A provocative work that explores the evolution of emotions and personal relationships through diverse cultures and time. "An intellectually dazzlin...
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reviews
Nov 21, 2008
Catherine
rated it: 
Zeldin's work, despite the name, isn't really historical scholarship. Instead it's far closer to philosophy, and his use of history is kin to Foucault's - by picking and choosing key moments in the global past, what do we learn that might help us navigate our present?
It's a fascinating text, if so broad and expansive that sometimes it feels too much to take in. Zeldin tries to pinpoint the things that make us human, tries to find our commonalities instead of focusing on differences More...
It's a fascinating text, if so broad and expansive that sometimes it feels too much to take in. Zeldin tries to pinpoint the things that make us human, tries to find our commonalities instead of focusing on differences More...
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Feb 27, 2009
Wayne
rated it: 
This was a rich and astonishing read.
AFTERMATH:
For years after I read it I could not put it back on a bookshelf.
To do so was like admitting that the reading was OVER, whereas I just wanted to keep exploring everything this book offered and opened up.
PURCHASING:
The title was enough to excite.
Then with chapter headings such as these...
*How new forms of love have been invented.
*Why there has been more progress in cooking than in sex.
*How m More...
AFTERMATH:
For years after I read it I could not put it back on a bookshelf.
To do so was like admitting that the reading was OVER, whereas I just wanted to keep exploring everything this book offered and opened up.
PURCHASING:
The title was enough to excite.
Then with chapter headings such as these...
*How new forms of love have been invented.
*Why there has been more progress in cooking than in sex.
*How m More...
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2008
Kuldip S
rated it:
Read this approximately 7-8yrs ago. This book is very a Zeldin point of view, and how he captivates History from an angle which differs from history writers. I read the book on chapters bases, which intrigued me at the time. There are some chapters In the book, particularly in the way it lays out so many contradictory opinions on how one should live one's life. Zeldin very cleverly leaves you with food for thought, at the end of each chapter he leaves a sample of his sources, a suggested reading
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Jan 12, 2008
Kevin
rated it:
This is not a typical history book. It's perfect for someone hungry for knowledge but put off by history written as a succession of dates and wars by a detached, passionless author. Sometimes it almost reads like a self-help book-- but don't worry, cynics! It offers no quick solutions, only useful questions. Fluffy and condescending? Nay! Encouraging and inspiring? Yay!
Divided into chapters like "How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of sp More...
Divided into chapters like "How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of sp More...
Aug 13, 2011
Another text our instructor gave us just a small excerpt of. Love what I read of it!! If it wasn't near 500 pages, I'd take some time to read it now. Doesn't look like there's anything the author won't touch on. It was also recommended to the class that we try to imitate the great writing style here, working to develop our own more deeply.
Oct 21, 2007
http://nhw.livejournal.com/786755.html[return][return]I got this ages ago, as it promised to be an interesting investigation of the history of how humans relate to each other. Unfortunately it isn't; it is a series of conversations with French women, one by one, with an attempt by the author to draw universal conclusions from each one individually. I got through less than a tenth of it before I reached my "Tonstant Weader fwowed up" moment, when one of the interviewees confided that[re
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Oct 10, 2009
Ed
rated it:
An amazing book that I just came across on my shelves having read it in 1994ish. Each chapter takes a contemporary French woman from many layers of society and uses it to weave the history of humanity. Really interesting different take on history. Intriguing.
Sep 30, 2010
Karl
rated it:
This is the coolest history book I've ever read - a history of modern "human" concepts we take for granted: Travel, education, slavery, romantic love - this book gives you the history of the concept thru to the modern. It will make you think. It is not dry, easy to read but every chapter comes with an extensive bibliography should you want to dive deeper into any of the subjects
Feb 19, 2011
Hock
rated it:
Brilliant and fascinating even though one can legitimately wonder what connects all the stories told other than the author's (powerful) imagination. It ranges through much of recent (post 1700) Western history.
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Mar 24, 2009
Dan
rated it: 
If you've ever wanted to read the history of some of our most common dreams, desires, and fears this is a good place to start. Well-written, and occasionally poetic.
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Jun 20, 2011
About time to get back and read this one again ..... it's been many years, but the title is one I always remember as one of the books that had a impact on my path.
