary series based upon this book. The interplay of written and visual medium has given the author an advantage that is clearly visible in the narrative.

In history, the important points are the dynamic events that changed the socio-cultural patterns for a long time to come. Marr has, quite painstakingly, identified such turning points and analysed them. Most of the times, these turning points in history are linked to some charismatic and overly-ambitious leader. Therefore, in some ways, his is an elitist history. This is in contrast to the recent trends in history writing that focus on the common man, such as Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

However, although focusing on great change- makers, Marr does acknowledge that the ability of these history-altering persons is not altogether inherent to them; it is their peculiar environment that enables them to produce these changes.

Marr had to be selective, editing out whole millennia and continents, great chunks of time and space. The introduction of the book sets out to try to answer the question of the purpose of writing this book. Although his introduction is nothing like the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun, it does touch upon some of the important themes of historiography, articularly in reference to global histories and ways to identify important trendsetters in the entire history of human beings. Marr divides history into defined eras — politically and economically — and then chooses the important stories along the way.

Starting from the dawn of Homo sapiens and the extinction of Homo erectus, Marr follows the story of human evolution from Africa to Asia, to Europe, the Americas, and to Australia. He explains the importance of the agricultural revolution which allowed far more humans to be alive. To quote Marr, “It has been estimated that a hunter-gatherer needs about 10 square miles of game and berry-filled land to live on, whereas agriculture can produce enough calories in a tenth of that space to keep 50 people alive.” Furthermore, Marr tells us that in order to tackle the problem of floods in large rivers, local inhabitants entered into contractual settlements among themselves that gave rise to strong central governments in ancient China and Egypt.

The advent of Christianity and Islam are also given due importance. Moving on, not only are the brutalities of Genghis Khan discussed but also his influence on continental politics that lasted for centuries.

Marr also sheds light on Marco Polo’s adventures and their impact on coming generations, as well as presenting Leonardo Da Vinci as the real “Renaissance Man,” representative of the age of reason and intellectual curiosity. The complexity of the Reformation is also explored, started by Martin Luther and promoted by other reformists against the commercialisation of piety, sin, and forgiveness by the Vatican.

The emergence of the Renaissance in Italy and how it led to the Industrial Revolution in Britain is analysed brilliantly by Marr. He also delves into the reasons for Italian Renaissance not being able to produce the scientific knowledge during the 16th century to lead to an advanced Industrial Revolution. According to Marr, Renaissance Italy of the 16th century was still under the authority of the church in matters of cosmology and science. It was the revolution of 1688 in Britain that gave the parliament liberty in political matters leading to freedom in intellectual and scientific inquiries. Marr points out that US and Germany entered the race of industrialisation, and thus imperialism, by copying British technology and political strategy. Japan followed the trend after World War II and China is now doing the same through neo-liberal economic and neo-imperial political strategies.

Marr also explains the institution of serfdom in Russia, comparing and contrasting it with the peasantry of Western Europe and the slave plantations of the US in the 18th and 19th centuries. He further highlights the reforms undertaken by Alexander II, including the emancipation of the serfs in Russia. According to Marr, a well-informed European newspaper reader “in the early 1860s might well have compared the terrible civil war tearing the US apart with the comparatively orderly reform programme being run from St. Petersburg, and assumed that Russia would become the stronger power.” However, when Alexander II was killed in a bomb attack in 1881, the reforms programme was halted by his successor Alexander III.

After visiting the two World Wars, their causes, and their aftershocks, Marr delves into the complex web of international alignments that resulted in Cold War politics and turned the world into a bipolar entity. He concludes his book on a discussion on artificial intelligence and suggests that intelligent machines of the future will prove to be the next paradigm-shifting change that will affect every aspect of human life.

The conservative and radical forces within society are always at odds with each other. This complex interplay is discussed by Marr especially in the context of the emergence of new forms of governments in the UK and the US. He clearly states that gradual evolution proved to be a far more successful model of progress than revolutionary upheavals. Marr repeatedly talks about revolutions, their goals in the start, and their repercussions in the form of violence and anarchy. And while Marr admits that “monarchies and empires have their succession problems” he warns that “the problems of moving from one system of government to an entirely different one seem bloodier still.”

All in all, A History of the World is a commendable effort at popularising history.

SOURCE: http://www.dawn.com/news/1139191/revi...

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A promessa de História do Mundo era grande, e se no primeiro volume parecia vir a ser cumprida, os volumes que se seguiram foram lidos com alguma decepção. Não obstante, o primeiro volume trata dos primórdios da Humanidade, sujeitos a debate e ao surgimento de novos dados que levam a novas teorias, pelo que muita da informação apresentada (com mais cariz factual do que hipotético) se vai tornando progressivamente desatualizada. Quanto ao resto, as referências bibliográficas pareceram-me pouco rigorosas e a distinção entre factos e teorias/opiniões nem sempre é clara.

O positivo: fiquei com uma ideia geral e cronológica sobre acontecimentos importantes da História da Humanidade.

