The New Penguin History of the World

by J.M. Roberts

From humanity�s origins on the African Savannah to the state of the world after September 11, 2001, The New Penguin History of the World offers a magisterial sweep through time and history. Completely updated and revised by preeminent historian J. M. Roberts, this volume features ninety up-to-date maps, new sections, and extremely well-written and accessible articles throughout. Truly global and comprehensive, it succeeds in conveying the staggering diversity of the human experience across a vast range of climates and conditions. This is the one book for anyone interested in the variety and grandeur of history�s march.

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

1237 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

John Morris Roberts, CBE, was a British historian, with significant published works. From 1979-1985 he was Vice Chancellor of the University of Southampton, and from 1985-1994, Warden of Merton College, Oxford. He was also well known as the author and presenter of the BBC TV series The Triumph of the West (1985).

Reviews

[WarpDrive · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterpiece, highly recommended to anyone seriously interested in a good quality, thoughtful, insightful overview of human history. This book manages to provide a surprisingly good level of detail while keeping a wide breath of analysis and encompassing the whole of historical development since prehistory up to contemporary times.
It should be kept as a reference, not just read (and probably it should be read at least twice, to fully enjoy it).
It is a real pity that there are a few (mostly editorial) choices that I personally found quite questionable: first, the maps are so small as to be rendered virtually unreadable – and they are not always relevant nor helpful - an unforgivable error on the part of the publisher. Lack of timelines and suggested readings are also quite frustrating. I personally think that timelines would have been extremely valuable for a book of such breadth and ambition, and I am very disappointed by the fact that there are none provided.
Apart from the issues mentioned above, it is nonetheless an amazingly engrossing and rewarding read, so I am giving it 5 stars.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I read this book in increments over 13 months -- I could have read it in 12, but I took this February off because I was getting wearied by the tome. If you read 3 1/4 pp per day, you will finish this book in a year. If you don't--if you read it like a normal-sized book, I think the sheer mass of it will make you throw in the towel fairly soon. But 3 1/4 pp are manageable.

It's hard not to give a magisterial volume like this 5 stars. I liked it because I like history. Here you have the whole sweep of human achievement, from the first stone tools and cave paintings to the Arab Spring. Our technological advancement and cultural changes are tracked in the broadest ways. The movement from small, isolated communities to broader nations and states to integrated polities and economies to the new globalised world is on display in this book.

Along the way, you meet the individuals, the stories that are the other aspect of history that keep people like me coming to read and reread the grand saga of human achievement, sorrow, and struggle. Ashurbanipal. Ramesses II. Plato. Alexander. Confucius. Siddartha 'the Buddha'. Julius Caesar. Constantine. Mohammed. Charles 'the Hammer' Martel. Thomas Aquinas. Martin Luther. Winston Churchill. Mao Zedong. Mohondas 'Mahatma' Gandhi. Loads and loads of South and East Asian persons I'd never met before but whose acquaintance I was glad to make.

I recommend this book, with its Egyptians and Saxons, its Indians and Mayans, its Romans and Chinese, its Mongols and Americans, its East Africans and Japanese.

My problem -- and this is a separate, wider rant, so I'll keep it short -- is epitomised in the following fact: the entire ancient world, from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages, including the Mediterranean, South Asian, and East Asian worlds, takes under 300 pages, and the final 300 pages cover life from the First World War onwards. I don't expect equal coverage of the ancient and modern, but this is an extreme case of the usual disparity. (Rant over.)

There are a few other moments throughout that I either disagreed with or felt could have been spun a bit differently, but overall the book is worth the read.

[Jlawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good lord, I finally finished this book! I think there were at least two periods where I put this one down and did not pick it up again for six months or so. So, while Roberts does his best to give shape and clarity to an immense amount of information, it is not the most gripping read (although, with the broad strokes necessary for a work like this, I doubt anyone could concoct scintillating prose).

Content-wise, there are two important weaknesses of the book. First, while it is titled 'History of the World', European history is delved into more thoroughly than anything else. However, in the preface Roberts is upfront about this focus and his reasons for it (mainly the disproportionate role Europe played in shaping world history, especially of the last 500 years), so you know what you're getting into. Also, despite the European emphasis, I still learned a great deal of non-European history here (though this may say more about the huge gaps in my historical knowledge than it does about the book's non-European coverage).

Second, there is not a single reference to any of the source material used. To write a book of this scope you must stand on the shoulders of literally hundreds of secondary sources. Now I understand that with a popular history work of this length and breadth it would probably not work to have extensive footnotes littering every page, but there easily could have been a simple 'major works referenced' list for each chapter.

At the very least, there could have been a 'suggested further reading' list at the end of the book. There is zilch. It is somewhat troubling to not know what sources Roberts chose, frustrating not to have at-hand leads to follow for subjects that were particularly interesting, and just plain unacceptable for there to be no credit given to all the previous works he pulled from. After reading 'Past Imperfect' last year, I've become especially sensitive to this.

The greatest strength of the book is that instead of simply relating facts and framing historical narratives, Roberts is constantly contemplating the greater significance of this or that society's or individual's successes and failures. Most of the time he does this in a way that's not too heavy-handed, and invites you to think about the history you're reading instead of just passively absorb it (occasionally you can feel like you're being hit over the head with a favorite idea, though). Roberts did a fantastic job in that respect.

Overall, useful for trying to get a broad grasp of world history if you can deal with the caveats mentioned above (and if you're ready for a long haul).

