Name: Centuries of Change
ISBN: 9781448191963

Ian Mortimer

We are an astonishing species. Over the past millennium of plagues and exploration, revolution and scientific discovery, woman’s rights and technological advances, human society has changed beyond recognition. Sweeping through the last thousand years of human development, Human Race is a treasure chest of the lunar leaps and lightbulb moments that, for better or worse, have sent humanity swerving down a path that no one could ever have predicted. But which of the last ten centuries saw the greatest changes in human history? History’s greatest tour guide, Ian Mortimer, knows what answer he would give. But what’s yours?

Which Century Saw The Most Change?

Centuries of Change

André Nóbrega

(this review was originally posted and has a portuguese version on my blog.)

With this work, Ian Mortimer intends to a analyse the last ten centuries and determine the changes in human civilization - focused on the so called western world - with the purpose of finding the one which saw the biggest changes.

The author starts by explaining his approach, justifying the option for the western civilization, and then, chapter by chapter, describes each century taking into account the changes and the agents of those changes at the time. This method ends up becoming a good way to remember history and the pathway our civilization has treaded before it became what it is today.
After this, the author looks back and uses some criteria to be able to determine the main changes and agents and the centuries that saw them happen.
I didn't always agree with the author's choices or opinions - something that is obviously related to individual values and perspectives, as the author himself refers - but he does explain his options showing sound logic and justification.

The main relevance of the book, in my opinion, much more than finding out in which century we changed the most, is what the subtitle asks - "Why it Matters to Us?"

"Breaking down the overarching concept of change into smaller facets has allowed us to glimpse the dynamics of long-term human development. We can see that not all change is technological: it includes language, individualism, philosophy, religious division, secularisation, geographical discovery, social reform and the weather."

Mortimer ends with a very relevant analysis of our civilization's evolution and a prediction of what our future can hold.

The winning century? It is but a detail.


I had free access to this book through NetGalley.

In Centuries of Change bestselling historian Ian Mortimer takes you on a whirlwind tour of the last ten centuries of Western history. It is a journey into a past vividly brought to life and bursting with ideas, that pits one century against another in his quest to measure which century saw the greatest change. We journey from a time when there was a fair chance of your village being burnt to the ground by invaders, and dried human dung was a recommended cure for cancer, to a world in which explorers sailed into the unknown and civilisations came into conflict with each other on an epic scale. Here is a story of godly scientists, shrewd farmers, cold-hearted entrepreneurs and strong-minded women âe" a story of discovery, invention, revolution and cataclysmic shifts in perspective. Centuries of Change is a journey into the past like no other. Our understanding of change will never be the same again, and the lessons we learn along the way are profound ones for us all.

Centuries of Change Which Century Saw The Most Change?

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