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jonoberg's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
I couldn't recommend this book any less. I love history books but this one is incredibly dated. On top of that you have to wade through a moderate amount of chauvinism and overt sexism.
harinid's review
5.0
It is extremely rare to come across a book that succinctly summarises our heritage and our life as humans let alone one written by historians. The book weaves a narrative of our heritage, our history while examining it in the context of religion, politics, progress and economics. In doing each of those explorations in a few pages, the book demonstrates the cyclicality of history- a fact that we often forget, being born in a particular context. As he argues in the chapter on progress, we may have gained institutionalities, but if we haven't really changed as human beings, have we really progressed?
colebon's review
5.0
Very rich book, dense in content. Highly recommend it, since it provides an interesting view of all of recorded history and what we can learn from history as a whole, without being reductionist.
jeffthink's review against another edition
4.0
“Most history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice.”
What a delightfully ambitious little book - trying to distill the major lessons of history into ~100 pages! Having been published in the 60's, it's pretty amazing how strong some of the lessons resonate ~50 years later. That said, some of the topics feel a bit colored by the time it was written (e.g. a lot of discussion about communism). I'd highly recommend it as a book that if nothing else, will really get you thinking about the geo-political forces at play around you. This quote in particular feels really important to consider given current times:
"Hence most governments have been oligarchies—ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth, as in aristocracies, or by a religious organization, as in theocracies, or by wealth, as in democracies."
What a delightfully ambitious little book - trying to distill the major lessons of history into ~100 pages! Having been published in the 60's, it's pretty amazing how strong some of the lessons resonate ~50 years later. That said, some of the topics feel a bit colored by the time it was written (e.g. a lot of discussion about communism). I'd highly recommend it as a book that if nothing else, will really get you thinking about the geo-political forces at play around you. This quote in particular feels really important to consider given current times:
"Hence most governments have been oligarchies—ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth, as in aristocracies, or by a religious organization, as in theocracies, or by wealth, as in democracies."
korey's review
5.0
Packs a punch! Low on pages, but punches above it's weight. You'll want to read slowly and take notes. Goes deep. Kind of a mini-Sapiens book. Really liked it.
reyesreadingreview's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0