What do you think?
Rate this book
A Brief History of the Human Race
Surveying the whole of human history over the last ten thousand years, Michael Cook addresses some of the most fascinating questions about our past. Why did we first emerge as a species in Africa? How did the great world religions arise and the worship of many gods give way to just one? Zooming in on some of the details of history, from the arcane burial customs of ancient Mexican kings to the design of snuff boxes, Cook shows that humankind has rarely been slow to take advantage of an opportunity, from the domestication of the horse to the exploration of space.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
30 people are currently reading
486 people want to read
About the author
Michael A. Cook
22 books95 followersMichael Allan Cook (born in 1940) is a British historian and scholar of Islamic history.
He studied History and Oriental Studies at King's College, Cambridge 1959-1963 and did postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London 1963-1966 under the supervision of Professor Bernard Lewis. He was lecturer in Economic History with reference to the Middle East at SOAS 1966-1984 and Reader in the History of the Near and Middle East 1984-1986. In 1986 he was appointed Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Since 2007 he has been Class of 1943 University Professor of Near Eastern Studies. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in Spring 1990.
In 2001 he was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society.
In 2002 he received the prestigious $1.5 million Distinguished Achievement Award from the Mellon Foundation for significant contribution to humanities research.
In 2004 he was chosen to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2006 he won Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities at Princeton.
In 2008 he won Farabi Award in the Humanities and Islamic Studies.
In 2013 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at Leiden University.
In 2014 he won the Holberg Prize.
He studied History and Oriental Studies at King's College, Cambridge 1959-1963 and did postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London 1963-1966 under the supervision of Professor Bernard Lewis. He was lecturer in Economic History with reference to the Middle East at SOAS 1966-1984 and Reader in the History of the Near and Middle East 1984-1986. In 1986 he was appointed Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Since 2007 he has been Class of 1943 University Professor of Near Eastern Studies. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in Spring 1990.
In 2001 he was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society.
In 2002 he received the prestigious $1.5 million Distinguished Achievement Award from the Mellon Foundation for significant contribution to humanities research.
In 2004 he was chosen to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2006 he won Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities at Princeton.
In 2008 he won Farabi Award in the Humanities and Islamic Studies.
In 2013 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at Leiden University.
In 2014 he won the Holberg Prize.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 26 reviews
November 1, 2021
لذيذ وخفيف وبشكل ما كوميدي..
بيصعب عليا رحلة الانسان في معاناته وإن كنت أحتسب عليهم فردا ..
بيصعب عليا رحلة الانسان في معاناته وإن كنت أحتسب عليهم فردا ..
August 13, 2017
Despite the fact that Cook does an exellent job of taking us through all of the myriad cultures of the world, and asking what happened there and why (much of the time the answer is 'geography'), I did not like this book. I did like his summary of one Arab ethnographer's reasoning behind differences in peoples: the dumb-blonde theory (northern lattitudes produce "blonde and stupid" people while southern lattitude light levels produce "black and foolish" peoples, explaining why peoples from the middle range lattitudes have moderate skin tones and the sciences.
I particularly disliked his use of Britain as a model country: why not one of the Scandinavian island nations, which by most measures does even better for lawfullness, stable government and economic well-being?
Turns out that Cook, like Armstrong, ( please read also: Islam: A Short History
by Karen Armstrong ) is a scholar of Islamic history in particular.
I particularly disliked his use of Britain as a model country: why not one of the Scandinavian island nations, which by most measures does even better for lawfullness, stable government and economic well-being?
Turns out that Cook, like Armstrong, ( please read also: Islam: A Short History
by Karen Armstrong ) is a scholar of Islamic history in particular.
December 30, 2018
الكتاب لغته سهلة وغطى معظم أجزاء التاريخ المهمة وللكاتب العديد من الأفكار الرائعة المبثوثة خلال الكتاب. الكاتب ذكر ان كتابه هذا ملخص ولذا فإنه لا يصلح كمرحلة أولى ولكنه كتاب مفيد لمن لديه إلمام بالأحداث الأساسية وتسلسلها.
April 4, 2020
"It is the propensity of our genetically near-uniform species for cultural diversification that makes us so unique."
Review to come.
Review to come.
November 12, 2009
Interesting at some levels but just a little too ambitious for its own good. Vastly overgeneralized, actually. Based not on primary sources but on other secondary and indeed tertiary sources. i.e. gets its start from books like jared diamond, but with little or nothing that is original. Focused mainly on the advent of agriculture as the key moment in history, he finds that it all happened in the middle east, utterly neglecting the significant role of the Americas. Guess what boys and girls, the author is a specialist in ISLAMIC HISTORY, so what did we expect. This book was a major disappointment in a significant number of ways. No better than G. Blainey's similar effort Short History of the World, and even more sweeping and overextended.
