Reviews
I really enjoyed this book. E.H. Gombrich wrote this History of the World in 6 weeks back in 1935. I've seen it get criticism for being too Eurocentric and uncritical of past atrocities, but I thought it was ahead of its time when you consider when it was written. The Nazis banned it for being "too pacifist" which honestly would have made a great blurb for the back: "Too Pacifist" - Nazi Party. It's important to remember that its intended audience was children. That's actually what impressed me the most. He tells complex history in an approachable way. It reminds me of this Albert Einstein quote: "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." There's some truth to that. Gombrich was clear that he didn't intend this to be a textbook. It's a book meant to be read out loud to children to get them excited about history. I heard that a lot of Jeopardy contestants study children reference books because it's helpful to know a little about a lot. If I ever get on Jeopardy I bet this book will come in handy. If there's a question about The Thirty Years War or Peter the Great I can probably get it right now.
Overall an enjoyable read. I liked how the history kind of unfolded like a story. This is not comprehensive and it is not without some bias and editorializing. But I think it succeeded in its purpose. Making a European perspective telling of history both approachable and engaging for readers of all ages. For a book written before WW2 it has held up remarkably well.
First, let's start with the title. This book should have been called a little history of the WESTERN world. Clearly, the author thought that by giving us 2 chapters about China or India he gave us an overview of the world History. But where are East Asian, South Asian civilisations? The subsaharian civilisations? South American civilisations? They're too part of the WORLD History. I guess they don't exist for the eye of an European until the said European discovers them. Apparently, there was no South America before Christopher Columbus. History is written by the winners right? Even though relating history from Antiquity to WWII in under 300 pages was rather ambitious, I'm still cringing at how European centered this book is. I mean I'm OK with that but give it the write title. Second, the biased POV of the author regarding certain historical events was downright OUTRAGIOUS. I've personally learnt that the work of historian is to be IMPARTIAL. Because from one civilisation to another moral values are never the same and putting a 20th century eye on a 13th century event is to ruin your work as a historian. I said it. I mean since when do we say "What I like about [some group of people]" or "I'm glad they lost that battle" is OK in a book about history ? Of course, you can have some criticism. But there is constructive criticism and just being full of prejudice. Third, I didn't appreciate the short cuts that have been made regarding some events. A lot of details have been ignored. But then again, this book is less than 300 pages. I'd rather have few important events explained fully for each period than too many events in a matter of 2 pages. I'm not talking about the messy writing. Sometimes I had to read a sentence multiple time to understand where he was going. Probably because he was relating too much events in a short amount of pages. I mean, my academic books make more sense to me and are more clear. This is pretty ironic since this book is written for a young audience as an introduction to history. Speaking of which I won't be recommending this book to young people due to how BIASED this book is (yes I am repeating myself but what can I say History should never be told in a biased way). Sincerely,
Definitely 'little' but a good source to remember some basic facts every now and then.