O negativo: para além do que já expressei, para ficar com uma ideia geral e cronológica desses acontecimentos foi necessário que tivesse sobre eles um conhecimento a priori, ou então que a leitura fosse acompanhada de uma pesquisa sobre conceitos apresentados sem explicação (exemplo: a Revolta dos Boxer de 1898-1901, sobre a qual apenas é dito que "foi um desastre militar que mostrou ao mundo a que ponto era realmente fraca a China Qing" - quem se revoltou contra quem ou o quê? Qual o motivo da revolta? Etc).

[Mehmet]

Gerçekten çok kötü bir metin. Sayısız yazım hatası ve anlatım bozukluğu ile dolu.

[Biafra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off brilliantly, but ended in a flurry of historical perspective-seeking and opining about counterfactuals, lessons learned (or not) from history, and an unnecessary focus on current events. In the end, i gained the most from the earlier sections covering developments in the East and Africa along with descriptions of the rise of Islam and the developments of civilization in India.

While I wasn't expecting a completely unbiased account (given the author's nationality), the book ended up feeling very West-focused, especially in the later chapters. From around the 1400s on, it should have been title A History of the West for all the attention given to the dynastic struggles in China, transformations going on in Japan, changes being wrought by the Ottomans, to name a few. And there was embarrassingly little about the Americas if the USA is taken out of the picture.

Overall, a valiant effort, but the end focus on Kasparov vs. Deep Blue over developments elsewhere summarizes the faults of the book: in an effort to focus on great people and detail their life's struggles, it at times misses the greater changes going on in society and how society shaped and brought about such people.

[Shiv · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very interesting and informative in parts and at time keeps you hooked to the narrative. I liked it for the information and narration style of some of the key events in the world history. My only complaint is that the title of the book is very misleading. This is not the history of the world. It is more like history of the world with European prospective. There is no mention of great Indian empires of ancient and medieval era barring few paragraphs on Ashoka. The rise of christianity and its downfall and rise again has been given utmost importance where as there is not even a paragraph or mention of Hinduism, Taoism, Confucius’ and other Chinese religion. Even the history of Mayas Incas and Aztecs has been confined to the Spanish invasion of the south Americas. It is a good book if you want to know how Europe’s history and its impact around the world but certainly not the history of the world. Though I liked it in parts, in the end I was left disappointed.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History of the World was a major series for the BBC and this is the tie in book, written by Andrew Marr.

The series had eight episodes, and this book has eight substantial chapters, It has the broad brushstrokes of history with lots of details, but not all the minutiae that you would expect from a detailed book on a particular time.

It is generally very readable; written with care and attention to the facts. He uses his journalistic style to criticise where necessary, and comment on historical events. Once or twice he is patronising, but that is it. When reading it i had his distinct voice in my head.

As a general history book, it is very good, however, if you are looking for detail then you need to seek out books relevant to the period that you are looking at.

[Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first foray into the world of audiobooks. I spend a lot of time at work filing by myself and instead of listening to music I thought it was time to expand my horizons into non-fiction.

I had been meaning to read this book for a while. I started watching the television series it accompanies, but gave up 10 minutes in because I couldn't handle the dramatised version of history. In that sense, the book was much more satisfying. It covers human history from the earliest emigrations from Africa up until the present day, often focussing on less well know cultures and periods in history. It is an excellent antidote to the West-centric version of history we often are often taught in school.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, with a huge scope and so well written, this book takes the reader through exactly what the title says: the history of the world. In books like these, details tend to be lost, simply because of the amount of knowledge that has to be inserted in order for the reader to go through all times, all phases and all sections of known history. However, some authors manage to find a balance between broad strokes and fine lines, Marr being one of them. I enjoy Big History books (capital letters, of course), because sometimes it takes the separation and distancing from an object or a subject in order to see it clearly. Would thoroughly recommend to any curious reader.

[César · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito controverso porque parece que às vezes inventa um bocado ou não é muito preciso. Mas em história isto é muito mais frequente do que parece. Que o rapaz tem o talento de saber contar a coisa não se pode negar. Pode-se ler como história com um bocadinho de ficção.

[Naim Askar · Rating 1 out of 5]

a book full of historical mistakes and prejudic, a disaster and a disappointment

[Rosie Pendrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Probably would’ve been four if there weren’t aggravating typos in the kindle edition.

I have some beef with the structure of the book. As great as a chronological approach is, it means that we find ourselves jumping around (some parts of) the globe an awful lot. Not particularly useful when something from 300 pages earlier is referred to that you can just about remember reading. A better layout perhaps would’ve been by theme - religion, war, science, economics? Or by geographical location - though some chapters would be shockingly short or simply wouldn’t exist.

I found the focus on the northern hemisphere quite annoying also. It cannot be a history of the world if South America is ignored, we only encounter Africa in the ancient eras, the slave trade and the scramble for Africa, and the Middle East is only really touched upon in the renaissance and then for Britain and America’s meddling and bombing. In Asia, only India, China and Japan are focused on, usually as a supporting actor to the dramatic sequences played out again by Britain and America. Australia again, touched upon as a colony and not for its rich aboriginal heritage. And to completely brush over exploration and the race to the poles, alongside geopolitical claims of the Arctic is peculiar considering the obsession with Elizabethan explorers of the new world. Of course you cannot ignore world superpowers and the role they have played in history, but from the early chapters I expected to find so much more about everywhere else as their ancient histories were so detailed. To also almost suggest that ancient Egypt left virtually no mark on the world other than one of the most mysterious cultures that fascinates people the world over? I can’t forgive.

