List Books In Pursuance Of A Little History of the World (Little History)
| Original Title: | Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser: Von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart |
| ISBN: | 0300108834 (ISBN13: 9780300108835) |
| Edition Language: | English URL https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300108835/little-history-world |
| Series: | Little History |
| Literary Awards: | Schlegel-Tieck Prize Nominee for Caroline Mustill (2006) |
E.H. Gombrich
Hardcover | Pages: 284 pages Rating: 4.11 | 17772 Users | 1734 Reviews
Present Regarding Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
| Title | : | A Little History of the World (Little History) |
| Author | : | E.H. Gombrich |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 284 pages |
| Published | : | October 13th 2005 by Yale University Press (first published 1936) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. World History |
Ilustration Toward Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited by a publishing acquaintance to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in seventeen languages across the world. Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation. A Little History of the World presents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savored and collected. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colorful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind's experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.Rating Regarding Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
Ratings: 4.11 From 17772 Users | 1734 ReviewsArticle Regarding Books A Little History of the World (Little History)
It's important to keep in mind that his target audience is children/young adults. He writes in a simple style, often engaging the reader directly ("Why do you think this happened?"), and painting a very general picture of world (read: European) history. While this probably won't shake the core of your beliefs about history, Gombrich does do a good job of humanizing all cultures and showing how even events in ancient history are still relevant. As for it being Eurocentric, well, that's notAmazing!Mostly European history. It is written like a fairy tale!
The perfect book to start my year. Admittedly a euro-centric version of history, but I was looking for a quick summary refresher before digging into some more meaty history books and this was just what I wanted. Ernst Gombrich is a pleasure to read because he's not trying to sound academic. It's like your really smart grandpa (or maybe CS Lewis in his Narnia voice) recounting the abridged history of the world.
I'm a little biased since I work for the publisher, but it still is a remarkable book. Gombrich was hired by a friend/publisher to translate a short children's history of the world into German and said he could write something better; it became this book. He set about writing a chapter a week by researching, writing, then reading the chapter to his future wife while on walks. It originally was published before WWII; the Nazis banned it. After the war Gombrich added some chapters. Gombrich later
The darkest, most depressing story I have ever read. Because, though there are good pockets of time and place (and so far I have lived in a lucky one... so far), taken as a whole, our past is one of endless war, enslavement and village burning. And that is just the beginning!
I can't recommend this much beyond the halfway point. Gombrich does a creditable job right up to the birth of Christ, but in my opinion the wheels fall off this book after the event. It's totally Eurocentric, Christian-slanted history. Very moving illustration of the old saw that history is written by the victors. There's some lip service done regarding the genocides the Europeans were responsible for- but it's cursory at best. And sure, it's a history book for kids, so one wouldn't wish to
I can't bring myself to jump on the warm and fuzzy bandwagon of approval of this deeply flawed book. It is what it is - a condensation of all of human history into sequential "stories" suitable for "children". Supposing for the moment that this is not an inherent recipe for disaster, what is baffling is the number of reviewers who claim to see something in this work "for adults". Other reviewers seem to agree on the book's "lack of condescension", so I guess I'll have to chalk my own perception
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