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A Short History of the World
Here is a compact and affordable edition of J. M. Robert's acclaimed world history. Vividly written and beautifully illustrated, it brings the outstanding breadth of scholarship and international scope of the larger volume within the grasp of most readers. Completely up-to-date, comprehensive yet succinct, it takes readers on an amazing journey from the first appearance of Homo sapiens to recent chapters in the exploration of space. Informative, beautifully rendered maps, photographs of key archaeological finds, and stunning reproductions of important artwork (some in full color) bring the past to life as Roberts surveys the major events, developments and personalities that have shaped the civilizations of the world.
539 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
121 people are currently reading
1245 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Roberts
123 books78 followersJohn Morris Roberts, CBE, was a British historian, with significant published works. From 1979-1985 he was Vice Chancellor of the University of Southampton, and from 1985-1994, Warden of Merton College, Oxford. He was also well known as the author and presenter of the BBC TV series The Triumph of the West (1985).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 22, 2008
This book, when you finish it, will make you feel like a genius. It's like going back to grades 7th-12th and reviewing all that your learned, but with an adult brain and more facilities to grab the whole picture. You will have endless conversation starters. However, it is written from a strictly Western point of view.
June 3, 2020
Reading this book was my 2019 resolution which became my Covid-19 resolution. I bought this book quite a while ago and liked that it covers history up to 1993.
It was such an interesting read - it did not consist of dry history dates, but it described the processes of change and the mechanisms behind it from a historical perspective. Even though the first personal name did not appear until page 42 (Gilgamesh), I was hooked because somehow the author was able to make pre-history a riveting read, building up suspense and explaining how slow change took place, somehow dividing it into periods even though different periods were not clearly discernible. I was also in awe of how much he must have known to be able to break down all of history into such digestible and high-level yet somehow detailed chunks. No wonder he retired the very next year, it must have taken a whole career to have such a broad understanding, because to explain something so simply, a lot of detailed knowledge is needed to even be able to identify the trends and processes. It's definitely a life achievement in that way and I appreciated it.
Because of the way it was written, I think I will remember a lot more than from a textbook. Rather than memorizing dates, I remember the different themes or events and how they developed and what influenced them through time. I think the author also did a good job of providing cultural context when needed, as that insight helped me understand the histories of China and Russia and other countries much better - and this context was accurately portrayed with regards to Poland.
Also, sometimes the author phrased things so beautifully, or provided a one-sentence philosophical conclusion so poignantly at the end of a section, or casually dropped a mind-blowing fact that I would often just stop reading and reflect or look up more on the topic. It did read a bit like a textbook and because it triggered many reflections, I did not read too much at a time. It is also divided into small chapters and headings, so it will definitely serve as a reference book going forward.
My mind was blown many times and made me question assumptions or impressions I had of the little bit of history I had been taught before. I could not help myself underlining such passages.
For example, he pointed out that ancient Egyptian civilization, while revered in modern times, did not actually contribute that much to history and its greatest achievement is how long it lasted. It was highly developed for its time, but then it stagnated and life looked exactly the same for 1500 or so years, and despite developing writing and its feats of engineering, all that was left behind were tombs, and no philosophical or religious ideas were left behind. As a fan of ancient Egypt, I had never looked at it that way! And I had many such realizations while reading this.
One thing I must note is that sometimes the author's bias or opinion would seep through, not necessarily in larger themes but in anecdotes and with regards to certain events or people (e.g. this Englishman was clearly a huge supporter of Churchill). It was not overbearing and easy to spot, often leading to more reflections on what other perspectives could be. There were a couple of instances where the bias seemed stronger and a bit problematic though.
Finally, though it covered the history of the whole world, some regions and countries were covered more in depth. It seemed to have a western-focused perspective, on those countries which have had a stronger influence in the international arena in the last few hundred years and this was addressed by the author, though it did seem to stem from bias as well in terms of not covering Africa or South America as much, even when substantiated by facts. Again, this was another reason I would stop and think while reading, as I didn't want to simply adopt that author's perspective on all of history but think for myself about it.
All in all I could ramble on for hours and go back through all my favorite parts but I won't. It was a worthwhile read which I would recommend, even if only some chapters as it gives a great high-level overview and can help you find what to further read up on. This book definitely left me feeling a little less ignorant about history than I was before.
It was such an interesting read - it did not consist of dry history dates, but it described the processes of change and the mechanisms behind it from a historical perspective. Even though the first personal name did not appear until page 42 (Gilgamesh), I was hooked because somehow the author was able to make pre-history a riveting read, building up suspense and explaining how slow change took place, somehow dividing it into periods even though different periods were not clearly discernible. I was also in awe of how much he must have known to be able to break down all of history into such digestible and high-level yet somehow detailed chunks. No wonder he retired the very next year, it must have taken a whole career to have such a broad understanding, because to explain something so simply, a lot of detailed knowledge is needed to even be able to identify the trends and processes. It's definitely a life achievement in that way and I appreciated it.
