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Reviews
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer
friends2lovers's review
informative
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Incest, Slavery, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia
(None of the above are described in what I would consider explicit or detailed language, though YMMV)angelsrgorgeous's review
5.0
Read this twice - finished and then began at the beginning immediately. Totally fascinating and a wonderful prep for Ancient world home school this year. I had to stop myself multiple times from getting her next book on Medeival times. I'll instead move on to Will and Ariel Durant's books on the Ancient world next to fill out the details a bit more (after I read a few other books first as a break).
Awesome - highly recommended.
Awesome - highly recommended.
greaydean's review
4.0
Well, I haven't read a lot of history books, but I thought this was pretty good.
Although it largely focuses on who is ruling who and how they got there.
There is a lot of killing and warring and betrayal to make it all happen.
I guess that is what they mean when they say, "Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it."
Again and again countries are "liberated" by the new ruler.
History is hard and complex. It is difficult to trust the sources.
I found this reading a fairly straightforward presentation of facts.
Good mix of human interest while keeping the story going.
It certainly gave me insight into characters I'd heard of, but really didn't know their story:
Gilgamesh and Julius Caesar are two folks I knew as famous, but didn't know why until I read this book.
I actually know when the Han dynasty was now.
I never liked history but this worked, in that I actually got through it and I remember some of it.
Although it largely focuses on who is ruling who and how they got there.
There is a lot of killing and warring and betrayal to make it all happen.
I guess that is what they mean when they say, "Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it."
Again and again countries are "liberated" by the new ruler.
History is hard and complex. It is difficult to trust the sources.
I found this reading a fairly straightforward presentation of facts.
Good mix of human interest while keeping the story going.
It certainly gave me insight into characters I'd heard of, but really didn't know their story:
Gilgamesh and Julius Caesar are two folks I knew as famous, but didn't know why until I read this book.
I actually know when the Han dynasty was now.
I never liked history but this worked, in that I actually got through it and I remember some of it.
nomad_wander27's review
The beginning wasn't bad but then the authors religious bias became very obvious and you really couldn't tell how accurate the information was.
richardazia's review
4.0
With a reading time of 27 hours, this book is a serious commitment in terms of time. It reads more like a reference book, a chronology than a digested account of history. I read it to get some context and now that I have that context I can move on to the next book. I want to understand modern times by knowing the past.
fractaltexan's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Bauer does well at giving us a concise history of the Ancient World from various areas, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. Her writing is engaging and very informative.
Overall, this greatly expanded my knowledge of the Ancient World.
Overall, this greatly expanded my knowledge of the Ancient World.