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well honestly, I feel like writing a review for this book is like my Oscar acceptance speech, it is so momentous. It has taken me 121 days/four months of reading (almost) every day, averaging nearly ten pages per day. I have never even read a historical book before. It is a truly massive tome, but I am very glad I've done it.

It started out as a desire to learn about the ancient Greeks, but I didn't know where to start, since I had no concept of when the ancient Greek world existed, and was frustrated by my ignorance of world history. So I thought, "I know, I'll simply read a book on the entirety of world history, and that will give me a solid grounding in everything else..."

There were times when I was utterly, utterly bored. Times when words I'd never seen before blew my mind with their need to exist. There were times when I read whole chapters in one go, because I was enjoying myself so much. Some days I could only manage a few pages before falling asleep on the sofa.

I feel privileged to finally understand the context of historical events which I'd heard of, but didn't understand the magnitude of. Some of the major events of world history were entirely new to me, and left me shocked by man's inhumanity. All I remember from History at school was my boredom with studying WWI and WWII over and over, without any understanding of the greater world historical context. It is only now that I can finally appreciate those events, and desire to learn more.

I wish that all people could read this book and others like it, for it would change their experience of the world which we all share. I know on a deeper level though, that if I had been made to read it, I would never have got past the first few chapters. Reading this book truly was a life changing experience.

[Snehal Bhagat · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of the classic classroom-quiz-themed Calvin and Hobbes strips, our hero reflects on career choices.

J. M. Roberts was a big-picture person. And this is a big-picture book, but even though it is an all-encompassing chronicle that traces every major development of historical significance beginning with our prosimian ancestors through to the early years of the 21st century, it is no meaningless clutter of facts and figures; Roberts brings his erudition to bear on these to identify within them the major historical processes of our past.

Structurally, the book is divided into broad sections which illustrate these processes:

Pre-history
First Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, East Asia)
Classical Mediterranean (Greece, Rome, Jewry, Christianity)
The Age of Diverging Traditions (Islam and Arab Empires, Byzantium, Europe, India, China and Japan)
The Making of the European Age
The Great Acceleration
The End of the Europeans' world (WWI, Ottoman Heritage, WWII) and
The Latest Age.

All through, the text is supplemented with a variety of maps and statistics pertinent to the era. Within each section, the unifying features and broader trends are identified and elaborated upon.

It is therefore a somewhat personal view of history, but only in the ordering of events in terms of their relative importance, and the objectivity of the narration rarely suffers. Nor does the author make any artificial distinction between 'history' and 'sociology'; the roles of religion, polity and science in contributing to the periods and events that shaped our societies are highlighted and we get a rather fascinating account of their interplay, and of their waxing and waning influences on society throughout history. We get a glimpse into their contribution towards the aggregation of capital and labor for the creation of 'leisure' and of economic surpluses over and above the needs of consumption that were so essential to the development of new ideas and inventions, as well as the modification of social organization and the growth of population which has made ours the dominant species of the planet with such unprecedented capacity to alter its environment.

Despite having to employ, perforce, rather broad strokes in the attempt to condense the shared experience of millions of lives into a few pages of history, Dr Roberts manages to intersperse the account with enough whimsy to keep the narrative interesting.

So there's trivia ("The 'War of Jenkins' Ear' of 1739 (started literally due to).. the organ produced in pickle by its owner in the House of Commons, whose sensitive patriotism was inflamed and outraged to hear of the alleged mutilation by Spanish coastguard"), insight ("The undermining of the authority of scripture remains the most obvious single way in which science affected formulated beliefs... by 1914, radio messages could be sent across the Atlantic, flying-machines which did not rely upon support by bags of gas of lower density than air were common, aspirins were easily available and an American manufacturer was selling the first cheap mass-produced automobile. The growing power and scope of science was by no means adequately represented by such facts, but material advance of this sort impressed the average man and led him to worship at a new shrine...This was what made the nineteenth century the first in which science truly became an object of religion - perhaps of idolatry.") humor ("Mistakenly, liberalism and nationalism were usually supposed to be inseparable...before 1848...many confused the two; the most famous and admired of those who did so was Mazzini, a young Italian. By advocating an Italian unity most of his countrymen did not want and conspiring unsuccessfully to bring it about, he became an inspiration and model for other nationalists and democrats in every continent for over a century and one of the first idols of radical chic.") and even poetic nostalgia ("We have now lost one of the most pleasant of industrial sights, the long, streaming plume of steam from the funnel of a locomotive at speed, hanging for a few seconds behind it against a green landscape before disappearing..") scattered throughout the text.

Previous reviews note that Europe's role in world history gets a lot of emphasis here, but this need not be considered a drawback of the book; for history belongs to the victorious, for they get to write it, and it is true that the dominant ideas and techniques of our age are undoubtedly European in origin.

These are uncertain times. If distance does indeed bring perspective, then having dealt with the entire span of human history across space and time from a 21st century vantage point, the author is in a unique position to comment on the outlook for the future for humankind. It is therefore rather telling when he says in the preface to this edition "...I now feel that my children will probably not live in so agreeable a world as I have known..."

Indeed, when judged by the standards of antiquity, humanity has never had it better - despite variations across regions, every relevant socio-economic indicator indicates betterment: average life expectancy is higher and infant mortality rates lower than ever before, average wealth has increased consistently, and practical, legal and personal freedoms and human rights are greater than ever before.