Because of the way it was written, I think I will remember a lot more than from a textbook. Rather than memorizing dates, I remember the different themes or events and how they developed and what influenced them through time. I think the author also did a good job of providing cultural context when needed, as that insight helped me understand the histories of China and Russia and other countries much better - and this context was accurately portrayed with regards to Poland.
Also, sometimes the author phrased things so beautifully, or provided a one-sentence philosophical conclusion so poignantly at the end of a section, or casually dropped a mind-blowing fact that I would often just stop reading and reflect or look up more on the topic. It did read a bit like a textbook and because it triggered many reflections, I did not read too much at a time. It is also divided into small chapters and headings, so it will definitely serve as a reference book going forward.
My mind was blown many times and made me question assumptions or impressions I had of the little bit of history I had been taught before. I could not help myself underlining such passages.
For example, he pointed out that ancient Egyptian civilization, while revered in modern times, did not actually contribute that much to history and its greatest achievement is how long it lasted. It was highly developed for its time, but then it stagnated and life looked exactly the same for 1500 or so years, and despite developing writing and its feats of engineering, all that was left behind were tombs, and no philosophical or religious ideas were left behind. As a fan of ancient Egypt, I had never looked at it that way! And I had many such realizations while reading this.
One thing I must note is that sometimes the author's bias or opinion would seep through, not necessarily in larger themes but in anecdotes and with regards to certain events or people (e.g. this Englishman was clearly a huge supporter of Churchill). It was not overbearing and easy to spot, often leading to more reflections on what other perspectives could be. There were a couple of instances where the bias seemed stronger and a bit problematic though.
Finally, though it covered the history of the whole world, some regions and countries were covered more in depth. It seemed to have a western-focused perspective, on those countries which have had a stronger influence in the international arena in the last few hundred years and this was addressed by the author, though it did seem to stem from bias as well in terms of not covering Africa or South America as much, even when substantiated by facts. Again, this was another reason I would stop and think while reading, as I didn't want to simply adopt that author's perspective on all of history but think for myself about it.
All in all I could ramble on for hours and go back through all my favorite parts but I won't. It was a worthwhile read which I would recommend, even if only some chapters as it gives a great high-level overview and can help you find what to further read up on. This book definitely left me feeling a little less ignorant about history than I was before.
December 28, 2015
Taking on the topic of the entire history of the world is an ambitious challenge for any author. What to include, what to leave out, how in depth to get on certain topics. In terms of the choice of topics, he is pretty good. I teach high school history and most of the information we cover is in this book.
There are two significant problems, however. First, his tone is far too intellectual and specialized for a survey book of history. He includes wordy introductions that are entirely unnecessary, especially when trying to produce a "short" history. Relatively simple concepts are made much more complicated.
The second issue, which is one common to survey world history books, is that this work has a very strong European and North American bias. Sure he does his due diligence in including sections on African, Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations and accomplishments, but they are in much less detail than the European sections.
Overall, while this book tells the story of the world and is accurate in its statements, it is more dry and intellectual than your average reader will want.
There are two significant problems, however. First, his tone is far too intellectual and specialized for a survey book of history. He includes wordy introductions that are entirely unnecessary, especially when trying to produce a "short" history. Relatively simple concepts are made much more complicated.
The second issue, which is one common to survey world history books, is that this work has a very strong European and North American bias. Sure he does his due diligence in including sections on African, Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations and accomplishments, but they are in much less detail than the European sections.
Overall, while this book tells the story of the world and is accurate in its statements, it is more dry and intellectual than your average reader will want.
June 11, 2009
I read this for the first time sophmore year of highschool, but could not fully appreciate it, so I started reading it again last year and love it. I reference is all the time, and you can just pick it up anytime, pick a spot in history, and gets-a-learnin' y'all.
Some of it is monotonous, but the info is right there for you when you need it.
Some of it is monotonous, but the info is right there for you when you need it.
November 25, 2023
An excellent overview of history. It sometimes frustrates with its lack of details, but otherwise it couldn’t be accomplished in a mere 500 pages. Taking a look at history from 30,000 feet offers a very different, and appreciated, perspective.
