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A review by joshualeet697
A History of the World by Andrew Marr
4.0
I listened to this (and halfway through also bought the hardcover of it, I was so impressed). This is a Pop-History book which takes a global look at history. I found it immensely gripping to listen to. I listened to this while I was pruning apple trees with a chainsaw all week, takes away the boredom of labor work.
While some people criticize it for being biased, I found it covered many regions quite extensively. It is best to read/listen to a book "entirely" before making such statements, for one, which some people don't do.
Obviously this book cannot contain the histories of every one of the nations and peoples in extensive detail. Certainly not in one book anyway. What Marr desires to do in this book, is to give you a broad look at global history, while focusing on those people and nations whom had the most impact in history.
I listened to this to broaden the scope of my understanding of general history. It does this well. Some criticize it for some supposed errors. I am not well versed enough to notice them, but I will say, I haven't read many books that didn't have "some" errors in them. Not defending mistakes. But I have spotted mistakes of one sort or another in virtually everything I've read, be it inaccuracies, or grammar/spelling, etc. In fact Marr states in his book that one is bound to make mistakes in trying to cover the whole scope of world history. I have read other history books, and I would say the majority of the information presented seems to be accurate. There are some suppositions made which are in the realm of opinion at times... the odd speculation, but the author generally makes it clear where there are grey areas.
Regarding comments about current events being unnecessary. Firstly, they aren't current. They're history. Albeit modern history. This book seeks to cover the scope of history and things like Mao, Vietnam, the atom bomb, space flight, 9/11, Stalin, the cold war, are all very relevant and important aspects of history. People seem to forget that we had many centuries on end at times of stagnation. In the last 100-150 years progress has proceeded with lightning speed, and that is the very reason why it IS actually worth taking note of. And honestly, it doesn't take that much of the book. He's pretty quick in noting recent events.
Overall I think this is a very entertaining read/listen as a pop-history book. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be.
While some people criticize it for being biased, I found it covered many regions quite extensively. It is best to read/listen to a book "entirely" before making such statements, for one, which some people don't do.
Obviously this book cannot contain the histories of every one of the nations and peoples in extensive detail. Certainly not in one book anyway. What Marr desires to do in this book, is to give you a broad look at global history, while focusing on those people and nations whom had the most impact in history.
I listened to this to broaden the scope of my understanding of general history. It does this well. Some criticize it for some supposed errors. I am not well versed enough to notice them, but I will say, I haven't read many books that didn't have "some" errors in them. Not defending mistakes. But I have spotted mistakes of one sort or another in virtually everything I've read, be it inaccuracies, or grammar/spelling, etc. In fact Marr states in his book that one is bound to make mistakes in trying to cover the whole scope of world history. I have read other history books, and I would say the majority of the information presented seems to be accurate. There are some suppositions made which are in the realm of opinion at times... the odd speculation, but the author generally makes it clear where there are grey areas.
Regarding comments about current events being unnecessary. Firstly, they aren't current. They're history. Albeit modern history. This book seeks to cover the scope of history and things like Mao, Vietnam, the atom bomb, space flight, 9/11, Stalin, the cold war, are all very relevant and important aspects of history. People seem to forget that we had many centuries on end at times of stagnation. In the last 100-150 years progress has proceeded with lightning speed, and that is the very reason why it IS actually worth taking note of. And honestly, it doesn't take that much of the book. He's pretty quick in noting recent events.
Overall I think this is a very entertaining read/listen as a pop-history book. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be.