And yet the longevity of many of our current problems- turmoil in the middle east, poverty and gender inequality in sub-saharan Africa and many third world countries, widening disparities between the well-off and the poor, increasing trends towards fanaticism, radical nationalism and religious intolerance coupled with newer social, economic & environmental challenges remind us that though we have come far, there is a long distance to cover still.

Resolving problems requires that they be clearly understood, and this book is as good a place as any to begin that process. Politicians and policy-makers everywhere should read this.

[Internet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single most informative book I've ever read. I feel like I've learned a lot more from this than my degree in International Relations. While I'm already forgetting most of the thousands upon thousands of specific facts mentioned, I feel like it's provided a good sense of scale, context and continuity for other things I learn in future.

[Carol Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It. Is. Accomplished.

It took five months, but I have finally finished this behemoth. And I didn’t just read it; I studied it. I took notes. Assiduously. It was a self-imposed college course.

How does one review something one has lived with for half a year?

The main question, I suppose, is whether or not the tome provided what I was seeking. Different readers will have different goals. For myself, I was motivated by a feeling that – despite history being a steady, lifelong component of my reading repertoire - I still hadn’t developed a complete sense of the “scaffolding” of human history, a full structural understanding that would allow me to know what “cubbyhole” to tuck new information into and that would help me understand how one historical development paralleled or drew from others. My hope was that this book would provide me with that, even if it might inevitably have some biases and limitations. This it provided in spades.

I wanted to walk away from the experience with a holistic understanding of History. In order to do so, I felt I should attempt to digest the entire book sequentially and in a relatively short period of time, so that I wouldn’t forget the beginning parts by the time I hit modern times. I initially hoped to complete it in 12 weeks, but it took me twice that time. For a book that focuses on broad strokes and big picture, readers will find the pages to be quite dense. There’s a lot of information to digest and I found it best done slowly, with frequent consultation of other sources along the way.

I found it incredibly helpful to take notes along the way, noting years, events, and trends, and highlighting in bold font events that particularly intrigue me. I’ve now developed a second goal, which is to spend 2013 revisiting human history - again in time order - but this time via carefully selected books that match major topics covered in the book but address them in greater depth and detail. In this way I hope to reinforce and further develop my initial “scaffolding”.

One of the great pleasures of the book is identifying parallels to modern days, albeit broad ones. For example, today just as then, most conflict is ultimately about the ever-increasing competition for natural resources. One can also see the familiar pattern of decline and fall playing out over and over again. When a nation stops expanding - however they may be accomplishing it - the tax revenues stagnate, the military can't be supported, and the bureaucracy grows more complex, leading to eventual disintegration. It is happening now. But it's not the end as most people think. Something new always takes its place, for better or for worse.

I picked up the fourth edition, published in 2003. After Roberts' death, Odd Arne Westad apparently took up the mantle, publishing an updated fifth edition in 2007 but I didn’t catch this when ordering my copy. A sixth edition is now slated for publication March 15, 2013. I might pick it up just to see how the previous 10 years are handled, as the 2003 text is already dated (e.g., only one cursory mention of the Internet).

Why four stars? First, the maps are reprinted so small as to be rendered unreadable – an unforgivable error on the part of the publisher. I understand that some earlier editions did not have this problem. Roberts frequently employs odd circular phrasing that requires multiple rereads of a sentence or paragraph. He also writes in a way that can make it unclear what year he’s referring to – frustrating. Lack of timelines, sources, footnotes, and suggested readings are additional failings, although understandable as they might require a separate volume.

And finally, although Roberts acknowledges and justifies his strong Western focus, his approach left gaps in my understanding of world history. The southern hemisphere may not have played as an active a role in shaping the trajectory of history to date, but I still want to know more about them. This will be one focus of my 2013 reading selections.

[Daniel Clausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Penguin History of the World" by J. M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad spans the vast tapestry of human existence from its earliest origins to the complexities of the modern era. This one-volume history is not only comprehensive and authoritative but also succeeds in providing an accessible entry point into the intricate world of global history.

Learning world history is often a daunting challenge, especially for those seeking an introduction that balances depth and brevity. In the search for the perfect starting point, your humble reviewer considered various options such as "World History for Dummies," "The DK History Book," and the "AP World History" course. However, the choice ultimately fell upon the "Penguin History of the World," a decision the reviewer is grateful for. Not only is it a good read, but it also neatly fits into a beach bag. This might seem trivial, but for a beachgoer like me that's essential.

At the moment (2024), I'm attempting a second read of the book. This time, I am going through the book slowly, highlighting names and doing additional research. I am also looking up particular points in the "DK History of the World Map by Map." The DK book, with its added visuals, gives the study of history an extra dimension.

In conclusion, the "Penguin History of the World" emerges as a wonderful resource for anyone seeking a solid foundation in world history. Its portability, combined with a comprehensive and authoritative approach, makes it a very good choice for those looking to learn world history. While the narrative might require some effort, the reward is a deep understanding of the forces that have shaped societies across the ages. Whether you're a student or a casual reader curious about the world's historical tapestry, this one-volume history stands as an excellent companion on the voyage through history.

[Sean Sexton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a long book. I don't remember when I started reading it. I don't even remember much of anything in the book that's more than about 300 pages back. But I remember enough to say that this is a world history that's well worth reading. It's a tome that's worth diving into and putting in the time, covering every aspect of world history in a single (albeit ponderous) volume. It's also worth noting that Asian history is not overlooked. Roberts makes the point that while our world culture is clearly derived from a Western European base, it's important to spend some time looking at Chinese and Indian history.