January 12, 2020
Roberts does well in boiling down world history to a mere 514 pages. His balance of east and west is appropriate, though he very much overlooks the history of South America. As a thought experiment I wrote down every named person in the book. Roberts names 332 people in the narrative (not including the small timelines interspersed throughout the text). Gilgamesh is #1 and Boris Yeltsin is #332. Unsurprisingly, most of those named are from the west - beginning with Greek and Roman figures and then European figures in general up until 1993. I like to think of history as the stories of people. And if there are few named figures in the history of the Global South - South America, Africa, southern and southeastern Asia - then that history is more likely to be overlooked and discounted by Westerners like me. I wonder how the names would have been distributed if Roberts would have been Indian or Thai or Brazilian or Nigerian instead of English.
February 14, 2026
I need to figure out how to best review these nonfiction books - I've got my novel review formula down to a bit of a science, but if I intend to read a bunch of historical nonfiction, I have to up my game in this regard - I guess we'll see what I can accomplish here today. I picked up this *Short History of the World* at a local booksale because I figured that a generic history of the world would be a good place to start in getting into more history reading - it'd be good to get a basis of Asian history and the Crusades and everything else that's a bit murky for me before going on further, right? Well, I had the best intentions, but despite Roberts' best efforts I don't think I really got what I was looking for out of this book. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but it wasn't quite the mind-expanding experience I'd envisioned. Anyways... enough complaining; let's talk about what the book covered.
The first chapter of the book revolves around Prehistory, which covers humanity's ancestors and the discovery of fire and how agriculture was developed in the Fertile Crescent. This is pretty general stuff and it's a couple decades out of date, so it didn't teach me anything horribly new. But we do get to the Earliest Civilizations in Chapter 2 which covers actual history (which Roberts defines as the period of time when cultures have written their own happening down) and the rise of Sumer, Babylonia, Ancient Egypt (there's a lot on them), Early Indian civilization, and Ancient China. We take detours to talk about hieroglyphics and Confucius and the like, but not all that many historical figures are named; this is more about the flow of civilizations. "Foundations of Our World" takes Minoa, Greeks, Hebrews, the Peloponnesian War, etc, before "The Roman World" takes us from Alexander the Great to the Ceasers (Julius was the last leader of the Roman Republic and Augustus was the first emperor of the Empire) and the rise of Christianity; Roberts calls Jesus' birth the most important moment in world history. Right or wrong, he tracks how Christianity is pursued and then accepted in Rome. "Contests of Civilizations" takes us through Byzantium and Persia and Islam's rise and the Turks and the Crusades, and then there's thirty pages on Asia: Buddhism, the Moghul emperors, China's imperialism and dynasties, the Shoguns, etc. Then we go back to the Western World for 38 pages of Europe ranging from Christianity's influence, Franks, Norse, England and France becoming countries, the Black Death, etc... then we get a chapter on discovery, which is one of the most interesting; we talk about exploring and discovering the New World (proceeded by some outdated info on the Olmec/Maya/etc) and Spanish colonialism and Africa and how Europeans were starting to interact with Asians.
We hit "Early Modern Times" about halfway through and talk about the Protestant Reformation before a chapter on assorted topics like science, international trade, slavery, and the US overthrowing British rule (although it's not as indepth as Americans like myself are used to; to show how much is glimpsed, the transition from the Articles of Confederation to a Constitution isn't even hinted at). "The Great Acceleration" shows some of the pros and cons that came with urbanization as agricultural yield increased and then we watch the "European World Order" start to crumble; India rebels, etc. Then we have a few chapters (over a hundred pages) dedicated to "The Latest Age" and how industrialization and population growth are presenting new challenges in the world as certain individual liberties (especially for women) increase. We talk about both World Wars and the European political tissue connecting them before talking over the Cold War, the further end of Empires, how communism rose in China, and the Cuban Cold War crisis (there's a strange amount of time dedicated to the Cold War when you look at what was skipped earlier in the book) before the book ends with the end of the USSR and Roberts concludes things.
I don't want to accuse this book of being too Western-centric because I do believe that world history - the stuff that's been written down - is guided more by Europe and the Middle East than anywhere else, and I do think that Roberts did a good job of keeping pace with Asian countries even if he prioritizes the western world; China and other Asian nations were frequently kept in the loop. But I would have liked to see content shaved off the back fifth of the book and redistributed to earlier parts of the book (or visual aids, as we'll get to); sure, the USSR collapsing is a big deal (especially if you factor in nuclear weapons and their disproportionate ability to affect the good of the whole world), but why didn't Roberts put just as much focus into the end of the Ottoman Empire which stood for close to ten times as long as the USSR? I mean, I probably shouldn't be nitpicking - it's tough to condense tens of thousands of years of history into five hundred pages, and it's even tougher to distribute page time across the book when more recent history is better documented, so I don't know how I could've set the time up more fairly - but regardless, I do wish that more weight had been given to more obscure empires like the Byzantiums or other things that I need more historical context of like the Crusades.
