A Short History of the World in 50 Books

A Short History of the World

by Daniel Smith

The book has a unique status as an emblem of human culture and civilization. It is a vessel for sharing stories, dispersing knowledge, examining the nature of our extraordinary species and imagining what lies beyond our known world.  Books ultimately provide an invaluable and comprehensive record of what it means to be human.

This volume takes a curated list of fifty of the most influential books of all time, putting each into its historical context. From ancient game-changers like the Epic of Gilgamesh , through sacred texts and works of philosophical rumination by the likes of Confucius and Plato, via scientific treatises, historic ‘firsts’ (like the first printed book) and cultural works of enduring impact (think Shakespeare, Cervantes and Joseph Heller), these are volumes that are at once both products of their societies and vital texts in molding those same civilizations.

It would take a lifetime and more to read and absorb all of them. But this volume allows you to become ridiculously well read in just a fraction of the time. This isn’t a celebration of the canon, it’s about the books that have changed how we think and live – and which have changed the course of history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Literature, Audiobook, Historical

288 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 2 out of 5]

Update My bestselling birthday card in the shop for years (no one sends them anymore, it's all 123greetings) was one with the words JESUS LOVES YOU and the pic of a church lady on the front. Inside it read, THE REST OF THINK YOU'RE A BITCH. It went down quite well in offices. I think that this book would be a great present in a secret santa exchange. (I think the card was probably sent anonymously too! LOL)

Now I've seen the contents, thanks Elentarri msg 16, I've decided to save my money and not get this book. Nor will I order it for the shop. I can't see it appealing to anyone much, just my opinion. It sounds boring as hell.

Changed my mind about getting the book. Errors of attribution, everything Shakespeare wrote listed as a single book, books that have no appeal to me at all... It sounds like a really horrible present for someone who has to be bought for but isn't very much liked. Then it will end up
__________

Very tempted to get this, if only to disagree with the selection, but also be inspired by it to read some of the ones I'm bound to find intriguing. A good book for the shop as even it doesn't sell, people will leaf through it and may find books they want to buy.

[Cristina Lazăr · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://carti.blog/2025/07/23/scurta-...

[Niko · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author explores the greatest, most timeless or simply most well-known books of history. Ranging from the Epic of Gilgamesh, millenia BC, to Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom" (1994), the books chosen are diverse and ordered into their historical era.

Not only do we get a summary of the key points of each piece of literature, more importantly the historical background and the impact on historical and modern society is explained more or less in depth. This gives the reader an amazing insight into why each of these books have earned their claim to timelessness and why they should be remembered for a long time to come.

It's a crucial read to understanding the development of books and literature from the past up till the present. The different books are presented in 'bite-sized' chapters, which are easy to read. And, as a guy on the train told me whilst he saw me reading the book (and I'm paraphrasing): "Wow, you're almost done, you must've already gotten so much smarter by now!"

And I can't argue with that!

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a tough ask to put the history of the world into just 50 books!!

These books were selected not just because of the contents but in a lot of cases what was happening in the world, for instance, the creation of the printing press.

Some of the books featured include The Iliad, Aesop's Fables, Catch-22, Long Walk to Freedom, Collected Works Of Shakespeare, War and Peace, and the English Dictionary.

A great collection from all eras of the world's history. Now, to read the 50.

[Joshua Schadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zoals de titel van het boek al zegt, dit boek schetst de geschiedenis van de mensheid uitgelegd aan de hand van de 50 meest invloedrijke boeken. Deze 50 uitgekozen boeken zijn uiteraard subjectief gekozen door de schrijver. De schrijver legt haarfijn uit waarom hij dit boek zo invloedrijk vind voor de mens.

In eerste instantie wordt per boek uitgelegd, aan de lezer, door wie het boek is geschreven en waarom hij/zij dit boek heeft geschreven. Want waarom schreef Sigmund Freud zijn boek “inleiding tot de Psychoanalyse”? Vervolgens wordt het boek tot in detail uitgelegd wat het inhoud. Tot slot wordt uitgelegd waarom dit boek zo belangrijk is voor de mens en de link naar het heden.

Aan de hand van boeken zoals: de bijbel, the Oddesy (het eerst geschreven fictie boek) en Naturalis Principia Mathematica (het boek geschreven door Newton) wordt dit gedaan.