[Jason Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Roberts revised this work through several editions, right up to his death in 2003, it was originally written in 1976, so I'd guess some readers would find parts of it old-fashioned (I really can't say, I don't read much history), but for the most part the book should connect with the modern reader. Roberts possesses the main quality such an undertaking would require—a superbly comprehensive mind—plus an eye for those game-changing things upon which history pivots, whether it's the stirrup, artificial light, non-representational communication, or Archimedes' levers. He also writes a damn nice prose, is often refreshingly direct with the reader (people of the Old Stone Age were unlikely to reach forty years of age "and if they did then they were likely to lead pretty miserable lives"), and comes up with mind-expanding little remarks that make me regret not reading more history, such as:

"Mesopotamia in ancient times was a flat, monotonous landscape...There were no mountains for the gods to dwell in like men, only the empty heavens above."

and

"The Egyptians lived in symbolism as fishes do in water, taking it for granted, and we have to break through the assumptions of a profoundly unsymbolic age to understand them."

and

"The Sumerians seem to have seen the world of life after death as a sad, gloomy place....[In their view of the afterworld] lies the origin of the later notion of Sheol, of Hell."

[Sean DeLauder]

The publishing company ought not to put their name in the title because it utterly changes my understanding of the book's topic.


For the glory of the Horde!

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally done! Quite an insightful book. I've heard that this has been the most popular world history book for a few decades now, and with good reason. The authors take an 'essential' approach to history--meaning they emphasize the historical processes that were the most important for leading us to where we are today. As such, Europe gets most of the attention (especially from the 16th century onwards), but this new edition expands on the histories of other regions quite a bit. The authors have done a good job at identifying what is important enough to be included. The explanations behind historical processes are balanced & nuanced, with the authors constantly expressing the complexity of matters and the different angles through which events can be interpreted.

The only real problems I have are that the prose was a bit dull, that it didn't provide detailed enough treatments of the renaissance and the enlightenment, and despite the text receiving a complete update by Mr. Westad, large parts of the text are not that different from the first edition written by Mr. Roberts. So, the presentation of some cultural and intellectual developments are a bit outdated. The historiography is old school obviously, but I didn't find that to be much of an issue here.

Overall, this was well worth it.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 5 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

This book is not for the faint of heart. It took me 7 weeks to slog through it. It does, however, provide a pretty good overview of history and, more importantly, historical process. It can't provide details in every area but it does provide enough material to generate interest so that the reader can drill down afterwards into areas of particular relevance. It gave me a new perspective into historical relationships not usually covered in school. For a writer, this book provides some useful ideas.

[Theo Bennett]

Finally finished this monster of a book. I am now feeling a supreme sense of accomplishment.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

The New Penguin History of the World, J.M. Roberts, 5th ed. 2007 revised and updated by Odd Arne Westad, 1,237 pages, ISBN 9780141030425, Library-of-Congress D20.R625.2007 Memorial Library


Inaccurate, thin, and bland.

For a terrific one-volume world history, big bang through WWII, see Asimov's Chronology of the World: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Others: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...


VIETNAM

The author misnames as "conservative" the corrupt, self-serving government the U.S. imposed on South Vietnam. p. 1101.

The author tells us that the Gulf of Tonkin incident actually happened. p. 1101. It did not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of...

GERMANY

East and West Germany reunited in 1990. p. 1143.

JEWS

1901, 3/4 of world Jews lived in eastern Europe, mostly in the Russian Empire. p. 1152. 2007, 10% of world Jews lived in eastern Europe, 30% in Palestine, 50% in English-speaking countries. p. 1152.

BALKANS

1991-2006, Serb minorities fought the Croatian and Bosnia-Herzegovinian governments, aided by Serbia. p. 1151. The U.S., under Clinton, then bombed Serbia. NATO soldiers were still in Kosovo in 2006. pp. 1144-1145, 1168-1169, 1171-1172.

THE EURO

Fails to mention the unemployment in Spain, Portugal, and Greece, caused by surrendering to a monetary union without political union.

A NEW RUSSIA

After the breakup of the Soviet Union under Boris Yeltsin, most Russians lost their savings, their pensions, and/or their jobs, while a few insiders took billions of dollars in plunder. pp. 1163-1165.

NEOLIBERALISM

Clinton's main concern was to globalize market economies. p. 1168.

WARS AGAINST AFGHANISTAN & IRAQ

Westad prematurely says the U.S. succeeded in ending the Taliban regime. p. 1175. The Taliban came back to power as soon as the U.S. quit Afghanistan after 20 years of attacking and occupying it.

TRENDS

Westad says that humans have a growing capacity to control our environment. p. 1178. No. Ours is a growing capacity to destroy our environment.

SLUMS

Squalor for many and opulence for a few prevail in all big cities. p. 1179-1181.

CLASS

Westad writes as if the distinction between leisure-class and working-class were largely in the past. p. 1188. That past is coming back.

PROGRESS

Westad observes that Europe has exported the idea of progress to the rest of the world--that how it's always been need not be how it'll always be, and that things can get better. Westad opines that "human manipulative power has so far brought more good than harm to most human beings who have ever lived." p. 1186. Many subjects of exploitive regimes and extractive industries disagree. Poverty is /because/ of wealth. Subsistence for all may be better than abundance for a few, extracted from the rest. See, for example, /Paradise in Ashes/ by Beatriz Manz: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

INDEX

The index entry for Guatemala says,

Guatemala 907

But p. 907 talks only of WWI-era eastern Europe.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in May 2000.