But that's getting awfully specialized with my criticism, and if we want to talk about things I learned in this book, I did learn quite a bit - there's enough touching-off points for thousand of full history books about all the stuff covered here. For instance, everything about pre-Colombus North + Central America in here is greatly expanded upon in George C. Mann's *1491*, which is in no way related to this book, but is a history book I recently read which takes something given only a few pages here and greatly expands it while going on its own tangents about what's missing from that work. It's unreasonable to assume that this book could do what *1491* did for me for every area that it covers - but it got me to some facts that really stood out. It contextualized the Crusades, talked about Christian conflict, finally got it through my skull who Gilgamesh was (a probably-fictional character from the oldest story that we know of), and more. It's not great and all-encompassing, but it talks about a lot of things and tries to get you a grasp of it.
But there's one thing that this book is sorely missing which would've helped me grasp a lot of stuff better and would've helped it actually stick with me: maps. There is not a single illustration in this book despite talking about all these different boundaries and borders and crap between nations and empires. It made it very hard contextualize some things, and while I could find maps of this empire or that one online, it's not the same; you're not getting an overview that's accurate to what the author is really trying to portray, so... what's the real point? It definitely made it harder to think about the Turks or the different Asian dynasties and made it hard for me to remember everything covered in this book. If there's one thing that reduced its effectiveness for me, it's that.
I'll give this book a 7/10 despite not doing some of the stuff that it should've done to keep me engaged and remembering everything; I mean, at the end of the day I really didn't get bored with this book despite it being eight days of dense reading (I usually take 3, maybe 4 days to read a book), but I also don't feel like I can look at a map and tell you a whole lot of new facts about all the countries on the map. I got sprayed by a firehose, but my mouth wasn't open, so I didn't get any of the information in the water. Oh well; there's more history content where this came from, and I'll be happy to read it as some time goes on. Thanks for reading this, and here's hoping that you can find a book that tells you everything you're looking to know; just be aware that I doubt there's a one-size-fits-all answer. And silly me, for thinking there might be...
The first chapter of the book revolves around Prehistory, which covers humanity's ancestors and the discovery of fire and how agriculture was developed in the Fertile Crescent. This is pretty general stuff and it's a couple decades out of date, so it didn't teach me anything horribly new. But we do get to the Earliest Civilizations in Chapter 2 which covers actual history (which Roberts defines as the period of time when cultures have written their own happening down) and the rise of Sumer, Babylonia, Ancient Egypt (there's a lot on them), Early Indian civilization, and Ancient China. We take detours to talk about hieroglyphics and Confucius and the like, but not all that many historical figures are named; this is more about the flow of civilizations. "Foundations of Our World" takes Minoa, Greeks, Hebrews, the Peloponnesian War, etc, before "The Roman World" takes us from Alexander the Great to the Ceasers (Julius was the last leader of the Roman Republic and Augustus was the first emperor of the Empire) and the rise of Christianity; Roberts calls Jesus' birth the most important moment in world history. Right or wrong, he tracks how Christianity is pursued and then accepted in Rome. "Contests of Civilizations" takes us through Byzantium and Persia and Islam's rise and the Turks and the Crusades, and then there's thirty pages on Asia: Buddhism, the Moghul emperors, China's imperialism and dynasties, the Shoguns, etc. Then we go back to the Western World for 38 pages of Europe ranging from Christianity's influence, Franks, Norse, England and France becoming countries, the Black Death, etc... then we get a chapter on discovery, which is one of the most interesting; we talk about exploring and discovering the New World (proceeded by some outdated info on the Olmec/Maya/etc) and Spanish colonialism and Africa and how Europeans were starting to interact with Asians.
We hit "Early Modern Times" about halfway through and talk about the Protestant Reformation before a chapter on assorted topics like science, international trade, slavery, and the US overthrowing British rule (although it's not as indepth as Americans like myself are used to; to show how much is glimpsed, the transition from the Articles of Confederation to a Constitution isn't even hinted at). "The Great Acceleration" shows some of the pros and cons that came with urbanization as agricultural yield increased and then we watch the "European World Order" start to crumble; India rebels, etc. Then we have a few chapters (over a hundred pages) dedicated to "The Latest Age" and how industrialization and population growth are presenting new challenges in the world as certain individual liberties (especially for women) increase. We talk about both World Wars and the European political tissue connecting them before talking over the Cold War, the further end of Empires, how communism rose in China, and the Cuban Cold War crisis (there's a strange amount of time dedicated to the Cold War when you look at what was skipped earlier in the book) before the book ends with the end of the USSR and Roberts concludes things.
