The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

The History of the World #1

by Susan Wise Bauer

This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country.

Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history.

Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs the methods of “history from beneath”—literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts—to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, World History, Audiobook, Historical, Ancient

897 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2007

About the author

Susan Wise Bauer is an American author, English instructor of writing and American literature at The College of William and Mary, and founder of Well-Trained Mind Press (formerly Peace Hill Press).

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I was listening to this book for so long that NOT listening to it feels strange. The end just kind of came out of nowhere... One minute I'm listening to the fall of Rome, and the next Audible is hoping that I enjoyed the program.

Did I enjoy it? Mostly. I liked the subtle humor that made these historical figures personable and relatable (relatively speaking). It served to make this a bit less like a 26 hour stint in Professor Binns' class - though for much of it, it is simply a recapping of a lot of facts and names and dates and places. This gives us a bit of narrative, making it a little more storylike... but only a little.

The format of this book is not ideal. I'm not really sure what a better method would be, since the world is a big place and contained many civilizations getting their feet wet all at the same time. I think that there should have been, or could have been, a bit more referential material though. Don't rely on me to remember what happened in 3,000 BC in Egypt AND China AND wherever else... Link it together for me. "At the same time Pharaoh whoever was doing this thing, over in China, Emperor whoever was starting this war."

Or maybe year range sections would be good... That way I kind of have a frame of reference - all of the things I'm hearing about are happening at the same time. That would be better for me than subject breakdowns. Sure, they are interesting - The origins of Kingship, or the Persian Wars, etc... but I tend to think more linearly than that, so this format was a bit hard for me to follow and get the most out of. It likes to start with a topic, and then choose a location, discuss the topic's relevance there, jump to a new place, repeat. Usually it's around the same time period... but I couldn't tell you because as hard as I tried, listening with my full attention just wasn't happening.

Anyway... mostly enjoyable, but a bit tedious at times. I'd still recommend it though if you're into history.

[Alex Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although an impressive scope, the approach I feel was flawed.

First, the author takes a "big person" historiographical approach. This seems terribly cartoonish...

Next, the history seems questionable. Take the exodus, for example. Now, there is no archaelogical evidence for the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, there is no empirical evidence supporting it...the only document mentioning the exodus is the Torah, written some 500+ years after the event. (Imagine how accurate a description one would have of someone guessing at Christopher Columbus discovering America!) But it's taken as "fact", despite sloppy mentions of how ambiguous the dating is.

Worse the history seems to correlate Biblical events with historical events. If I wanted cheezy Biblical explanations, I'll dig out genesis. Besides, this was attempted once before (well, many times) in the 19th century. Spoiler alert: they didn't work.

Well, this is a 21st century resurrection. I'd suggest skipping it...

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm about halfway through this book, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. In a style similar to her history books for school-age children, the author presents short episodes of history, always formed as narratives based around human interactions and personalities, and jumping between centers of civilization in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and the Mediterranean. Personalities arise from the mists of history, even from the evidence of fragmentary clay records and broken and buried monuments. Patterns develop, and one can hear the song of history rhyming if not repeating through the ages. The book is incredibly well-researched, and Bauer does a great job of presenting the scholarship and controversies over different interpretations, even while she sensibly picks some over others in order to synthesize her own narratives.

My only complaint with this book would be the way that she treats biblical subjects. I'm guessing that for her this must be a complicated issue. Her sharp intellect comes through both in this book and in her other two books on home- and self-education. She is obviously brilliant, with a critical mind for reading evidence and stories and understanding not only the motivations of the readers but the writers. But she also has an audience to maintain/humor, as one of her biggest customer bases is homeschooling parents, a group largely consisting of fundamentalist Christians, especially on the east coast. Because of this (and perhaps also because of her own inner convictions) she presents two biblical figures as historical figures, Abraham and Moses, and treats their stories as largely based on actual events. She does note that there is not one shred of archeological evidence for the exodus, and of course nothing to affirm the existence of any of the patriarchs. Once she reaches more historical parts of the bible, with kings like Omri and Ahab whose existence has been confirmed, she is on firmer ground.

The stories of the old testament were written down sometime after the return of the exiles from Babylon, and for the people of the Levant, lying between and being conquered repeatedly by the huge kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria/Babylon (and the Hittites, too), claiming ancestry out of these two areas is not surprising. Abraham provides the Mesopotamian link, Moses the Egyptian. Here is one example of what I am talking about: the story of Moses, the baby set afloat in a basket on a river, echoes that of a Mesopotamian king, Sargon, from centuries earlier (just as the story of Noah and the great flood is originally a Mesopotamian myth). The most likely interpretation of that fact is that the exiles, having just lived in Babylon for decades, picked that story up and added it to their Moses myth. Bauer gives that as an interpretation, but presents as her explanation that Moses' mother knew the myth of Sargon and decided to copy it in setting her son afloat. That logic doesn't pass the smell test, or Occam's razor. In the same way, she treats Sarah's geriatric pregnancy (and Abraham's comical episodes where he has to disguise himself because his aging wife is so hot) largely at face value.

Apart from these off-key notes, this is an important and very edifying book, an incredible source of information, well-illustrated, clearly written, and beautifully organized.

I've finished the book and it was excellent - told at a very entertaining level of detail and well edited. What is interesting is that the subtitle is not at all right. The history goes up to about 311AD, when Constantine converts to Christianity and unites the Roman Empire, not to 476AD and "The Fall of Rome" as is claimed on the cover. The emphasis at the end is the comparison with what is happening in the Mediterranean and what is happening in China, with different dynastic and revolutionary claims to the thrones of those great empires. Well done all around.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 2 out of 5]

English review first, българското ревю е под него

Update
The text leans toward a biblical-religious perspective on the described eras. The scientific approach is pushed into the background or competes with the author's religious preferences. It dangerously borders on historical creationism.