At the end of the twentieth century, there seems to be a vogue for celebrating the end of the second millennium AD with universal histories of the sort which had been rather out of fashion for some years. This particular work appeared at the time when they were unfashionable, the Pelican version being slightly updated from one printed by Hutchinson a few years earlier with many maps (reduced in number for this edition to keep costs down).

Judging by what I have seen of these millennial histories, The Pelican History of the World gains a great deal by not being sumptuously illustrated, by not aiming to be the only history book ever bought by its readers (to use, in many cases, this term loosely).

Another virtue making it a history which gives a more natural view of the past if not fitting it so well as a reference book, is that Roberts has chosen (deliberately, as he points out in the conclusion) to refrain from sorting events into specific time periods; each chapter deals with a particular aspect of the past, and carries the story through to what seems to be a sensible point in relation to the subject of that chapter rather than to any chronological division arbitrarily imposed across the board. (This is, of course, a particular feature of many of the history books marketed around the idea of the Millennium, most of which are divided by century.)

The value of books like this one to someone interested in history is to provide a wide context to areas of more detailed knowledge. I have, for example, a particular liking for medieval history, and I would not turn to this book for a history of the medieval West, but for information on other periods and areas (particularly China and India) Roberts provides interesting background. He certainly has the ability to select and summarise, even in the most recent periods covered. (Looking back from 2000 to the seventies, you might expect to have a different idea of what was significant, but the only obvious factor missing is any inkling of the economic problems which would eventually bring about the downfall of Soviet Communism - Roberts even manages to point to a growing interest in environmental concerns.)

[Bevan Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone fascinated by world history will be delighted with the appearance of a new edition of John Robert's History of the World. His ill health mentioned in the preface made it hard work, and his recent death confirms his prophesy that this will be the final edition of this successful book. Overall Roberts provides a great summation of world history, supplying a sweeping overview with perceptive insights, and avoiding the temptation to become enmeshed in encyclopedic detail. The themes he follows, those of change and continuity, the impetus of history and the relationship between tradition and innovation in human history are well chosen and help to find a context for this daunting subject. Additionally he makes relevant the weight of the past to present events (including a very good job of bringing the book right up to date with post-9/11 events). His overall perspective on history has changed surprisingly little over the years, perhaps because one of his basic philosophies is durable; "the two phenomena of inertia and innovation continue to operate in all historical developments ... we shall always find what happens both more, and less, surprising than we expect". Sounds like a bet both ways, however thinking about recent events it is quite plausable.
The book, it is freely acknowledged by Roberts, comes from a white, middle class western perspecive, however every edition finds him attempting to balance his global coverage further, as well as expanding the text to include more on gender issues and the environment. The thinness of material on non-Western cultures, such as Africa and Latin America is more related to knowledge than bias. He certainly has always argued strongly for the "European Age" since the age of exploration and I think he tends to overemphasise its influence on the world's population as a whole (important as it was). A little more material on imperialism from the subjects perspective might have helped, although don't get the impression that the book is a whitewash.
His prose is enjoyable, although his sentance structure could be improved at times, and the book provides a servicable set of maps.
Anyone who reads this book will certainly gain a comprehensive and valuable overview of the forces of the past that manifestly continue to shape the world today, and a fine insight into the way human societies and cultures work.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roberts is a master of the broad brush, managing to make world history a page-turner and 1200 pages seem like 300 (or so). Because the subject’s so large, it always feels like you’re moving at high speed and observing from high above. There’s little room for detail, but that’s the nature of world history. The beauty of it is that Roberts makes connections and observations of patterns, and we’re able to do the same, which wouldn’t be possible in a history of smaller scope with more detail (of course, we need both). One particularly valuable example is the context in which he places the American Revolution and subsequent US expansion. At the time, the revolution was a relatively small matter and Europe was focused on more important things. After the war, Britain controlled the seas and also controlled the territory north of the new nation. With a weak power (Spain) controlling much of the areas south and west, and with France checked by Britain in North America, the US was able to expand in an essentially invisible bubble of protection created by Britain. It was in Britain’s interests to let this weak little English-speaking upstart expand rather than allowing another European power to fill the relative void of North America (it doesn’t make it right, but one of the European powers would have done it if the US hadn’t). A little deflating for our national mythology, but isn’t that one of the purposes of history done well?

[Adam Rodgers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for a college class. It's probably as good as it gets when trying to summarize all of human history, but it purposely leaves out so many good details. For example, when mentioning the sinking of the Lusitania, it does so in only one sentence without even mentioning the ship's name: "There was an outcry when a great British liner was torpedoed that year, with the loss of 1,200 lives, many of them Americans, and the unrestricted sinking of shipping was called off by the Germans."

In many other instances it mentions important figures but leaving out their names too, making it nearly impossible to look them up and learn more. I assume that this was done to try and make the book as uncomplicated as possible, but after putting so much time into reading this book I really would have appreciated more detail and maybe some interesting facts or stories to make it more palatable. Too much time was spent dealing with the policies and procedures of different governments and too little on what life was actually like for the average person throughout history.