I don't want to accuse this book of being too Western-centric because I do believe that world history - the stuff that's been written down - is guided more by Europe and the Middle East than anywhere else, and I do think that Roberts did a good job of keeping pace with Asian countries even if he prioritizes the western world; China and other Asian nations were frequently kept in the loop. But I would have liked to see content shaved off the back fifth of the book and redistributed to earlier parts of the book (or visual aids, as we'll get to); sure, the USSR collapsing is a big deal (especially if you factor in nuclear weapons and their disproportionate ability to affect the good of the whole world), but why didn't Roberts put just as much focus into the end of the Ottoman Empire which stood for close to ten times as long as the USSR? I mean, I probably shouldn't be nitpicking - it's tough to condense tens of thousands of years of history into five hundred pages, and it's even tougher to distribute page time across the book when more recent history is better documented, so I don't know how I could've set the time up more fairly - but regardless, I do wish that more weight had been given to more obscure empires like the Byzantiums or other things that I need more historical context of like the Crusades.
But that's getting awfully specialized with my criticism, and if we want to talk about things I learned in this book, I did learn quite a bit - there's enough touching-off points for thousand of full history books about all the stuff covered here. For instance, everything about pre-Colombus North + Central America in here is greatly expanded upon in George C. Mann's *1491*, which is in no way related to this book, but is a history book I recently read which takes something given only a few pages here and greatly expands it while going on its own tangents about what's missing from that work. It's unreasonable to assume that this book could do what *1491* did for me for every area that it covers - but it got me to some facts that really stood out. It contextualized the Crusades, talked about Christian conflict, finally got it through my skull who Gilgamesh was (a probably-fictional character from the oldest story that we know of), and more. It's not great and all-encompassing, but it talks about a lot of things and tries to get you a grasp of it.
But there's one thing that this book is sorely missing which would've helped me grasp a lot of stuff better and would've helped it actually stick with me: maps. There is not a single illustration in this book despite talking about all these different boundaries and borders and crap between nations and empires. It made it very hard contextualize some things, and while I could find maps of this empire or that one online, it's not the same; you're not getting an overview that's accurate to what the author is really trying to portray, so... what's the real point? It definitely made it harder to think about the Turks or the different Asian dynasties and made it hard for me to remember everything covered in this book. If there's one thing that reduced its effectiveness for me, it's that.
I'll give this book a 7/10 despite not doing some of the stuff that it should've done to keep me engaged and remembering everything; I mean, at the end of the day I really didn't get bored with this book despite it being eight days of dense reading (I usually take 3, maybe 4 days to read a book), but I also don't feel like I can look at a map and tell you a whole lot of new facts about all the countries on the map. I got sprayed by a firehose, but my mouth wasn't open, so I didn't get any of the information in the water. Oh well; there's more history content where this came from, and I'll be happy to read it as some time goes on. Thanks for reading this, and here's hoping that you can find a book that tells you everything you're looking to know; just be aware that I doubt there's a one-size-fits-all answer. And silly me, for thinking there might be...
December 4, 2009
Roberts writes a 500+ page history of evolution to the 20th century of human history. The book is well written even though there is not enough pages to cover any time period in depth. I learned a lot that I should have learned with the appropriate education starting way back. I really needed a good map of the old world to help me visualize the migration of homo sapien sapiens. I constantly had my head in a geographic dictionary. It would be great to take some college classes that parallel this book.
August 3, 2009
J.M. Roberts' single volume history of the world is great recommendation for those who wish to review world history. It is vivid enough to keep your attention and contains just enough detail to make it rich and compelling. If you're looking for a overview book to set history in context this is an economical way to do it.
Read
June 6, 2010I couldn't do it. It took me two months to read 165 pages! The type is so small, the pages so packed with information... I admired what I read. I like the writer, the way he imparts a bit of casual readability into such a daunting history. It's a book to keep, an excellent resource, even if it is meant to be read straight through.
October 13, 2012
Great for a quick review of the world history.
July 27, 2024
PERHAPS THE BEST MODERN ONE-VOLUME "WORLD HISTORY"
John Morris Roberts (1928-2003) was a British historian who was Warden of Merton College, Oxford from 1984 to his retirement in 1994; he wrote many other books such as 'The New Penguin History of the World,' 'The Penguin History of Europe,' etc.
This book was first published in 1976, then revised in this edition in 1993. (A 4th edition was also released before his death.) He wrote in the Preface, "world history is inseparably part of the way we see things... we strive to make sense of events by getting them 'in perspective,' and in fact make judgments about world history all the time... I tried in this book to balance the attention given to the effects of historical inertia by another great fact, mankind's unique power to produce change... I have sought in these pages to tell a unified story and not to bring together a new collection of accounts of traditionally important themes."
