History in Quotations: Reflecting 5000 Years of World History

by M.J. Cohen, John S. Major, Simon Schama (Foreword)

With a foreword by Simon Schama, one of the world’s foremost historians, and with 9000 chronological quotations arranged in 90 thematic chapters, this huge treasury is bursting with historical gems. The verbal banquet comes courtesy of such diverse figures as Herodotus, Charlemagne, Dante, Shakespeare, Thomas More, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Harriet Tubman, Rasputin, Lenin, Nehru, Al Capone, Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, Mao, Gloria Steinem, Susan Sontag, and hundreds more. These aren’t quick one-liners, but richly detailed and generous excerpts from speeches, documents, literature, and other sources. Every continent and every major civilization receives representation and enlightening commentary, with topics ranging from the toppling of nations to the changes in science. All the quotations have annotations, with details about sources.

Genres: History, Reference, Nonfiction, World History

1040 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Lily]

Fabulous. Amusing, saddening and above all fascinating. I really recommend you delve into this book!

[Bricoleur (David) Soul]

Almost 5,000 years of recorded history are encapsulated in the 9,000 odd quotations presented here. Unlike other collections, this one has but one aim - to shed light on the key issues, events and ideas of the unfolding of civilization.

One cannot help but get caught up in the broad sweep of recorded history as one reads both the quotes and the accompanying notes that describe, in many instances, not just the source but the contextual relationships the quotation and its speaker have to the both times and the developing themes of humanity through times of war, peace, and intellectual revolution.

[Kwyvan]

not recommended, the book is biased.

[Jack Pyke]

I've found this a brilliant source for my teens and their history assignments.