June 6, 2008
Very good book - easy to read and engaging (although I had to look up a few words - mangonel anyone?!?)
Two questions from the book to ponder:
"How far are things like life, civilization, and modernization the way they are because that is the only way they could be, if they are to exist at all?"
"And how far is the way they are just one of any number of alternatives?"
Two questions from the book to ponder:
"How far are things like life, civilization, and modernization the way they are because that is the only way they could be, if they are to exist at all?"
"And how far is the way they are just one of any number of alternatives?"
Currently reading
August 19, 2010Thus far, I've had to investigate the geological time periods to understand the glacial vs. interglacial periods. It's truly remarkable that humans survived the massive climate changes over the last 4 million years.
April 24, 2024
A wide-spanning take on human history from the paleolithic to 9/11. Written in a witty, understandable fashion, Cook explains the eccentric variety of human cultures and connects the dots of wide-ranging themes. Cook is at his best when exploring why history is the way it is.
Yet, the book is filled with factual inaccuracies or claims that are presented as fact, but in reality are contentious or disproven. There were multiple claims I took issue with or felt misrepresented history. There is a strong undercurrent of western cultural supremacy / condescension that I disliked -- e.g. Cook describing non-alphabetic writing as more primitive. The book's commentary on 9/11 and the future also significantly missed the mark.
I'd recommend to pass on this book in favor of a more focused history.
Yet, the book is filled with factual inaccuracies or claims that are presented as fact, but in reality are contentious or disproven. There were multiple claims I took issue with or felt misrepresented history. There is a strong undercurrent of western cultural supremacy / condescension that I disliked -- e.g. Cook describing non-alphabetic writing as more primitive. The book's commentary on 9/11 and the future also significantly missed the mark.
I'd recommend to pass on this book in favor of a more focused history.
October 5, 2019
read this for a core-curriculum history course. and that level of depth is about what you can expect from this book. it's a crash course, and it does a better job than others in covering the non-Western world. but it, like Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel, is still western-centric for a book that tries to appear not so.
would recommend for anyone looking for a broad overview of human history. but if you've already read Guns Germs and Steel, or taken a world history course, there won't be much else to add here.
would recommend for anyone looking for a broad overview of human history. but if you've already read Guns Germs and Steel, or taken a world history course, there won't be much else to add here.
June 11, 2019
I really enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot from doing so. It really is a tour de force as it has to cover so much. Some have commented that it is very geocentric, but I think it benefits from that.
I would really recommend everyone gives this a read, and especially young adults as it will offer a great deal of background knowledge I wish I had at that age.
I would really recommend everyone gives this a read, and especially young adults as it will offer a great deal of background knowledge I wish I had at that age.
August 5, 2021
Disappointed
January 17, 2023
This book was absolutely atrocious. No recipes. I’m starting to think this Michael wasn’t even a real cook!👎
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2024
Very few writers can make history so gripping. So many 'aha!' moments.
December 30, 2024
An excellent overview of history. Can spend too much time on side issues, but an overall excellent overview. This is second to Guns, Germs and Steel and still ahead of Sapiens
October 25, 2009
Before, historians would only have written accounts, fossils and artifacts to use in their study of the past. Now, they have an additional tool: DNA. By examining DNAs [don't ask me how it is done, the book explains it, but it's beyond my understanding:], historians had confirmed that the first humans lived in Africa some 130,000 years ago. Then they spread out towards the other parts of the world, mostly by walking, although there are evidence that some of these early humans had travelled by boats.
Geography determined not only the culture, but also the appearances of the differents races we know now. Thus, for example, in tropical/forested places, the humans grew to be short and dark. In other places, they grew to be tall, white-skinned and blond.
They learned to use tools. First, they were made of stones [thus, the "Stone Age":]. Probably, they discovered that they can produce fire by hitting stones against each other, so they later learned to cook their food and then create metal tools [thus, the "Bronze Age":]. Then they discovered agriculture. Then writing. Civilizations then sprouted from everywhere.
To illustrate how long ago these were, watch your reaction when somebody says something happened during the time of Jesus Christ. You would say, that was a long, long time ago. But that was actually just 2,000 plus years ago. We're talking here of 130,000 years ago. So much of our history is forever lost, except those which can be gleaned from DNAs, as writing was invented only about 10,000 years ago.