Review
One of the things I adore about overview titles is the colorful pictures. There are none here.

Now seriously, the author has prepared a clearly structured, lucid exposition for the general reader, covering the period between 4000 BC and 312 AD. Definitely an ambitious goal for just one volume. And yes, Bauer insists on using BC/AD rather than BCE/CE…

It is wonderful that Bauer does not limit herself only to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but unfolds a fairly large-scale overview of Mesopotamia, ancient Persia, the Chinese and Indian kingdoms, and the cultures of Asia Minor and the Levant. Phrygians and Phoenicians are present alongside Sumerians, Egyptians, Elamites, Aryans, Dorians, and Ionians. Ancient history in this more enriched and diverse interpretation is not confined only to the temples of Karnak and the Acropolis, which is only to the reader's benefit.
However, Bauer also fails to avoid some of the pitfalls of the subject, though—thankfully—bloated Eurocentrism is not among them. Since the ancient world is truly ancient, surviving evidence is scarce, and when available, it is often contradictory or even decidedly unreliable. The ancient world is a real challenge for the rational approach of today, not least because this form of worldview was far from universally popular in those eras.

Thus, Bauer logically turns to the myths that have reached us and shaped our culture, such as the Mahabharata, the Old Testament, the Iliad, the Greek pantheon, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Although unreliable in terms of facts—or if they do provide a grain of history, its interpretation is hopelessly blurred by the requirements of the then-authorities or a religious/social doctrine struggling for dominance—they are nonetheless some of the few contemporaries of those distant places and echoes of past events and upheavals. However, Bauer recounts them as if they were real events and a real substitute for history!

What also strongly irritated me and ruined the effect of the reading was the selective and "trusting" (i.e., presented as face value) insertion of biblical stories, including the completely unproven Exodus. The Old Testament, unlike the Quran, contains certain historical echoes. Bauer, however, quite obviously overemphasizes them as credible historical events with verbatim quotes (which are in that awful old-fashioned language which—Holy Synod forgive me—in its Bulgarian version does not contribute at all to understanding the messages of the Old Testament; the passages read in English are many times clearer to me). For instance, in the chapter on the alleged Exodus, there is blatant speculation about what the Egyptians might have thought about the matter, suggesting that since it would have presented them in an unfavorable light, they simply didn't document it anywhere!

Against this backdrop, I cannot help but admire Sima Qian, the primary source cited for China, who despite all his embellishments and mythological references, was clearly quite factual for his time. Elsewhere, Bauer inserts mythological retelling as a substitute for the lack of reliable historical data, with very vague and evasive assumptions about what this might mean in a historical aspect—the Mahabharata being a typical example.

On the other hand, Bauer can be elegantly skeptical—but too selectively, and only when it’s not related to the Old Testament. For example, she aptly reminds us how unreliable Roman historians are when praising non-existent old virtues to serve later Roman political doctrines and "educate" the younger generation. Yet, she blithely ignores the fact that the books of the Old and New Testaments serve the exact same purpose. Bible scholars have dated the Old Testament with reasonable accuracy, showing that some "events" were described hundreds of years later under political circumstances requiring specific "interpretation." This is not mentioned here.

The sources used by Bauer are entirely English-language. Understandably, this has long been the new "Esperanto," but for such a large-scale title, I personally would have expected a bit more.

The lack of stronger emphasis on key personalities and events, even at the expense of others, is also a hallmark of Bauer's style, leading to satiation and boredom. At times, she so conscientiously pecks through stenographic summaries (due to the volume constraints) of countless names and incidents within two sentences that it causes vertigo, without being memorable or distinguishable from everything else in the same section. Omitting them in favor of stronger focus on key elements would have brought significant improvement and increased interest.

And now to the pictures. Yes, their absence is annoying. The old cliché that a picture often says more than a thousand words is actually true. Bauer does not use good visualization with memorable images. The boring and unremarkable black-and-white photos contribute nothing to a better understanding. The situation with the maps is better, although they repeat at times. The tables, however, are great.

Overall—a decent textbook or reference book, far from the most interesting, but not the most boring either; it provides an idea, though not an impartial one . But it is light-years away from the impact of much more unpretentious, much older, less biblically and religiously centered, and far less exhaustive titles like “When the Sun Was a God” by Zenon Kosidowski. With Kosidowski, everything is memorable! And it is crying out for a reprint. As for Bauer, I doubt that in 5–10 years anyone will remember her at all in the mass of similar general-use titles.

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Update
Текстът клони по-скоро към библейско религиозен поглед към описаните епохи. Научният подход е изхвърлен на заден план или се конкурира с религиозните предпочитания на авторката. Опасно клони към исторически креационизъм.

Ревю
Едно от нещата, които обожавам в обзорните заглавия, са цветните картинки. Тук няма такива.

Сега сериозно, авторката е подготвила за масовия читател едно ясно структурирано, прегледно изложение, обхващащо периода между 4000 г.пр.н.е и 312 г. Определено амбициозна цел само за един том. Мда, и Бауер настоява да използва преди Хр., а не преди н. е.…

Чудесен е фактът, че Бауер не се ограничава само до древен Египет, Гърция и Рим, а разгръща доста мащабен обзор за Двуречието (земите между Тигър и Ефрат), древна Персия, китайските и индийските царства, културите в Мала Азия и Леванта. Фригийци и финикийци присъстват звено с шумери, египтяни, еламити, арийци, дорийци, йонийци. Античната история в тази по-облагородена и богата трактовка не се ограничава само до храмовете в Карнак и Акропола, което е само от полза за читателя.

Бауер обаче също не успява да избегне част от капаните по темата, като - слава Богу - надутата европоцентричност не е сред тях. Тъй като древният свят е наистина древен, оцелелите свидетелства не са толкова много, а когато са налични, често си противоречат или дори са определено ненадеждни. Древният свят е истинско предизвикателство за рационалния подход от днешния ден, не на последно място и защото тази форма на светоусещане в онези епохи далеч не се е радвала на всеобща популярност.