Wat mij betreft een fantastisch boek voor iedereen die meer wilt weten over de mensheid en welke boeken ons verder hebben ontwikkeld. Het boek leest makkelijk weg en nodigt de lezer uit verder onderzoek te doen en mogelijk zelfs de boeken zelf te lezen.

[Cees Oomens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dit boekje heb ik tijdens een vakantie in Canada gekocht bij de prachtige boekenwinkel Munro’s Books in Victoria. In die vakantie heb ik een paar hoofdstukken gelezen en het boekje vervolgens thuis in de boekenkast gezet en ben ik het vergeten. Onlangs kwam ik het bij toeval tegen en besloot het helemaal te lezen en dat was een plezierige ervaring. De auteur heeft 50 geschriften en boeken uit de wereldgeschiedenis gekozen en behandelt die in chronologische volgorde. Het gaat niet persé om de mooiste staaltjes wereldliteratuur, maar gaat vooral om de impact die het geschreven werk heeft gehad op de wereld. Veel titels herkende ik nog uit mijn geschiedenislessen van de middelbare school, maar ik had geen idee meer waarom. Voorbeelden: Gilgamesh epos, Ilias en Odysee, La Divina Comedia en De Vorst van Machiavelli. Sommige boeken heb ik ooit gelezen, zoals “1984” van Orwell en “A Brief History of Time” van Stephen Hawking. Het is duidelijk dat het merendeel van deze boeken alleen leesbaar zijn voor specialisten en niet voor leken. Daarom is het nuttig dat Daniel Smith de boeken kort samenvat in gewone-mensen-taal, iets vertelt over de tijd waarin ze zijn geschreven, de context en het belang van de geschriften die soms doorloopt tot de moderne tijd. Voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in geschiedenis, literatuur en filosofie is dit een leuk boekje om te lezen. Per boek is het allemaal wat kort, maar verdere diepgang is voor de liefhebber te bereiken met de bibliografie aan het eind van het boekje.

[Paola Rubiano Buitrago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many surprises in the list of 50 books chosen for this, but expected considering those books should be universally known and appreciated/ recognized for their impact on history. It's worth mentioning the elegancy in which the author describes each book, their historical context and their legacy in less than six short pages.

[Jacob Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were quite a few books that I had never heard of in this list. It is a good read if you are into books of historical significants. I will definitely read some of these in the future.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

50 boeken, in één boek! Van tijdsbesparing gesproken! We kennen allemaal de werken van Sun Tzu (de kunst van het oorlogsvoeren), Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes (Don Quichot) of het dagboek van Anne Frank.

Dit boek gaat ietsje dieper in op de korte inhoud, de tijd dat het geschreven werd en de auteur zelf.

Over Anne Frank vond ik het bijzonder om te weten hoe dit boek juist tot stand is gekomen. Toen zij op de radio hoorde dat de Nederlandse overheid na de oorlog de dagboeken en aantekeningen over de Duitse bezetting zou verzamelen, begon zij met het herschrijven van haar dagboek. Het idee dat haar dagboek een breder doel zou dienen sprak haar aan, ze wilde tenslotte journaliste worden.

Zo kan je over elk boek ietsje meer te weten komen! Best interessant, maar dit soort "verzamelwerken" zijn sowieso een beetje saai om te lezen. Je kan af en toe enkele bladzijden lezen en dan dit boek terug aan de kant leggen... ongeveer 6 pagina's uitleg per boek.

[Wilco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erg interessant boek over 50 boeken, die de voortgang van de menselijke geschiedenis weerspiegelen en die geschiedenis ook veranderd hebben. Geen literaire top 50 dus. Het gaat van boeken van Homerus tot Einstein, van Jean-Jacques Rousseau tot Freud en van Shakespeare tot Marx. In een paar pagina’s wordt het leven van de schrijver, het boek en de impact van het boek op de geschiedenis beschreven. Het leest makkelijk.

[Mark Borgman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een prachtig overzicht waarin beknopt de boeken en diens gevolgen worden uiteengezet.

Zoals de auteur op het einde quote: "Across the millennia an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you."
Of in dit geval 51

[Coen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fijn verteerbare reeks introducties in 50 van de belangrijkste boeken uit de wereldgeschiedenis.