It'd be a much better idea to read a book on a specific period in time and learn all the good stuff. Reading a summary that spans thousands of years for the whole world will probably leave you disappointed.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Handsome overview, a whole tour de force but a bit heavy. The universal look is sustained to the end, but Europe dominates; that is also the red thread and the final conclusion of the book.

[Sense of History]

A very classic overview of history and of course still very eurocentric. There are some chapters on non-European history, but more as an appendix. Still, for 1 author, a great tour de force.

[Matty Lapointe-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably the longest project I've ever undertaken. It took me about 6 years to read a nearly 1,200 page history of the world. And, while I've been bummed to miss my Goodreads yearly book count the entire time, I don't know that I should feel bad about how long the process was.

Clearly written from a UK perspective; there were a lot more "u"s in words than I'm used to, and also there were just a few descriptions of stuff I had previous knowledge of where I was like, "well that's a bit of a take I wouldn't call 100% impartial but not inaccurate." There's things here and there that I did think "really? that's all the attention that gets?" But that was mostly things from the past 200 years and it's probably only my own personal bias that misses things not being discussed in the interest of covering things that were much more important in the grand scheme.

This book is an amazing feat. And deserving of all the praise it's received. I really do feel I have a better grasp on the history of humanity than I did before.

I've even kind of got it in my back pocket to read another edition years in the future (like maybe 50 cause let's not go crazy, this was an effort to accomplish) just because I continue to be intrigued by the knowledge shared in it's pages. Though when I come back it better be in digital form to provide links to further information on specifics and interactive maps. And not be a damn 10 pound paperweight.

I'm proud of myself for sticking through the process. Since I started the book I've gotten married, moved twice, lost 2 grandparents, and changed jobs probably close to 10 times. And that feels like just the right thing to give perspective. Even though the book covers 20,000+ years of history, part of me feels like maybe I could've completed it faster. But 6 years isn't nothing in the scheme of a life. I hope I took the appropriate time to process the story being told. Because it's the story of all of us.

This isn't the only thing I read during that time, simply because I did need a break here and there from the itty bitty type and just the nature of a historic document. I'm glad I paced myself like that. I feel like I enjoyed this book all the more because I took time away here and there.

This edition was published in 2007. Far enough from 9/11 to realize that the Iraq wars were based on lies but not recent enough to even have a feel for how Afghanistan might turn out. And certainly not anticipating the election of Barack Obama, let alone Donald Trump. And that's me putting it in a very localized national point of view. But the book definitely makes no bones about the power America has over the rest of the world since the end of World War II. And that's very evident in the last 200-ish pages.

On top of enjoying all the knowledge I acquired, I really do love how the last few pages wrapped up this non-fiction epic. Regarding such a document, it's a history written by historians, and their job isn't to guess at the future, but document the past. And from that perspective, even when it seems like the world is falling apart around us (my interpretation, not the authors) what's important to recognize the progress we as a species HAVE made. At this moment in time even the people in poverty are better off now than they would have been 100-200 years ago. Technology has enabled us to live longer and better and continues to improve almost daily.

The most important change seems to be that now, worldwide, most people are aware of the idea that wherever you start, there's the possibility that you might be able to improve your life. Either through hard work or dumb luck or somewhere in between, it's a possibility for anyone on this planet. And that's not something many people were ever able to consider until very recently in the timeline of humanity.

So while this book had to end where it did because of when it was published, it acknowledges that the story is unfinished and that's probably the most exciting idea of all. Look at all we've done, the good and the bad since we've come into self awareness...

I can't help but be excited about what comes next!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a big history book. Something that reaches beyond what its own grasp is. It's impossible to write one without omitting 90% of what humanity's been through, because there's just too much to touch on. But when it's done well, it feels like a fantastic roller coaster ride through our shared world, our past and how we've come to the present. While these works tend to be very long and require a patient and attentive reader, I think they provide you with something priceless: perspective. History books tend to narrow themselves down to a single moment, a war, a king's rule, a treaty, a disaster; big history books give you information about the same things, but they integrate facts within a grander, broader picture. Perspective, for someone who studies history, is way more important than knowing all possible knowable details about one single subject. I recommend this to every history nerd out there.

[Steven W Oatway · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional book to be used as a general guide to the history of civilization and even before. It is massive and I've read it two times from beginning to end which took a few months. I look forward to reading the latest edition. Many great historical events are merely mentioned but it acts as a catalyst or for me, an inspiration, to research one of these events further. It should be essential reading in school, except for religious groups who will not want to read this as they have their own books of fiction. This sets a clear timeline for our evolution and development as a species and will spur on discovery for your own area of expertise.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent the past six months reading this, and it got progressively worse towards the end. It's about what you'd expect from two bourgeois historians, whose vantage point of the world is undoubtedly British and by extension sympathetic to the US's ascendancy in the 20th century as the so-called leaders of the free world. There's a lot of eurocentricism, apologetics for European colonialism, and bad faith anticommunist takes on the USSR and China.

I'm glad I read this before reading more deeply into world history, however, because it will serve as an example of the kind of ideological historiography one encounters in these kinds of general history books.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of the world in about 1200 pages. That's some achievement. Although this size means you rarely take the foot off the gas and things keep passing by so quickly. My only small gripe is with the chapter concerning WW2 that had a small amount of moralizing in it, but that is to be expected. Otherwise a fantastic overview and really good job by the authors for sticking to history and not passing judgement on who was good or bad.