Така че Бауер логично се обръща към достигналите до нас, и оформили културата ни, митове като Махабхарата, Старият Завет, Илиадата, древногръцкия пантеон, сагата за Гилгамеш. Макар и ненадеждни откъм фактология, или ако все пак предоставят зрънце история, то тълкуванието и е безнадеждно размито от изискванията на тогавашната власт или бореща се за налагане религиозна/ социална доктрина - все пак те са едни от малкото съвременници на онези далечни места и отглас на отминали събития и сътресения. Бауер обаче ги разказва, сякаш са реални събития и реален заместител на историята!

Това, което също силно ме раздразни и унищожи ефекта от прочетеното, беше избирателното и “доверчиво” (т.е. представено като чиста монета) вмъкване на библейските истории, включително съвършено недоказания Изход. Старият Завет, за разлика от Корана, съдържа известни исторически отгласи. Бауер обаче доста очеизвадно ги преекспонира като достоверни исторически събития с дословни цитати (които са с ужасния старовремски език, който да ме извини Светият Синод, но в българския си вариант никак не допринася за вникване в посланията на Стария Завет, а пасажите, четени на английски, са ми в пъти по-ясни). Например в главата за предполагаемия Изход присъства съвсем явна спекулация какво били мислили египтяните по въпроса, и понеже би ги представило в неблагоприятна светлина, не го били документирали никъде!

На този фон не мога да не се възхитя на Съма Циен, който е цитираният основен източник за Китай, който при всичките си украси и митологични референции, е бил явно доста фактологичен за времето си. На други места Бауер вмъква митологичен преразказ като заместител на липсата на достоверни исторически данни, с много неясни, бегли и уклончиви предположения какво би могло да значи това в исторически аспект - типичен пример е Махабхарата.

От друга страна Бауер може да бъде и елегантно скептична - но твърде избирателно, и когато не е свързано със Стария Завет. Например не забравя - удачно - да напомни колко ненадеждни са римските историци, възхваляващи несъществували стари добродетели, тъй като се опитват да обслужат далеч по-късни политически римски доктрини и да “възпитават” младото поколение. Така ведро пропуска факта, че книгите от Стария и Новия Завет са с абсолютно същото предназначение. Библеистите са датирали с прилична точност стария Завет, като част от “събитията” са описани стотици години по-късно при политически обстоятелства, изискващо съответното “тълкуване”. Това тук не се споменава.

Източниците, ползвани от Бауер, са изцяло англоезични. Разбираемо това е отдавна наложилото се ново есперантно, но все пак за толкова мащабно заглавие лично аз биха очаквала малко повече.

Липсата на по-силно акцентиране и откроява е на личности и събития, макар и за сметка на други, също е отличителна черта на стила на Бауер, което води до пресищане и скука. На моменти тя толкова добросъвестно изкълвава в стенографско резюме (поради ограничението в обема на книгата) безброй имена и случки в рамките на две изречения, че докарват световъртеж, без по никакъв начин да са запомнящи се или отличаващи се от всички останали в същата секция. Пропускането им за сметка на по-силно акцентиране върху по-ключови елементи единствено би внесло значително подобрение и би засилило интереса.

Да стигна и до картинките. Да, липсата им дразни. Старото клише, че една картинка често казва повече от много думи, всъщност е вярно. Бауер не използва добро онагледяване със запомнящи се образи. Скучните и с нищо незабележителни черно-бели снимки не допринасят с нищо за по-доброто разбиране. Положението с картите е по-добро, макар на моменти да се повтарят. Табличките пък са супер.

Цялостно - нелош учебник или справочник, далеч не от най-интересните, не е и от най-скучните, дава представа, макар и не безпристрастна. Но е на светлинни години от въздействието на много по-непретенциозни, много по-стари, по-малко библейско и религиозно центрирани, далеч не така изчерпателни и нелинейно структурирани заглавия като “Когато слънцето беше бог” на Зенон Кошидовски. При Кошидовски всичко е запомнящо се! И плаче за преиздаване. А за Бауер се съмнявам, че след 5-10 години някой изобщо ще я помни в масовката от подобни заглавия за общо ползване.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 3,000 years of known history in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, China, etc
"History is just one damn thing after another" is a famous quote misattributed to the venerable historian Arthur Toynbee. What he actually said was:

"Life is just one damned thing after another, whether it is private or public life. And looking back upon history (which in reality, of course, has never stopped happening, even during our brief halcyon days), one can see that in almost every age in almost every part of the world, human beings have had to live their normal lives and do their normal business under conditions of uncertainty, danger and distress. . ."

Well, I don't know who co-opted his expression, but it's an amusingly cynical view of history. Is there no rhyme or reason, no ebb and flow, no discernible pattern to the rise and fall of empires, kingdoms, royal families, noble houses, great leaders and generals, shrewd politicians, religious figures, powerful merchants, meticulous scholars, and petty bureaucrats, not to mention priests, commoners, farmers, criminals, slaves, and thieves? Surely history is an infinitely complex and grand tapestry throughout which the joys and despair of men, women, and children are woven, in often mysterious and conflicting patterns, but making up a gloriously gripping narrative of human existence?

Well, I'm no historian but I certainly find myself increasingly drawn to history precisely because enough time has passed to gain some distance and perspective away from current events. Given the state of the world today, with its myriad thorny and seemingly unsolvable problems such as economic and political disparity, environmental destruction, overpopulation, social class and religious conflicts, relentless invasion of technology into our daily lives, and growing moral relativism as traditional belief systems are undermined, there is something very attractive about casting our gaze back into previous millennia, not because they were simpler or better times, necessarily, but because we can see some of the same delusions of certainty, righteousness, justice, and equality then that persist now in stark contrast to the messy reality of the world we live in today.

