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A review by marc129
A History of the World by Andrew Marr
3.0
It definitely is a big achievement to cram all of world history into a book of 560 pages. Marr does a good job in that sense that he is offering a very intelligible story and really does his best to bring the history of the whole world. But... The author has confined himself to present only the big developments, with the great personalities at the center. That way he can raise the level of insight and intelligibility, but it remains very reductionist; economic and cultural developments are rather underrated, with the exception of religion and the Industrial Revolution. On top of that the main focus is on Western history, with a slightly favorite position for the British share in it.
According to the bibliography Marr has consulted lots of studies, and to my modest estimation his number of faults is rather small. I learned some interesting facts (e.g. that Native Americans only learned how to use horses and ponies in the 18th century), but big new insights you will not find in this book. (2.5 stars)
According to the bibliography Marr has consulted lots of studies, and to my modest estimation his number of faults is rather small. I learned some interesting facts (e.g. that Native Americans only learned how to use horses and ponies in the 18th century), but big new insights you will not find in this book. (2.5 stars)