Jun 15, 2011
Tim
rated it:
A book by turns illuminating and frustrating, insightful, banal, and tedious. Zeldin drives at the important details of life and has wonderful insights into human existence through history, but the book's format is tiresome. The details from individual women's lives at the beginning of each chapter wore me down over time and took away from his cleverness and wit. In the end I fear I am not generous enough to this book, which is ambitious and attempts to be so all encompassing, but his dismiss
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Sep 08, 2009
Guy
rated it:
Great idea and really engrossing. Discussion is rendered so well and fluently with perfect use of personal cameo to convey large ideas
Jun 23, 2011
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 18, 2009
Despite the sexysexy nipple-tastic cover, this is supposed to be a legit fascinating book.
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Mar 08, 2009
Herry
rated it:
A wonderful, rich book. I use Zeldin's final paragraphs when discussing the internet and especially the social networking side of things. I have put it in my Journal here, the easier to refer to http://herrylaw.blogspot.com/2007/04/his...
Oct 27, 2007
Kaarin
rated it:
wow, was it really nine years ago i read this book left behind from an irish boyfriend--in my shanghai apartment? the boy had good taste, and this book was one of them. i can't remember details, but he brought together parts of human culture and made sense with it. that's about all that my internet-saturated brain can recall...i wonder if i'd read it today, if i'd have the stamina or focus. it's worth it,and it makes me want to stop reading the internet and get back to the books.
Feb 06, 2011
Bill
rated it:
"Theodore Zeldin says near the end the of book: "This book is a history of persons." It has been said that the personal is political. This book makes the personal historical, by interlacing stories of contemporary individuals with historical periods, Zeldin makes this a very interesting read.
History may not seem so linear, nor inevitable, after you read this book.
History may not seem so linear, nor inevitable, after you read this book.
Mar 20, 2010
Pat
rated it:
This is one of the most original ideas for a book I have ever encountered. So, clearly, it's not easy for me to describe. Take the title literally - the book is about people's interior lives, using real life ordinary individuals along with all kinds of material on earlier cultures. It sounds like something that could be a complete waste of time, and it might be if you're not curious or, possibly, if you try it before you've had a chance to read very broadly.
Sep 06, 2008
Emily
rated it:
refreshing. catalytic. i knew i was going to love it when miriam left her copy sitting on the table at common grounds and i read the chapter titles (i.e. "why friendships between men and women have been so fragile", "what becomes possible when soulmates meet"). a passionate anthropological review of the last thousand+ years as lived by people who create and cook and eat and forget and hate and obsess and adore and despair and regain hope. us, in other words.
Aug 08, 2010
Andreas
rated it:
A very clever and empathic book about how our current intimate sentiments of work, of faith, of love, of authority, of parenthood, and of much more have come about. And how they are still changing.
It is a very good and convincing argument that very little of our emotional expectations and norms are set in stone, but are constantly evolving with each passing generation. And that it is up to us to make an effort to be aware of this.
It is a very good and convincing argument that very little of our emotional expectations and norms are set in stone, but are constantly evolving with each passing generation. And that it is up to us to make an effort to be aware of this.
May 04, 2008
Patricia
rated it:
An interesting study of why we, as humans, do the things that we do. When I first began reading this book, it really hooked me. But my interest waned after a while. If I were going to reread it, I would pick and choose the chapters that seemed most interesting. It is not necessary to read it straight through, cover-to-cover.
Dec 17, 2009
Mark
rated it:
OK, this was 10 years ago, which is 90 years in dog years, which is more apropos of my memory banks. I'm giving it three stars mainly because I remember being very excited by many of the ideas that were in this book and by the fact that it was such an unusual way of looking at history.
Nov 09, 2011
Dion
rated it:
A thoughtful, beautiful rumination on what it is (or should mean) to be human.
Jul 01, 2008
Annemarie
rated it:
This is one of my favorite books. It's easy to pick up, put down, pick up weeks or months later. Perspective about life and the people we encounter and our opportunity to make the world just a little better via our interactions.
Jul 10, 2008
Cher
rated it:
His sample is less universal than he'd like to imply, but Zeldin does an excellent job of conveying, through interviews and historical first sources, the existential angst of the human condition. Accessible and fascinating reading.
Jun 20, 2007
started this years ago and stoped for an unknown reason. so far, it's a great look at how people see themselves and their position in society, the development of conversation, especially between men and women...
Jul 14, 2007
Andrew
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A unique way of writing history. The author seems to have just interviewed many "ordinary" people around the world and connected their stories to the larger threads of history and psychology.
Aug 13, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
Another book that makes you think. A must read for anyone who wants to know the why of everything.
Why do different nations eat differently? Why do we think differently?
Why?
Why do different nations eat differently? Why do we think differently?
Why?