This series of books by Susan Wise Bauer seeks to capture huge swaths of history not simply with sweeping generalizations and explanations, but rather covering a seemingly endless series of empires and leaders rising and falling in different parts of the ancient world, sometimes achieving greatness, oftentimes megalomaniac and despotic, but quickly seeing their demise in favor of the next to seize power. So in many ways, this book could be described as "History is just one damn crazy leader after another", and Bauer makes a great effort to make these colorful individuals into real characters with good and bad traits, outlandish ambitions, sadistic tendencies, and often incredible duplicitousness.

There are no angels out there who rose to power - hardly - but there weren't pure devils either. They were just as conflicted and confused as we are, just in a less complex and smaller-scale world than the global societies of today. But the same dynamics of religious, military, political, and economic power and the struggle for control operate. In this book we get a never-ending parade of individual dramas from different eras and regions of the world, a thousand variations of the same efforts to establish and maintain order in increasingly large empires with the inevitable collapses due to external battles with rival empires or, just as frequently, the internal struggles for power and sudden betrayals of family and allies.

It is a bloody affair, and Bauer describes the many treacherous and cruel actions of rulers to keep power with unflinching enthusiasm, in fact a certain maniacal glee at their brutality. With absolute power in the ancient world, anything was possible, and tens of thousands of people could be slaughtered as cities were sacked by armies, or tortured and executed as traitors, or enslaved for generations, a story repeated again and again, and yet also there were moments of impressively enlightened ideas of collective and individual political rights to protect citizens from tyranny, to protect property rights, and so forth, which are the underpinnings of our modern democracies and capitalist/market economies. We may have plenty of inequalities and injustices still persisting today, but we are less likely to be persecuted and executed by a capricious leader on a whim. So there is such a thing as progress, though it is far from universal and far from guaranteed.

To sum up, I enjoyed this 26-hour pageant of history. If you asked me to repeat most of the leaders and kingdoms and battles and when/where they took place, I would be very honest in saying it's all a blur, a flood of information that flowed over my ears and mind over many a dog walk in the neighborhood during lockdown, but I was enriched by it and left thirsty for more, which is perfect since there are two more hefty installments, one on the Medieval World and the next on the Renaissance World, coming up next.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced history of the ancient world. Wile reading, I could not help but visualize the earlier humans marking their territory as they competed for power and resources, spread out from every corner of Earth to build the cities and civilizations we see today. It's always a good idea to remember from where and from whom we came. This book, though long, will take you on an extremely compact tour from the first kings of whom we are aware through the fall of Rome. It covers how power and land were gained, how laws were written and followed (or not followed), and how ideals were born or killed in different regions of our globe.

Since this book provides a history for such a long stretch of time, at no time does it go into great detail of any particular period or king. The book is already longer than most books. If Wise Bauer were to go into more detail, the book would simply be another book. Rather, this book gives the reader a mere glimpse into each time period as it races along. I made of note of the time periods and leaders I would like to read more about later.

At times the author, like all authors before her, had to construct the story from sources that are difficult to verify or are included in religious texts that might be unreliable in providing an accurate history. In those cases, she did a great job and informing the reader about the speculative nature of the narrative. Excellent writing. Excellent timeline. Excellent history.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my perspective on humanity. Who we are. What we've done. And the fact that there's nothing new under the sun. It was especially interesting for me, as a Christian, to see how secular history overlaps and influences the Biblical stories that shape my faith. A must read....can't wait for volume 2.

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February 2010: Picking up to read this again since I enjoyed it so much the first time....

[Jonfaith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few years ago I was invited to lunch by the COO of an adjacent company. I drove a colleague and shortly after I politely settled in with my steaming pozole. The COO whom I’ve known for decades began speaking of the issues plaguing our field. There was certainly no doubting the complaints. He then went issue by issue and explained how he was going to correct them. I returned to my stew. Driving back I was asked about my opinion and I simply stated that the COO is a good man but he has a degree in English.

Very quickly during my time with The History of the Ancient World I gathered that the author also had a degree in English not history or economics or one of the ancient languages. It is an interesting approach, short chapters on a region or figure which conclude with comparative timelines. This is very helpful especially during the first half of the book when dealing with events thousands of years BCE. I noticed that the proverbial wandering of the Hebrew tribes was being noted with emphasis. This continued and the corroborative evidence was cited scripture. That gave me pause. I did minimal research and discovered that this book and series are primers for contemporary homeschooling. I did sigh and perhaps muttered, but the author is an honorable scholar.

This was originally recommended by a Goodreads friend who apparently has left the site. His work was done, I suppose. Veni, vidi, vici.

Despite the misgivings, the narrative is intriguing especially towards the Hittites, Scythians and all matters Persian and Rome.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Wise Bauer's magisterial magnum opus history of the world is absolutely superb. Easy to read, well written, and full of detailed and interesting facts.

Starting with the "Edge of History" which is before written history we delve into the origins of Kingsship, the rise of Aristocrats and Empires. The "Earliest Story" of Sumer starts around 3600 BCE. We move through a variety of topics and time periods covering the first written records and chronicles of events in Egypt and Sumer.

In such a fashion, moving throughout the world, Bauer writes a wonderful general history of the world from the Earliest times and ends with the rise of Constantine to Emperor in 312 CE. Full of illustrations and interesting facts, this superb history not only gives you a great overview of the timeline of human history and development but also entertains and stokes further interest in these topics.
Highly recommended for fans of excellent history books.