The last chapter also feels rushed to me and like it should’ve been in two parts. To cram two world wars, various acts of independence, communist revolutions, the atomic bomb, the dawn of AI, a brief brushing on contraception and the sexual revolution, the threat of terrorism and global warming into a chapter of the same length of those with lost histories seems absurd. Again, this is a chapter that would’ve benefited from a different layout to the whole book, ending each themed chapter with where we find ourselves today, instead of the whole book ending on how we would all die if everyone consumed in the way that North Americans do (which isn’t wrong, but this is the development we end on? Out of all the incredible advances mankind has made?)

Not a bad book, it just could’ve been so much more.

[Jason Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accompanying the tv series of a few years ago, this book starts by accusing previous attempts at a narrative world history at being Eurocentric. This isn’t completely fair. Some may well have been - nationalist readings of history are never far from us. JM Roberts twice as long Penguin version, for instance, though, gives due credit to Mesopotamia and Babylon, Egypt, India, China, Japan and the Aztec and Inca eras but takes the view that a book like that should prioritise the places that take world history forward ; hence Africa gets little space till modern times, but for valid reasons.

Marr’s themed approach broadly works ( we get a series of episodes/ eras that take a phase of history theme ) , a consequence of being based on a tv series . It does mean though that we don’t get the space for the development of countries that pop in and out of the narrative .

He can also be inaccurate - one of his books on British history had to be recalled for this reason. For example he says that Judaism invented monotheism , then gave it to the world via Christianity- yes, but ancient Egypt tried it too, though not successfully.

Nonetheless there is much shrewd observation and a picking on unusual and refreshing examples and characters . It’s a decent starting point for wanting to get a grip on the broad sweep of world history though it fails to give clarity at times at what exactly caused game changers such the First World War, which hastened the end of the age of empires and old monarchies.

[Adisha Kariyawasam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: This is a review of the audiobook version of this book.

I embarked on listening to this epic and well-researched book on the history of civilisation with some trepidation. There are after all, a total of 92 Chapters (26.5 hours) to work through and this is a formidable listening marathon by any stretch of the imagination. However, I found them all totally worth the effort. I am pleased Andrew Marr opened the narration by lending his voice to the introduction. This is a very expansive work as Mr. Marr draws references to a research base of some 2,000 or so books. In addittion, David Timson's highly expressive narration that followed is clear, assertive and a joy to listen to as it is consistenly intonated throughout without ever being condescending. You don't have to be a professional historian to appreciate the amount of effort that has gone into producing this book and the (at times) rather violent TV series to which this is a perfect accompaniment. The passion for the subject, dedication and commitment shine through at all times and for me, this is a notable quality of the book. Overall, a highly recommended purchase indeed which takes pride of place on my Audible bookshelf!

[Harrison Large ラージ • ハリソン · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I don't know enough about broad world history but the bits I know (Sengoku Japan, Caesarian Rome) had all sorts of misinformation in I could fact check from other sources. So I really don't know if I can trust any of the stuff here on things I know sweet effay on.

Shame really. I bought this book in 2014 as a college student curious on world history and having studied some of Marrs work for British History AS Level.

Finally given it a college try after stopping and starting it for years and, well. Disappointed isn't the word. It's informative but it's so unwieldy it's not fun to read. There's enough butter for a good bit of toast spread across an entire loaf - that's a working metaphor.

[Gemma]

This is a long book! It is the kind of book that has to be reread as you cannot take in everything. It is a very interesting and covers a lot of ground. Andrew Marr does a good job of bringing it together. As it covers so many topics it is not surprising that I found some of the chapters more interesting than others.

David Timson's reading of this audiobook is clear and easily understood.

[Rishi Kaushal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while to read, but it was worth the effort. Although this book is spanning more than 500 pages, it still is basically a speed-run through the history of human civilization. This is not a flaw in the book, as covering the whole history of the world in one book cannot be done without cutting corners, and focusing on the main events during various time periods. This has been stated by the author himself in the beginning.

The book is well written, and manages to portray history in a way which is both informative, as well as captivating. Ive learned more from this book than i have from 4 years of high school history, and this is a book i recommend to everyone.

[Dropbear123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

It was ok and did its job as an overview of world history. The writing style was fine if a bit preachy. Pretty long chapters but I prefer shorter more specific ones. Fairly centrist (pro-capitalism, socially liberal) in bias but that is what you’d expect from a BBC journalist. If you’re looking for a single volume world history book then this will do but it is definitely not a must-read.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a general history of the world with a focus on the northern hemisphere (North America, Europe, Asia) - anything south of the equator gets a vague, passing mention [perhaps nothing exciting happened down there? ;) ]. The text is a bit choppy where the author bounces between regions, but the book is easy to read and understand and not particularly convoluted. A decent introductory text to world history.