He notes early on, "One change is quickly apparent: in different parts of the world men grew more rapidly more unlike one another. The most obvious fact about early civilizations is that they are startlingly different in style... Only with the rise to dominance of Western technology in the twentieth century has this variety begun to diminish." (Pg. 35)
He suggests that "in 1000 BC... Europe has little of its own to offer the world except its minerals, and nothing which represents cultural achievement on the scale reached by the Near East, India or China. Europe's age was still to come; hers would be the last great civilization to appear." (Pg. 124) Later, he adds, "Greek civilization was quite simply the most important extension of Man's grasp of his own destiny down to that time. Within four centuries, Greece invented philosophy, politics, most of arithmetic and geometry, and the categories of western art... Europe has drawn interest on the capital Greece laid down ever since, and through Europe the rest of the world has traded on the same account." (Pg. 167)
Much later, he notes, "The progressive values of the eighteenth century provided new arguments for superiority to reinforce those originally stemming from religion. By 1800, Europeans had lost almost all of their former respect for other civilizations. Their own social practice seemed obviously superior to the unintelligible barbarities found elsewhere." (Pg. 631) He comments about imperialism, "cynicism is no more the whole story than is the profit motive. The idealism which inspired some imperialists certainly salved the conscience of many more. Men who believed that they possessed true civilization were bound to see the ruling of others for their good as a duty." (Pg. 655)
He concludes, "European ideas and institutions have by no means everywhere displaced native tradition... What remains true in spite of this is that no other tradition has shown the same vigor and attractiveness in alien settings as the European: it has no competitors as a world shaper." (Pg. 917)
It is increasingly rare to find a modern historian who is willing to write a comprehensive one-volume history of the world. (Cf. H.G. Wells' 'The Outline of History') Roberts' work is a significant summation by an excellent and qualified researcher.
John Morris Roberts (1928-2003) was a British historian who was Warden of Merton College, Oxford from 1984 to his retirement in 1994; he wrote many other books such as 'The New Penguin History of the World,' 'The Penguin History of Europe,' etc.
This book was first published in 1976, then revised in this edition in 1993. (A 4th edition was also released before his death.) He wrote in the Preface, "world history is inseparably part of the way we see things... we strive to make sense of events by getting them 'in perspective,' and in fact make judgments about world history all the time... I tried in this book to balance the attention given to the effects of historical inertia by another great fact, mankind's unique power to produce change... I have sought in these pages to tell a unified story and not to bring together a new collection of accounts of traditionally important themes."
He notes early on, "One change is quickly apparent: in different parts of the world men grew more rapidly more unlike one another. The most obvious fact about early civilizations is that they are startlingly different in style... Only with the rise to dominance of Western technology in the twentieth century has this variety begun to diminish." (Pg. 35)
He suggests that "in 1000 BC... Europe has little of its own to offer the world except its minerals, and nothing which represents cultural achievement on the scale reached by the Near East, India or China. Europe's age was still to come; hers would be the last great civilization to appear." (Pg. 124) Later, he adds, "Greek civilization was quite simply the most important extension of Man's grasp of his own destiny down to that time. Within four centuries, Greece invented philosophy, politics, most of arithmetic and geometry, and the categories of western art... Europe has drawn interest on the capital Greece laid down ever since, and through Europe the rest of the world has traded on the same account." (Pg. 167)
Much later, he notes, "The progressive values of the eighteenth century provided new arguments for superiority to reinforce those originally stemming from religion. By 1800, Europeans had lost almost all of their former respect for other civilizations. Their own social practice seemed obviously superior to the unintelligible barbarities found elsewhere." (Pg. 631) He comments about imperialism, "cynicism is no more the whole story than is the profit motive. The idealism which inspired some imperialists certainly salved the conscience of many more. Men who believed that they possessed true civilization were bound to see the ruling of others for their good as a duty." (Pg. 655)
He concludes, "European ideas and institutions have by no means everywhere displaced native tradition... What remains true in spite of this is that no other tradition has shown the same vigor and attractiveness in alien settings as the European: it has no competitors as a world shaper." (Pg. 917)
It is increasingly rare to find a modern historian who is willing to write a comprehensive one-volume history of the world. (Cf. H.G. Wells' 'The Outline of History') Roberts' work is a significant summation by an excellent and qualified researcher.
May 4, 2023
I began reading the author's much longer "History of the World" many years ago to discover that it is not text book. Because my purposes were study, I found myself overwhelmed and put it down after about 300 pages with the intent to resume when I had the energy.