[Omar Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you already know all about Tiglath Pilesar the third and the problems of Assyrian imperialism then this may not be the book for you. It is a very quick (and therefore necessarily superficial) overview of the history of all major Eurasian civilizations from 3000 BC to 300 AD. It helps you to put all of them in place parallel to each other and to get a nodding acquaintance with all of the actors. It is strictly narrative history, focused on rulers and popular stories about them...it is also a bit too eager to take various ancient texts at face value (I have seen other reviewers particularly offended by her treatment of the bible as a source of historical information). And if you want to know what deeper economic, cultural and ecological trends underlay the rise and fall of ideas and empires, then this is not your book. But if you want a quick introduction to the whole era and especially if you just want to have a clearer picture of who was contemporary with whom, then this will do.
In short, if you are mostly ignorant (as I was about most of Babylonian history for example), you will learn something. But when she covers ground you are more familiar with, you may find yourself disagreeing with some of what she chose to pick up and how she summarized it (I had that feeling at times when she talked of the late Roman Republic and the Roman empire).
Worth a read. And easy to read.

[Tyus Welter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I win the lottery (or receive enough donations from my loyal Goodreads followers) I want to record an audio version of this that’s set to the tune of We Didn’t Start the Fire. Something like:

🎵 Mahabharata, Royal Road
Hammurabi writes a code
Hanging Gardens, fighting Spartans
Olympias loves snakes

Lysistrata, Gilgamesh
Egypt brother-sister sex
Chandragupta, Tribe of Judah
Cambyses is a fake

Akhenaten simps the sun
Barca strikes, Rome’s overrun
Scipio, wife of Lot, China follows 9 pots
Dido, Bucephalus, the Senate’s killing Gracchus
Savior J, nailed away, what else do I have to say?? 🎵

And I’ll call it “Nero Started the Fire”

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Without a unifying theory or an overarching narrative, history is just one damn thing after another. The results are at once cursory and grim: battle, tyrant, slaughter, battle, tyrant, rise, fall, lather, rinse, repeat. Moreover, by attempting to cover 2,000 years of human history in 800 pages, the author maintains a very high altitude, largely rehashing things that I learned in junior high and high school.

Overall, it was a readable but disappointing history of the ancient world.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reread this — it makes perfect bedtime reading. And there's something about the ancient world that I really enjoy. For example, I truly love the Epic of Gilgamesh so it is fascinating reading about what we can glean of him as a king while later seeing the hero he has morphed into for his people. This actually goes hand in hand with my love of the Old Testament, now that I come to think of it.

As with the first time I read it, I really appreciate the author's steady refusal to speculate on reasons for ancient people's actions when there is no evidence for them. I do wish she'd have abbreviated the continual reporting on warfare and leadership changes in Mesopotamia and Egypt the way she did in China and India (though I realize part of the reason for such abbreviation is a lack of solid info from those areas). However, that's what skimming is for when the details get too dense. And I'm a champion skimmer.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uzun bir okumanın ardından, bu kapsamlı kitabı bitirdim.
Şimdi nereden nasıl başlanır bilemiyorum. Çünkü konular çok geniş. Kısaca değinmek gerekirse iyi hazırlanmış bir tarih kitabı. Ele aldığı coğrafyaya göre, bunca yılı çok iyi sığdırmış yazar. Evet kitap hacimli ve oldukça büyük ebatlı ama bu akıcılığını çok etkilemiyor.

Okumayı düşünenler için bahsettiği coğrafya ile başlayabilirim. Batıda Britanya adasından, doğuda Çin’e kadar, güneyde Mısır, kuzeyde ise Germen diyarına kadar diyebilirim. Avrupa, Mısır, Mezapotamya, Çin ve Hindistan başlıkları altında toplayabiliriz. Tabi avrupa derken detaylı bir Catalan, Germen ya da daha kuzeyi düşünmeyin. Tarih yazımının olduğu bölümlerden, bu bahsettiğim coğrafyaya odaklanılmış. Aslında bu benim için biraz kısıtlayıcı oldu ama bu hali ile bile tatmin edici diyebilirim.

Daha detaylı bir yazıyı kitapveyorum.com sayfasında yazacağım. Kitabı okurken aldığım notlar var. Fakat bu notlar sadece benim anlayabileceğim şekilde yazılmış gibi. Onları biraz toplayarak düzenleyebilirsem, güzel bir özet en azından başlıkların incelenmesi için yararlı olabilir.

Tabi bu notlarda beni etkileyen bölümleri daha detaylı geçtim. Özellikle bazı portrelerin yaşadıklarına daha fokus bir biçimde yaklaştım.

Toparlarsam eğer, bahsettiğim coğrafya hakkında özet ve yazılı tarihe odaklanılmış net bir bilgi almak için iyi bir kaynak. Diğer cilt ile Susan Wise Bauer’e devam edeceğim. Ortaçağ Dünyası ile. Sonrasında Umberto Eco’nun editörlüğünü yaptığı seri ile devam edip, daha detay için araştırdığım bazı kitapları okumayı planlıyorum.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without hesitation, one of the most enjoyable, often humorous (see Star Trek Borg reference), reads on ancient history. As with any sweeping text on the ancient world, people are left out, some events glossed over in favor of others; nonetheless, I enjoy just such histories as, in their comprehensive nature, they allow for a broader understanding of how civilizations evolved, how great societies rose and inevitably fell, and how such patterns continue, no matter how "modern" and "advanced" man presumes to be. After all, those great societies were modern and advanced to those living in them. I cannot wait to dive into Wise's, History of the Medieval World.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The History of the Ancient World overall is an interesting book. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience reading it. I think the best aspect of the book is that it's inclusive of many cultures, rather than being dominantly Roman or Greek. With Susan's broad-scope approach to history, we look at China, India and other nations. This book starts from Sumerians to the "Fall" of Rome. The complexity isn't the language or concepts it presents but the immense knowledge it throws at you. One of its praises is a part of its limitation due to covering such a broad time period, certain names rarely settle in your mind. There are so many names that it can be overwhelming.

