Define Books Supposing A Little History of the World (Little History)
| Original Title: | Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser: Von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart |
| ISBN: | 0300108834 (ISBN13: 9780300108835) |
| Edition Language: | English URL https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300108835/little-history-world |
| Series: | Little History |
| Literary Awards: | Schlegel-Tieck Prize Nominee for Caroline Mustill (2006) |
E.H. Gombrich
Hardcover | Pages: 284 pages Rating: 4.11 | 17772 Users | 1734 Reviews
Identify About Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
| Title | : | A Little History of the World (Little History) |
| Author | : | E.H. Gombrich |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 284 pages |
| Published | : | October 13th 2005 by Yale University Press (first published 1936) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. World History |
Rendition As Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited by a publishing acquaintance to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in seventeen languages across the world. Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation. A Little History of the World presents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savored and collected. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colorful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind's experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.Rating About Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
Ratings: 4.11 From 17772 Users | 1734 ReviewsCriticism About Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
The darkest, most depressing story I have ever read. Because, though there are good pockets of time and place (and so far I have lived in a lucky one... so far), taken as a whole, our past is one of endless war, enslavement and village burning. And that is just the beginning!I first read the book and then purely because I liked it listened to the Blackstone Audio app, narrated capably by Ralph Cosham. I like his British accent. He is easy on the ears. Could listen to him for hours. Do, in fact. Need a gift for an adolescent or young adult, or just want to learn a little more about world history yourself? I suggest this book, if you don't mind a grandfatherly tone addressed to adolescents. Some say the conversational voice is condescending, but I took no insult and
If you are looking for a macro 1000 mile high view of history, this book is great! I didn't pay attention to history in school so I really enjoyed the book.
The perfect book to start my year. Admittedly a euro-centric version of history, but I was looking for a quick summary refresher before digging into some more meaty history books and this was just what I wanted. Ernst Gombrich is a pleasure to read because he's not trying to sound academic. It's like your really smart grandpa (or maybe CS Lewis in his Narnia voice) recounting the abridged history of the world.
Gombrich is an amazing storyteller. This is a great introduction to the history of the (European and Mediterranean) world. The author doesn't give many historical dates, and that was a wise choice because the story flows like an epic poem (yes, at times the style is very poetic):"The dark clouds on the horizon are the storm clouds of the Migrations, and it was in those forests, beside the rivers, that the first monks converted and educated the Germanic tribes." After reading this book the
Well worth reading, and, in many ways, plenty entertaining and informative, but ... to my mind ... more interesting to read as a period piece than as a historical work (for a number of reasons).So many things to treasure: the story of how the book came to be written is fascinating (and kudos to Gombrich for undertaking and completing the work which proved the springboard to a rich and successful career); the voice-tone-and-audience combination is intriguing - this isn't your normal "children's
It's important to keep in mind that his target audience is children/young adults. He writes in a simple style, often engaging the reader directly ("Why do you think this happened?"), and painting a very general picture of world (read: European) history. While this probably won't shake the core of your beliefs about history, Gombrich does do a good job of humanizing all cultures and showing how even events in ancient history are still relevant. As for it being Eurocentric, well, that's not
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.