I then discovered the author had cut a shorter, more systematic version that is this edition. With willpower and great interest, it was sufficient for intense study and annotation. But I do wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the book if I read it (or its original, long version), as it was meant to be read. That is, as an epic work of world literature.
The contents of this book are profound and probably have not been matched by any similar work in the English language. Perhaps two quick reads may have served me better than a meticulous long read.
My only problem with this version is the lack of maps. The longer version, which is much more organic and fluid, has great maps. But, the essays are so long in that version that it's difficult to get a sense of the timeline, and there's no diagrammatic timeline included. If this version had maps or the longer version a timeline, I'd have little cause to complain about anything.
As a final note: given that this work is innovative -- perhaps the only complete modern and literary history of the World -- the author was probably more comfortable "writing at length". This version may show some signs of strain on the author, faced with gargantuan task of telling all of World history in 500 pages while simultaneously having to do the research to write it.
I wondered how much of the narrative I inferred based on my prior knowledge of history, as opposed to the longer version, which has more luxury to describe and explain.
I might therefore recommend the longer version to the casual reader who's nonetheless passionate about knowing the story of our existence.
And I recommend this, the shorter version, for (1) those that just feel the need to catch up quickly and (2) hardcore historians looking for entry-level introduction to a lifelong study.
I'd also like to thank the author, J M Roberts, for his contribution to the intellectual wealth of humanity.
I then discovered the author had cut a shorter, more systematic version that is this edition. With willpower and great interest, it was sufficient for intense study and annotation. But I do wonder how much more I would have enjoyed the book if I read it (or its original, long version), as it was meant to be read. That is, as an epic work of world literature.
The contents of this book are profound and probably have not been matched by any similar work in the English language. Perhaps two quick reads may have served me better than a meticulous long read.
My only problem with this version is the lack of maps. The longer version, which is much more organic and fluid, has great maps. But, the essays are so long in that version that it's difficult to get a sense of the timeline, and there's no diagrammatic timeline included. If this version had maps or the longer version a timeline, I'd have little cause to complain about anything.
As a final note: given that this work is innovative -- perhaps the only complete modern and literary history of the World -- the author was probably more comfortable "writing at length". This version may show some signs of strain on the author, faced with gargantuan task of telling all of World history in 500 pages while simultaneously having to do the research to write it.
I wondered how much of the narrative I inferred based on my prior knowledge of history, as opposed to the longer version, which has more luxury to describe and explain.
I might therefore recommend the longer version to the casual reader who's nonetheless passionate about knowing the story of our existence.
And I recommend this, the shorter version, for (1) those that just feel the need to catch up quickly and (2) hardcore historians looking for entry-level introduction to a lifelong study.
I'd also like to thank the author, J M Roberts, for his contribution to the intellectual wealth of humanity.
July 6, 2025
“As for global phenomena such as population pressure, environmental strain, the upheavals of traditional societies having to adapt to an ever-accelerating technological disruption, there is not one of them for whose understanding history is not the beginning of wisdom” - pg 513
This book was an excellent summary of the history of the human race and society from hunter gatherer proto-humans up until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early nineties. I’ve always enjoyed history, but this book helped fill in gaps of my understanding on how the different eras and fragments of history all fit together. I found it an excellent starting point to discovering where I want to dive deeper in history as well as giving me a grounded understanding of what has led up to the events in my current lifetime.
This book was an excellent summary of the history of the human race and society from hunter gatherer proto-humans up until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early nineties. I’ve always enjoyed history, but this book helped fill in gaps of my understanding on how the different eras and fragments of history all fit together. I found it an excellent starting point to discovering where I want to dive deeper in history as well as giving me a grounded understanding of what has led up to the events in my current lifetime.
October 7, 2024
DNF;
Before I begin my short review, I want to clarify that I am an anthropology major and have been seeking accurate information about prehistory specifically. I was interested in the table of contents when I bought it and regrettably didn't read any of the first chapter before purchasing. I was offended by what I read in the prehistory chapter.. the first 32 pages.. because there were inaccurate statements about hunter-gatherers, the start of agriculture and the spread of language. I know this book is quite dated, but I thought as a historian that the author would have known the history behind it all. It was just disappointing to have taken 2 semesters of anthropology-aimed classes and know from that knowledge alone that the rest of the book probably won't be 100% accurate.