Another issue primarily lies with me is taking a long break and binge-reading it near the end. That way of consuming this book doesn't work in its favour. It's almost best to read each chapter as a short story, read maybe 1-3 chapters a day. Or at least 1 chapter every couple of days. My lack of consistency hurt my enjoyment. Furthermore, I don't think doing audio would help for this book. Even if immersion reading became too much, it’s preferable to physically read it. This is a solid introduction to a lot of history; I do like how it's told linearly with dates that are rather precise and connect the various cultures in interesting ways. Another limitation is entirely my problem, it's trying to familiarise myself with Chinese names. In general, I have a tough time, as I don't watch too much Chinese media, so I'm not used to it compared to Roman, Greek, Indian or Japanese names. Even how the Sumerian's names are spelt it's just easier for me to familiarise myself. Additionally, a lot of names are thrown at you, and it's difficult to see a distinction between them because of this format.

So those were my two major limitations when reading this book. Which is why I feel guilty even rating it. One aspect I do have to criticise is how she inserts her faith (Christianity) into the book. Firstly, I do commend her interweaving many mythologies-religion into the book. There's a wonderful preface she has stating why she believes filling the prehistory with these epic tales is important and I agree with her. She is genuinely respectful of other beliefs. That said when she writes chapters like (mythical figure as we know it) like Abram as a real person and just stories told in the New Testament as a source it becomes shaky. It becomes hard to trust history at times because of that aspect. She does this to figures from the bible which is frustrating. Even her own conclusion when Rome fell, is probably the most absurd than Gibson's conclusion that Christianity is what destroyed the Western Roman Empire. Overall, I think it's ultimately fine as she points out pretty explicitly when she cites the Bible as her source.

Beyond that, I must commend Susan Wise Bauer's scholarship. She has cited various sources to make an interesting read. There are chapters that are like a slog, there are some chapters that are super dry, but there are others that are quite exciting. I actually enjoy Susan's cheeky remarks, which makes this more fun than just a textbook. I think learning about the Sumerians, Assyrians, Greek, and Indian history was the highlight for me. I especially like when she quotes the works she discusses. The Rome History was compelling until The Roman Empire section. This book had to be rushed by design but after Augustus's rise, the Rome history in this book became less interesting. Primarily due to me already reading History of Rome during this era, so I'm aware of how much has been glossed over.

In Conclusion, I think it's worth as long you take read consistently, don't read too much and physically read it. Because of my limitations, it’s difficult to give this an accurate score. Personally, I think it’s more of a 6 an enjoyable and interesting read. But if I didn’t take a large break, took more of my time and did physical primarily it would be higher so that would be a 7. I'm pretty excited about the other two books as I have a feeling I will like them more.

6-7

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent historical text. It provides some much needed narrative detail to the often dry and obfuscated facts regarding some of the earliest civilizations of mankind. I especially liked her descriptions of the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations, as they were done with a real human-touch, as opposed to the typically artifact-heavy archaeology-driven proto-histories I am used to.

The one complaint I have about this book is that the author, probably a Christian herself, does not shy away from apologetics. She devotes far too much time and attention relaying the story of Noah and his flood, erroneously linking supposedly "world wide" "flood myths" to the minor flooding that is known to have taken place regionally in Sumer. She denies that this is the reason for the flood myth, as she is far too attached to the mythological and unsupportable idea that the Bible is actually right, and that there was a giant Deluge that swept away the world.

Another symptom of this same religionist disease is her focus on the mythical figure of Abram. She tells his story with as much attention and sobriety as she uses to address figures like Sargon, though there is absolutely not one single shred of archaeological evidence to suggest that Abram/Abraham was a real person, or that his Biblical story was in any way based on fact. Again she uses the lame excuse that religious-apologist-historians always use, claiming that there is truth that can be distilled from ancient stories. While she deliberately examines the various myths about Gilgamesh and makes some assumptions about historicity versus later mythological convention in such a way that it seems plausible, when it comes to Abram and like figures from the Old Testament, even this psuedo-objectivity goes out the window. She breathlessly relates events from the Bible as if they are as provably factual as the macehead of the Scorpion King. Suffice it to say, they are not.

It gets /really/ absurd when she starts speaking as if Abraham and his sons could be archaeologically traced back as the progenitors of the Arab and Jewish races. There is no evidence for this at all, and yet she pretends that it is quite obviously true that a single man birthed two great nations, and history recorded it without error.

Overall it is a very wonderful book and I have greatly enjoyed it, but she should abandon the Christianist overtones. Without the nonsensical Biblical apologetics, this book would have earned 5 stars.

[Sonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Anthropologists can speculate about human behavior; archaeologists, about patterns of settlement; philosophers and theologians, about the motivations of “humanity” as an undifferentiated mass. But the historian’s task is different: to look for particular human lives that give flesh and spirit to abstract assertions about human behavior.”

The History of the Ancient World is Susan Wise Bauer's first in a four-volume series, in which she tells the stories of mankind from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East—in other words, a comprehensive history of the ancient world, except the Americas and Oceania. Bauer is a writer, educator, and historian; a friend of mine says Bauer is a “rock star in the homeschool world.” In the first volume, Bauer gives readers an overview of the ancient worlds of Sumer, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt, India (Indus valley), China, Greece, and Rome. In this first volume, she covers the beginnings of civilization in the ancient world, ending with Emperor Constantine and the fall of the Roman Empire. Bauer’s focus is on how the various states rise, then prosper, and finally fall. This wide-angle approach shows the inter-connectedness of events and not just the local context, making the book an important resource. Drawing on epics, ancient historians, and various legal texts and private letters, she introduces individuals who helped build the ancient world. While some might object to her referencing of biblical texts, I believe this added to the overall understanding rather than diminish it. In the end, Bauer's stylish prose and her command of the material makes this a wonderful initial foray into the study of the ancient world. While the book is more of a survey than a detailed and complete history of the ancient world, it offers the most informative history of the ancient world I have read.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 5 out of 5]

История на древния свят, история на войни, войни и пак войни: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/i...