[Gianni BM Duvillier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideaal afscheidscadeau van mijn collega’s en dan ook een kostbaar kleinood dat mij zeer dierbaar is

[Joris Reijnierse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi overzicht van boeken. Toegankelijk geschreven samenvatting zonder pretentie compleet te willen zijn.

[Kerstin Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Short History of the World in 50 Books provides an interesting and reasonable choice of 50 books you should at least know of, if not yet read. While I had already read some of them, the book made me remember how great the titles themselves were and what impact they still have on today‘s society. This volume made me add some more titles onto my wishlist, with a special focus on history books. Especially the latter part of the book refreshed my historical knowledge and made my appetite for it grow larger. It has to be said though that there‘s a clear tendency towards books/authors of the western world.
While it took me some time to engage with the book at its beginning, I really learned to love it towards the end, with the final pages making me finish it with a smile on my face and a list in my head of the next books I‘m going to read.

[Aeslinn Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright. Albeit a bit dry, it does provide a good list of, arguably, some of the most influential books the world has read. I appreciated that the author prefaced his selection by maintaining that it isn't a list of the best books in the world, but rather a chronological account of written works that defined history. I think that was very important to say for a book like this; and even then, the selection is highly subjective (which the author also acknowledges). Overall not a bad read. Originally I thought it might be good for research purposes but I've read some other reviews that mention how the referencing is a bit out of it - so maybe not.

[Maria Alejandra Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I was hesitant to continue reading as there wasn't a clear storyline and it felt I was going to read a 300 page website article of the "best books in history", but I'm glad I stuck through it. The overarching storyline is, as the title states "a short history of the world". I'm really glad I read it, I felt smart to recognize various titles, and added a couple of books to my reading list! Now I'm curious to read the sister books "a short history of the world in 50 places" and "... in 50 animals". How interesting!

[Nick Eng · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not recommend reading this book in its entirety. Although it is very informative and writes in a way where one does not get bored, it is not fun to read throughout. However I would recommend book enthusiasts to pick up this book with the purpose of learning about meaningful classics before purchasing them. The book describes the best past literatures that describe our past. In conclusion, this book is worthwhile however with the purpose of reading bits and pieces to learn about our past through literature.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but useful little reference work and quick-guide....although some of its choices are rather obscure, while the late 20th century choices seem more to do with the authors than the actual books. Frankly, there are any number of titanic choices that could have been made, compared to what is provided at the end of this volume.

[Marla · Rating 3 out of 5]

- it wasn’t the slay that I thought it would be :/
- sometimes the descriptions felt too general but also a bit too detailed?
- nonetheless it was interesting to read about these very influential books
- but the text on the back made it seem like it would be more fun fact-y and it wasn’t :/

[Rohit Kumar]

I tried. It's shitty.
Euclid wasn't a real person. Omar Khayyam was no giant, these arabians weren't the ones who did what's attributed to them. I tolerated this bs then in just the next chapter, he quoted gandhi and nehru about bhagwat geeta and that was it. I am not trying anymore with this.

[Nico Van Der Berg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting summarisation of 50 books which in some way influenced society or technology in their own time and some which had an influence beyond. There are no significantly new revelations in the book, but there are some interesting lesser known facts.

[Wayne Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet and a pretty good, detailed listicle about the history of a largely western centric world through books. Entertaining and informative. And light.

[Edward Donelan]

Very interesting choice. Good educational tool and guide to some of the world's best literature - I guess everyone would have a slightly different list.

[Christine Turland]

Wonderful! Should be required reading. I want to make sure all of the books described are in our core collection at BBIS Secondary School Library.

[Patrycja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Anil · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nice, but meshing so many books, each representing a different field and suggesting various ideas, makes it look a bit scattered.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun. Loved it

[Victoria Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful bite sized hopscotch trip from the earliest written works through the 20th century.

[Nastasja Hofmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr spannend mit vielne Büecher woni nonig kennt han. Han s‘Gfühl generell au guet recherchiert. Teilwis ischs mer aber chli z‘wenig kritisch gsii und d‘Uswahl vor allem vo de moderne Literatur isch sehr eurozentrisch.