[Simon Mee]

 From the first civilizations to our own day there have always been alternative models of society available, even if they knew little of one another.

A hell of a doorstopper.

The general, the major, the essential

A large part of me wants to wax lyrical about how much better History of the World is better than Sapiens.  Here’s real historians at work, divining broad patterns without devolving into reductionism.  The invention of credit is not some “killer app”. The theme of History of the World is that exchanges and engagement between human cultures have generally been more important than the confrontations between them.

And I do, hesitatingly, say it is the better book than Sapiens.  A harder read, for sure, but a better summary overall of the flow of history, less preordained and far far more interested in what is actually happening at each stage, rather than treating events as convenient material for arguments.

...but, I suspect there’s a reason it has been 10 or so years since this sixth edition was published. Over time it has become unwieldy, outdated, or even just wrong.  The fall back for the lack of citations or even a bibliography is little more than weasel words in the main text, on the rare occasions there is an acknowledgement of dispute.  There are at least four different quoted dates for the first crossing the Bering Strait, separated by thousands of years yet less than half a dozen pages in the same book.  The early chapters on India read as though guns were held to the authors’ heads.  Describing Mansa Musa without bothering to name him feels like an act of inexplicable vindictiveness, while the description of pre-Columbian North American civilization is explicitly non-existent.  As for the maps, the best are barely relevant, the worst incomprehensible.  I’m not going to trouble myself with comparing editions, but it feels as though the scholarship has not quite kept up.

West is Best

Yet no other tradition has shown the same power and allure in alien settings as the European: it has no competitors as a world shaper.

Perhaps part of the issues is the book is an “institution”.  It is the unapologetic trumpet of Western Civilization’s rise from the 1800s – while there’s no moral assertions of Western supremacy, just an acceptance of it as a fact. Why bother with non-Western details or perspectives when it does not really matter to the book’s main point.

It is tasteful, acknowledging there were minor technological advantages at critical moments and that colonial European powers do bad things (though you might find that part a little understated).  It’s just that, according to the authors, once the West got going, it was the dominant force materially and mentally.  And I guess, yeah?  It’s just this isn’t quite a history then, more a paen to one particular force, a major one yes, but accordingly incomplete.  It’s not a question of space for other viewpoints,  the book kind of disappears up its own... ...thesis from the 19th century, being far too overlong over frankly mundane matters.  The retelling of the 20th century comes close to “one damn thing after another”, a disappointing anti-climax to the insightful points earlier on.

The general, the major, the essential. These were the key aspects of Robert's world history, and I hope they remain as much in focus for me as they were for him.

History of the World drips with genius.  It does also flood you with the minutiae the authors deem worthwhile.  I have close to a hundred pages of quotes – yet the core feels hollow considering the claims of its title.

[Ahmad Abdul Rahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terdapat agak banyak buku sejarah dunia yg diceritakan dalam 1 jilid di rak2 kedai buku sekarang. Andrew Marr's BBC History of the World dan EH Gombrich Little History of The World adalah antara yang popular.

Tapi sini aku akan berikan sebab2 kenapa Odd Arne Westad & JM Roberts The Penguin/Oxford History of The World adalah the superior one.

1) Penulis2 adalah pure historian.

Kata orang, sejarah ditulis oleh pemenang. Terdapat implikasi yang subtle kalau kita menerima pernyataan itu. Antaranya adalah, kita mengiyakan bahawa sejarah adalah ditulis dari sudut pandang seseorang penulis; dan sejarah yang ditulis oleh penulis yang berada di pihak pemenanglah yang paling diterima ramai.

Perkara ini paling terpapar bilamana kita membaca sejarah2 yang dikhabarkan melalui pena tokoh pemikir atau ahli falsafah. Aku secara peribadi tiada masalah sangat dengan hasil2 penulisan oleh golongan2 ini; in fact some of the best historical readings yang aku pernah baca adalah datangnya daripada orang2 dari kategori ini.

Cumanya kita kena menerima bahawa tokoh pemikir/ahli falsafah/intelektual ini ada projek yang mereka ingin kehadapankan. Jadi mereka terkadang overexaggerate sesetengah kejadian dalam sejarah, dan undermine sesetengah kejadian yang lain.

Sebagai sejarahwan tulen, Westead dan Roberts sentiasa memastikan bahawa dakwaan atau kenyataan mereka bersandarkan kepada bukti; walau di dlm sesetengah tempoh dalam sejarah yg tertentu tidak banyak bukti yang dapat digali, penulis cuba untuk menimbulkan ‘circumstantial evidence’ spt menganalogikan latar zaman satu2 tempoh sejarah dengan latar zaman tempoh yg berdekatan. Situasi ini sering didapati apabila penulis cuba untuk meriwayatkan peristiwa2 yg berlaku di dalam masyarakat yang sasteranya masih belum matang seperti Rusia sebelum zaman penyatuan oleh Ivan.

2) JM Roberts adalah specialist dalam sejarah Europe, Odd Arne Westead pula specialist dalam sejarah Cina.

There’s literally a feeling that you’re getting the best of both world. Bagi sesiapa yang familiar dgn sejarah Eropah tentu sedar bagaimana masyarakat2 di benua Eropah sendiri beragam adatnya dan perjalanan sejarah mereka.