Бауер се стреми да държи нещата под строг хронологически контрол и до голяма степен успява – постоянно скача от държава на държава, след всяка глава са дадени сравнителни таблици на владетелите от различни цивилизации, за да се следи какво всъщност се случва успоредно, а човек все пак трябва да се подготви да чете дълго тази книга, аз ѝ отделих над седмица, при това такава, в която вече нямаше работа и можех да чета спокойно. Все пак трябва ясно да се подчертае, че в тези почти 800 страници без бележките е само най-важното от това, което знаем за древната история (тоест това, за което някой е писал и това, което археолозите са изкопали), при това описано само в най-едри щрихи и с много предположения, дори и близки до нас събития са още неясни, какво остава за тези, отделени от хилядолетия и често предадени ни от историци, които не държат твърде много на обективността. Книгата ми напомни по опита на Норман Дейвис от “Под различни небеса” да се разказва историята на всяка територия като поредица от събития, които все пак подлежат на някакво обяснение.

SkyPrint BOOKS
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/i...

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book when I realized it was going to take Genesis as accepted historical fact.

Sorry, that's a deal-breaker. The prime directive of a historical text is to strive to be unbiased. If you're not even going to *try*, then neither am I.

Go read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies instead.

[❆ Crystal ❆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Kudos to the author. This book is an amazing feat... I can only imagine what a difficult task this must have been to research and write. History can be such a tangled mess and Susan Bauer did such a fantastic job untangling and searching for the truth (or as close as we'll ever get to it). This book covers 3,800 BC to 312 AD following China, Persia, Babylon, Egypt, India, North Africa, Greece, Italy, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and toward the end of the book Great Britain, Scotland, and some Scandinavia. Some of the issues with early history is: oral history passed down most likely has errors, historical documents were destroyed/lost/damaged, and accounts written sometimes passed on accuracy in light of "looking good." Bauer was excellent in pointing out these factors. For example, there would be a battle and each side documented a victory, but there could really be only one victor... So, Bauer would use archeology to list what was most likely the truth she was also careful to state what both sides said.
Theology and Mythology were also listed as part of this history... stating that it can't be excluded completely because, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." She also points out documents that were written well after the fact stating that is was an oral history for xxx years and then written down.

This book was written in plain English with short chapters so that it didn't feel too heavy of a read. It is a long book and could be a bit dry at times, but well.... I'm not sure that could be avoided completely. Bauer also told a lot of personal stories which I loved! And, I must say that after reading, I'm happy to say that poison has lost it's flare as a tool for murder. I cannot believe how many people were poisoned in this book! It was a bit sad and depressing at times to see that history is full of corruption, deceit, murder, and unkindness. The grab for power... to take what your neighbor (family) had was all too common in every nation that I read about. I'm so happy I read this book and will read the next in the series as well.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

A high level history of the ancient world, gleamed from unreliable sources which I have no confidence in.

I'm not a history buff. I learned about this in school and it didn't stick and I wanted a refresher before heading out to a trip to Italy so that I have context for the stuff I saw. I expected something high level, but I didn't expect the sources to be so sketchy.

The author immediately speaks about how she won't be using hard evidence to tell the story, instead relying on written texts which are more or less correct. Decent caveat, but I just have no confidence in the validity of most of the information.

This is a bigger problem when going further back in time, but when the book of Genesis is frequently held up as being a historic account I just can't trust this author. I feel like anything prior to a few hundred years BC is a total guess.

For example, when talking about the Minotaur it's mentioned that we can infer certain things based off of what was written down 500 years later. Something went around with word of mouth for 500 years before being written and we're giving it some semblance of validity? I think to what occurred some 500 years ago, in the 17th century, and what I would no idea without a written record. To trust things written hundreds of years after the fact as being an accurate place to start is just nonsense.

I was interested in the history of the people, how they lived, where they were. This is a high level account of kings and succession. I don't find this all that compelling. Perhaps I'd be more interested in archaeology or anthropology? Not sure, but whatever I want this wasn't it.

Is there a better book for what I wanted or is history just flawed as it's based off of a series of unreliable texts? I don't know but I do know that I didn't like anything about this book. I feel like I heard a bunch of things and can't trust any of them. This is the exact opposite feeling I'm looking for when I read a non fiction book as I like to foster a feeling of trust that the author knows the subject matter.

[WA. Prakosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dengan membaca buku ini. Saya seperti dibawa ke dalam mesin waktu, menjelajahi dunia selama periode Mesopotamia hingga jatuhnya romawi.

[Glenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I listened to this on Audible on various long car drives. I own the book and therefore followed along in it while the narrator read. We both enjoyed this broad overview of world history which we started before a planned trip to Athens. We learned a lot we did not know and it has aided our understanding when we read the Old Testament as well as furthering our understanding of the things we saw in Athens and Rome.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Earlier this year, Susan Wise Bauer's remarkable The History of the Medieval World became the first (and still so far only) book in 2010 to earn a perfect score here at CCLaP; and this was also when I mentioned that it is in fact volume two of an ambitious series Bauer is in the middle of right now, chronicling in a straightforward yet truly global way the entire history of the human race, from its emergence as city-building agrarians around 10,000 BC to literally now, and how later in the year I would also be tackling book one of the series, which covers essentially the Sumerians of the "Fertile Crescent" (humanity's very first "civilized" society) to the fall of the Roman Empire around 400 AD. Well, I'm finally done with that first volume, and I can confidently state that it's just as good as the other one, and in fact would've gotten a perfect score as well except that it's a little older of a title (2007, making it ineligible for CCLaP's best-of lists at the end of the year), plus by its nature is simply not as interesting as the volume concerning the Middle Ages. (Turns out that between the Sumerians and the ancient Greeks lie roughly two thousand years of interchangeable Mesopotamian warrior societies we have largely forgotten by now, of which we know barely anything, making for not exactly the most scintillating reading.) Highly recommended as a two-book set, which in a tidy 1,500 pages tells the armchair historian just about everything they need to know about the first 11,000 years of recorded history, from the development of the first writing system to the first formal Crusade between Christians and Muslims; and needless to say that I'm highly looking forward to the third book of this ongoing series, whenever that may happen to be coming out.