The book does not discuss all facets of human existence, just some of them which he found interesting. He pointed out, for example, that archeology had unearthed abundant indications of the religious proclivities of prehistoric humans [goods placed in the graves of the deceased, some shrines, etc.:]. All indications show that the early humans had practiced polytheism [many gods:]. The gods were like humans [for how else would they be like:], and they were many as there are many human concerns [as a goddess of love can't be also the god of war:].
Now, great religions like Islam, Judaism and Christianity believe in only one God [monotheism:]. However, even the Israelites did not practice monotheism immediately. It was for them at first, i.e., the worship of one god to the exclusion of other gods.
Geography determined not only the culture, but also the appearances of the differents races we know now. Thus, for example, in tropical/forested places, the humans grew to be short and dark. In other places, they grew to be tall, white-skinned and blond.
They learned to use tools. First, they were made of stones [thus, the "Stone Age":]. Probably, they discovered that they can produce fire by hitting stones against each other, so they later learned to cook their food and then create metal tools [thus, the "Bronze Age":]. Then they discovered agriculture. Then writing. Civilizations then sprouted from everywhere.
To illustrate how long ago these were, watch your reaction when somebody says something happened during the time of Jesus Christ. You would say, that was a long, long time ago. But that was actually just 2,000 plus years ago. We're talking here of 130,000 years ago. So much of our history is forever lost, except those which can be gleaned from DNAs, as writing was invented only about 10,000 years ago.
The book does not discuss all facets of human existence, just some of them which he found interesting. He pointed out, for example, that archeology had unearthed abundant indications of the religious proclivities of prehistoric humans [goods placed in the graves of the deceased, some shrines, etc.:]. All indications show that the early humans had practiced polytheism [many gods:]. The gods were like humans [for how else would they be like:], and they were many as there are many human concerns [as a goddess of love can't be also the god of war:].
Now, great religions like Islam, Judaism and Christianity believe in only one God [monotheism:]. However, even the Israelites did not practice monotheism immediately. It was for them at first, i.e., the worship of one god to the exclusion of other gods.
January 15, 2017
As the author explains often enough in the book, it is quite brief and only covers a few instances from our past. What I found frustrating was the constant apologetic tone regarding this. A lot of the text seemed to me to be spent on explaining why something can only be summarized in that particular chapter.
Also, I can't really explain why, but while reading this book, I constantly felt as if the examples were only touched upon. This caused me to feel as if many chapters were left unfinished.
I have read a few better books covering human history on a larger scale, although there are undoubtedly worse ones out there.
Also, I can't really explain why, but while reading this book, I constantly felt as if the examples were only touched upon. This caused me to feel as if many chapters were left unfinished.
I have read a few better books covering human history on a larger scale, although there are undoubtedly worse ones out there.
August 30, 2007
All of human history and the entire globe in 350 pages! This introduction to the whens and whys of human origins and cultural expansions is unabashedly broad, and that makes it interesting. For contrast, the author devotes a few pages in each chapter to a closer look at some cultural practice or artifact. The writing has the slightly irritating tone of a lecturing teacher--apparently the book began life as a series of lectures for a Princeton history course. But Cook's thoughts are well worth reading.
May 12, 2012
Michael Cook traces the peripatetic migrations of our early ancestors as they cross land and sea and populate new lands carving a life as they adapt to new landscapes and climates.
Major trends, such as the rise of agriculture in longitudinal bands, and the rise of city-states, and the invention of writing all show rich threads in the fugue weave of human history and culture that make us what we are today- in all of its terrifying glory-and its vast potential, as yet, not fully realized.
Major trends, such as the rise of agriculture in longitudinal bands, and the rise of city-states, and the invention of writing all show rich threads in the fugue weave of human history and culture that make us what we are today- in all of its terrifying glory-and its vast potential, as yet, not fully realized.
July 28, 2013
The title is pretty self explanatory. It's a bit academically dry in places, but there are some very interesting theories in this work. I enjoyed it.
Recommended to students of history, archeology, or folks just interested in either.
Recommended to students of history, archeology, or folks just interested in either.
October 8, 2014
A brisk overview of humankind's first few hundred thousand years taking us right up to the present. Given the scope Cook has to tread lightly but he does sprinkle in observations from all parts of the globe.
March 3, 2008
It made me think and I picked up his other book - A Short Introduction to The Koran - which was pretty good too.
May 17, 2014
Truly terrible. Big history; small book. Bad combination.
March 31, 2016
A nice overview, with welcome updates on details that have been uncovered since I left school, and areas that I simply know less about.
November 20, 2016
Should have stopped at early 20th century.
Currently reading
September 18, 2017Im actually reading it in Turkish but couldnt find it in here can you guys add it?
Displaying 1 - 25 of 26 reviews