World Prehistory: The Basics

by Brian M. Fagan, Nadia Durrani

World The Basics tells the compelling story of human prehistory, from our African origins to the spectacular pre-industrial civilizations and cities of the more recent past.

Written in a non-technical style by two archaeologists and experienced writers about the past, the story begins with human origins in Africa some 6 million years ago and the spread of our remote ancestors across the Old World. Then we return to Africa and describe the emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) over 300,000 years ago, then, much later, their permanent settlement of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas. From hunters and foragers, we turn to the origins of farming and animal domestication in different parts of the world after about 11,000 years ago and show how these new economies changed human existence dramatically. Five chapters tell the stories of the great pre-industrial civilizations that emerged after 5000 years before present in the Old World and the Americas, their strengths, volatility, and weaknesses. These chapters describe powerful rulers and their ideologies, also the lives of non-elites. The narratives chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations, and the devastating effects of long droughts on many of them. The closing chapter poses a Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves?

Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.

Genres: History, Prehistory, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Science

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 29, 2021

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had huge issues staying focused on the audiobook, feels like the information went in my ear and out from the next. Perhaps would done better if read the physical version

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and amazingly thorough, for being so brief, overview of world prehistory. I was most interested in the first 5.5 million years before we were even homo sapiens but ended up being captivated by it all. A very nice summing up chapter about the importance of studying the past like this and what we can look forward to with new technologies assisting us.

[Kaycee Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I was looking for, an understandable overview of Prehistory. And although new information is always being discovered, I found it up to date with relevant insights of what could be known in the near future.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars;

[Richard Magahiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book thinking that it was going to concentrate on the development of humanity and human relatives prior to the development of written records. I figured out that this was not the authors' intentions in the first couple of chapters which covered the first two million years of the archeological record briskly. The next few describe the bronze and iron age civilizations and the ways the developed technologies and agriculture, migrations of population, and the first large cities. The last two sections are about civilizations around the world since the invention of writing as late as the western Middle Ages (although not all of them have records we can read) so I wouldn't call that prehistory really. They are studied using modern archaeological methods in addition to traditional historical techniques and even though I wasn't looking for this kind of survey I still found it interesting. I learned something in all three parts of this book

Audiobooks are good for consuming a long book, but not always for retention of information. After I finished I went back to try to find whether I had overlooked a mention of the great West African empires and their stories - Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, but couldn't be sure I was just missing them. am pretty sure the reference would have been minor, though.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very comprehensive and understandable. My only issue with the book is that I wish it were a bit better organized. It seems to constantly move from time period to time period and from society to society. I think I would prefer to stick to one time period, and explore the different societies within that framework. But it may be that prehistory is just too hard to present in such a manner. I also wish that there could be more parallels discussed across the whole breath of prehistory to highlight the commonalities.

[Ian McLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good read. Classic mistake from international authors referring to Australian Aboriginal people as "aborigines". This is considered offensive/offensive by indigenous people in Australia due to it's traditional use by old white racists. I don't think it's meant with any malice but I always point it out when it's used. Other than that it's a good read and a great intro to human history.

[amorphine · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was pretty dry and i would have preferred it to be sorted by continent and areas instead of eras. constantly jumping between what was going on everywhere in the whole world made it pretty confusing and hard to follow. i liked the last part which discussed particular high cultures better.

[Ross Williamson]

14022025: this is fine but the thought of going back to it exhausts me. i was looking for a book about the lives of prehistoric humans, and judging by the first two hours, this is… not that. sigh.

[Utku · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don’t plan to dive much deeper, it gives you a solid rough map of the field; if you do want to explore further, it works perfectly as a starting point that helps you know where to go next.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for class!