Orang suka mengelompokkan masyarakat Eropah silam kepada dua, yang bertamadun dan yang gasar. Mereka2 yang bertamadun rata2nya hidup di kawasan2 terawal yg disentuh oleh tradisi agama Kristian. Mereka adalah penghuni2 Rom, Itali, Greek dan kawasan sekitar. Manakala mereka yang hidup di luar lingkup kawasan geografi tersebut adalah orang2 gasar. Ia adalah kaedah pembahagian yang pragmatik dan amat berguna bilamana anda cuba untuk menayangkan bagaimana Eropah berevolusi kepada kawan2 yg berminat, tetapi banyak fakta2 sejarah lain yang tersembunyi melalui penceritaan sebegitu.

Antaranya adalah, kenapa Perancis dikagumi oleh bangsa2 Eropah yang lain, tension antara England dan Perancis serta Perancis dan Jerman, hubungan Portugal-Sepanyol dengan negara Eropah yang lain, hubungan England dan Belanda, kenapa Rusia dan negara2 Eropah Tengah kelihatan sangat berbeza dengan negara2 Eropah Barat dll.

Lama kelamaan anda akan dapati adalah mustahil untuk anda lompokkan negara Eropah dalam satu istilah abstrak bernama ‘Barat’ (satu istilah yg sangat digemari ahli falsafah).

Kejayaan Westead dan Roberts bagi aku adalah mereka berjaya menyedarkan pembaca betapa kompleksnya struktur dan budaya masyarakat Eropah, tetapi pada masa yang sama Westead dan Roberts mampu menggariskan ciri2 besar yang mendefinisikan Eropah secara umumnya.

Aku juga tidak menyangka sejarah China begitu unik dan bagaimana radikalnya perubahan2 yg berlaku kepada Gergasi Asia ini sejak sekitar 100 tahun terakhir ini. Memandangkan China telah memberi kesan terhadap perkembangan negara2 sekitar seperti Korea dan Jepun dalam aspek intelektual dan budaya terutamanya, lewat pena penulis, pembaca akan mampu melihat negara2 Timur ini dalam perspektif yang bermakna
.
3) Terdapat perasaan bahawa anda sedang membaca a kind of People's History of The World dalam buku ini.

People’s History adalah suatu topik kesarjanaan dalam bidang penulisan sejarah yang cuba untuk memberi perhatian lebih kepada apa yang berlaku kepada rakyat ramai dalam satu2 tempoh sejarah. Because you see, Revolusi 9 Mei di China, French Revolution, Enlightenment, Renaissance, Middle Age, Pax Romana etc sounds nice and dandy when you read it in a typical history book. Tetapi bila anda membaca rekod2 sejarah seperti diari2 yg ditinggalkan oleh mereka yang hidup ditengah2 tempoh tersebut, it is usually very ugly.

Aku percaya ramai daripada kita di sini telah mengalami 2 Revolusi di bumi Mesir dan punya gambaran kasar apa yang berlaku, jadi apa yang aku cakap ini bukanlah satu penemuan baru.

Sewaktu menceritakan mana2 tempoh bersejarah (historical epoch) penulis, Westead dan Roberts sentiasa tidak lupa untuk mengingatkan pembaca akan apa yang sedang berlaku kepada majoriti manusia ketika itu, secara tidak langsung melatih pembaca untuk berfikir secara realistik bila membaca sejarah.

4) Buku ini adalah antara buku sejarah-dunia-dalam-1-jilid terawal dalam pasaran; mula diterbitkan sekitar 70-an.

Edisi terbaru telah di-revise sebanyak 6 kali. In short, it's a pretty established and authoritative book.

5) The book preoccupies itself with how the modern world emerged.

Sebab yang ke-5 ini mungkin agak subjektif; ada sesetengah orang lagi minat nak tahu apa yang berlaku di Eropah pada Zaman Gelap cthnya, atau bagaimana emmpayar Rom ditadbir zaman Antonine.

Tapi aku percaya semua pembaca yang bakal menyentuh buku ini kehidupan mereka telah sedikit sebanyak disentuh dengan produk2 dan kesan2 modeniti.

Jadi walaupun separuh buku ini disibukkan dengan zaman moden (that is roughly 1500 AD onwards), pembaca pasti akan menjumpai beberapa topik yang diperbincangkan menyentuh sedikit sebanyak perkara2/fenomena yg pernah dialami mereka. In short, it's not for everybody. But theres definitely something for everybody. A definite good addition on any readers bookshelf.

Cons buku ini:
-Kadang-kadang, cara penulisan Westead dan Roberts nampak unnecessarily complicated dan memeningkan. Mungkin kerana mereka hendak memastikan pembaca follow their lines of exposition, jadi Westead dan Roberts selalu menggariskan persamaan (dan perbezaan) antara satu tempoh sejarah di suatu tempat dengan satu tempoh sejarah di latar geografikal yang lain. Ada kalanya ia menjadi, dan ada kalanya ia annoying.
-Buku ini terlalu panjang di dalam menceritakan perkembangan dan evolusi dunia moden.
-Buku ini terlalu pendek di dalam menceritakan peresapan tamadun Greek kepada Asia (the so-called Hellenization), juga aku rasa sejarah India silam (sebelum Era Kerajaan Mughal) tidak diberikan perhatian yang sewajarnya.

[Vlad Pîrvu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectă pentru acel tip de oameni foarte studioși, răbdători peste măsură și din cale afară de curioși în ceea ce privește masochismul. Foarte utilă pentru noi, restul.

[Drew Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily the longest book I’ve ever read. Good material.