Before I begin my short review, I want to clarify that I am an anthropology major and have been seeking accurate information about prehistory specifically. I was interested in the table of contents when I bought it and regrettably didn't read any of the first chapter before purchasing. I was offended by what I read in the prehistory chapter.. the first 32 pages.. because there were inaccurate statements about hunter-gatherers, the start of agriculture and the spread of language. I know this book is quite dated, but I thought as a historian that the author would have known the history behind it all. It was just disappointing to have taken 2 semesters of anthropology-aimed classes and know from that knowledge alone that the rest of the book probably won't be 100% accurate.
September 25, 2025
Finally finished after a protracted (2-month) but careful reading. It is good to have an overview of the whole of world history, following a concentration on Fifty Days That Changed The World. Roberts' work fleshes out and clearly connects those 50 significant dates.
The writing is very good; his judgments are fair and sober.
I'm encouraged to jump in to the larger work by this author The New History of the World or to his History of Europe.
The writing is very good; his judgments are fair and sober.
I'm encouraged to jump in to the larger work by this author The New History of the World or to his History of Europe.
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September 21, 2020I wish it was more detailed, but less detail in the book was the whole point I suppose! Very good source when trying to get the general idea of an important topic in history, but I would not recommend this book if you are purchasing it for a project, etc. If you are working on a project and need some detail, I highly recommend The Outline of History (volume one and volume two) by H. G. Wells. Fun fact: H. G. Wells was a socialist! That is because he is very very smart ;)
June 4, 2020
Roberts packs a lot into 513 pages, from the first hominids ("History is the story of human beings, and it is the human past which concerns us") to the fall of the Soviet Union. A remarkable summary, full of insights and broad trends, and I feel smarter for having read it, but it does require concentration; let your mind drift for a paragraph and you've missed 50 years of history.
November 21, 2020
Lol imagine being an incredibly accomplished historian, who spends years writing an incredibly well-researched condensed history of humanity, only to have some jerk-off history student give it 3 stars cus “it was a tad boring”.
December 6, 2020
After digging around for a good history book that could tell me everything without overwhelming me, I found the perfect answer. The book recounts the better part of history in a friendly manner. There is no need to judge it otherwise for the sake of it.
April 30, 2018
This is a 500 page book about world history from the beginning of time to 1993.
Read that again. See my point?
Read that again. See my point?
Want to read
February 9, 202405/07/19
March 14, 2017
Reading this in 10 days has given me a truly eye opening, life changing perspective. While not perfect history, it's about as good a job as I could expect from just 513 pages that try to tell all of human history. There is much less non-Western material than Western, and Robert's view of Reagan is so quaintly liberal (he grudgingly admits Reagan ended the Cold War, but then claims only the rich got richer under him, which is patently untrue, as all Americans saw their personal economies improve and the GDP growth outstripped the deficit growth), but by and large this is a great way to gain the big picture view of humanity's story up to 1993.
April 13, 2015
A generally fair and succinct review of the global record, the twinge of bias is restrained coming from the early 1990s English academia. Roberts' brief account of the world tackles major civilizations, or those civilizations which have commonly been popular topics of literature and discussion between historians, thus while we will hear some about ancient India (Mohenjo-Daro) or the Mesopotamians, Assyrians, and Egyptians - we don't hear much about pre-Islamic Indonesia or pre-imperial Thailand, or the rest of Indochina for that matter, until Europe becomes involved. This isn't a complaint lodged against Roberts in particular, it is just the wretched state of traditional Western world history narratives.
August 1, 2012
This is great so far, and I've barely gotten past the discovery of fire. Very readable and interesting, which is an impressive feat for such a big scope. I'm finding it moves faster than Bill Bryson's "Short History of Nearly Everything," which is another impressive feat as Bryson is very enjoyable to read.
April 7, 2011
Beware when reading this book! Not everything is 100% true. Be critical! You must also be ready for mild annoyance and frustration - it has a bad habbit of jumping between time and space, it isn't really chronological. The one plus, though, is that it is easy to read and understand. But it is, as the title implies, very abridged and short.
July 6, 2008
So far so good, it is very text-book like. I can't read it for very long but I enjoy the knowledge it is giving me. I think everyone should read a book like this... it is about the world we live in and people really know very little. That is why I chose it, to learn.
July 30, 2008
This book was fascinating. It was interesting that the US wasn't even mentioned until the 1900's except for the Revolutionary War. The author is English and it was interesting to get a different view of the Revolutionary War from the losing side.
February 22, 2009
I am going to take a history certification exam at the end of January, so I need to refresh my world history knowledge. I feel pretty good about American History....well, I passed my history certification exam. World History is still a beating but this book was helpful.
January 12, 2009
Obviously lots of info. Covers some topics I'm not particularly interested in ... e.g. history of the Far East. Maybe I should have been reading A Brief History of the Western World!? I've been reading this one on and off for over 2 years. I will eventually finish it, but I don't know when.
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