Out of 10: 9.7

[Laura]

This is a 30,000 ft. view of ancient history. It reads quickly and the writing is clear and interesting. The main theme is the use of might to create empires.

Though Ms. Bauer is a Christian, this is not an explicitly religious text at all. She maintains her "historical" voice by quoting other texts. I'm sure that, as with all historical books, some people could disagree with her conclusions or quibble with her methods, but this is intended as an introduction, and it serves that purpose without getting bogged down in academic controversies.

Also, for those considering this as a high school history text (as I am), be aware that she does include quite a number of sordid details. Many of these details, naturally, have to do with the violence of war, problems of succession, or the debauchery of Roman emperors. But it's my opinion that, as written, they serve the purpose in illuminating the consequences of various worldviews, as least for a relatively mature teen, rather than merely titillating the reader.

Also, though much of such a fast-paced book will inevitably be historical narrative, she does have a few re-occurring themes (such as the pros and cons of hereditary monarchy), with occasional summary paragraphs that tie up the progress of these themes as they progress. These checkpoints are not so condescendingly spoon-fed as in typical high school textbooks, but they do provide a nice break in the sheer march of facts. Also, the emphasis is definitely political history, which from what I gather is pretty unusual in textbooks these days.

For an adult reader who is interested in history but needs to brush up on the progression of empires, this book will provide a quick review and handy jumping off point for further study.

[Scott Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

In crafting a narrative history of the ancient world, Susan Bauer has done something that i personally found both novel and fascinating — using the written records of past civilizations as her foundation and baseline. In her introduction, Bauer talks about how the study of history has necessarily always broken down to a study of archaeology where the written record fails. Her book is thus a specific attempt to shape the historical narrative as it was told by the people who wrote it, combining formal histories, court documents, and other records, and looking for the shape of real history that lies beneath mythology and legend like a palimpsest. The result is a fascinating precis of the beginnings and evolution of western civilization, backed up by a hundred-odd pages of academic cross-references that speak to the thoroughness of Bauer’s approach. There are plenty of empty spaces in the narrative, specifically in those places where the written record fails and traditional historians need to fall back on the evidence of fossils and pottery shards to infer the culture that created them. Nonetheless, the overall story is a fascinating record of the past as referenced by those who witnessed it, and by those ancient historians who originally took on Bauer’s goal of sifting through even older accounts in an attempt to create a narrative of the past.

(One addendum. I normally try to refrain from commenting on other people’s comments, but the number of 1- and 2-star Amazon reviews rejecting this book out of hand because of its methodology seem a little off base to me. Bauer explains fairly clearly what she’s doing and why in her introduction, and i don’t see the point in complaining that she’s managed to write the book she promises she’s going to write.)

[Nilesh Jasani · Rating 2 out of 5]

The History of the Ancient World is encyclopaedic - and therein lies all its flaws and virtues.

In a way, this massive work appears like a long list of things that presumably, supposedly happened with almost all the discussions in the briefest possible ways. The purpose is to cover as many episodes as possible and as a result, the depth is sacrificed willingly at the outset. The are of a majority of the chapters is like "Person P was born with some XYZ connections and did ABC to become an influential person and then XYZ2 happened and he died". In fact, quite a few sessions had multiple such arcs compressed in one chapter. And all this sufficiently so briefly that the lecturer seemingly talks about at least 200 such stories across 3000 years and at least 50 different kingdoms or civilizations.

If there are underlying trends that are being discussed, for most parts they are buried too down under to get noticed. More importantly, the author makes little personal judgements on not just the lessons from the events but on the veracity of things too. Biblical events are placed on the timeline as if they were as real as Ceaser's murder. This is also true the way Mahabharata stories are shown. If there are occasional scepticisms like on the myths over the creation of Rome, they are too few. One wonders whether other anecdotal Chinese or Egyptian anecdotes are also not presented as history.

Overall, the book is a collection of countless names and details for anyone interested in a list of ancient "facts".

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The History of the Ancient World was a well-written survey covering everything from the earliest written accounts of the ancient Sumerians to the pinnacle of the power of Rome. Susan Wise Bauer did a wonderful job of summarizing each period and people group of Asia and Europe, spreading memorable and sometimes humorous remarks throughout to keep the reading a little bit lighter in the midst of some very tragic events.

The more I read, the more I was reminded of man's depravity. There are some inspirations along the way, but the numerous accounts of power struggles, wars, assasinations and so on become a little wearisome after a while. Conquerors have left their marks all throughout the world and the wakes they left behind can still be felt today in some places.

Despite the heaviness of our history, I'm excited now to dig into each historical period with a little more depth. I'm very interested in seeing how the stories of yesterday still impact our lives today. Thank you, Susan Wise Bauer, for cultivating the curiosity of an adult who never appreciated history as a younger student.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The broad scope of this history by necessity makes this a difficult read at some points, not due to complexity of language or concept, but rather due to the challenge of following the changing mass of knowledge. It's a good introduction to a lot of history, is told very matter-of-factly, and connects the dots between cultures in some ways new to me.

One of the most fascinating episodes dealt with the three great empires - Roman, Parthian and Han Chinese, all being in operation at the same time and spanning Spain to the Yellow Sea. Another, odd section of history is that of the Greek Bactrian kingdoms that evolved their way down into the Indus river valley and rulled areas of modern Pakistan, Afghanistan and India under Greek kings who were holdovers from the empire of Alexander long before and one of whom became a Buddhist...

This is not the first history book to reach for, but if you need a broad refresher or want to expand the scope of your awareness in a survey-like fashion, it could be worth picking up.