A Little History of the World Audiobook By E. H. Gombrich cover art

A Little History of the World

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A Little History of the World

By: E. H. Gombrich
Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
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In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, twenty-six-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited 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. It is now an international bestseller and available in almost thirty languages across the world.

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.

©1985 DuMont Literatur und Kunst Verlag GmbH und Co. KG, Cologne, Germany. English translation 2005 Leonie Gombrich (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc. Ancient History Literature & Fiction Middle Ages War History & Culture Africa Imperialism Latin America Ancient Greece Inspiring Crusade World History

Critic reviews

"A lovely, lively historical survey....A fine conception and summarizing of the world's checkered past for young and old." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A remarkable book, written in an amiable, conversational style....This resurrected history deserves reading for all its delights." (The New York Times)
Comprehensive Overview • Engaging Storytelling • Soothing Voice • Accessible Explanations • Chronological Clarity

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I got this book because I love E. H. Gombrich's The Story of Art. I found A Little History to be an excellent introductory history book for children (and adults), because it is filled with Gombrich's deep humanity, curious mind, wide-ranging knowledge, disarming candor, charming humor, avuncular voice, and passionate commitment to history and learning. His writing is clear and engaging. He presents complicated situations and difficult concepts in simple terms without over-simplifying, as when he explains Buddha's enlightenment or the Protestant Reformation. He effectively tells both the positive and negative sides to the famous historical figures and cultures he describes. He also does a fine job of demonstrating the subjectivity of history by showing the different sides people have taken of the same events (as in the aftermath of World War I). He also vividly expresses the vast scale of pre-history and the small scale of human history to make readers appreciate their bracingly tiny places in the big scheme of things.

The last chapter is fascinating and moving, covering as it does Gombrich's changing awareness of the history he experienced as a Jewish citizen of Austria who had to emigrate to England, the aftermath of World War I and the horror of World War II. And the introduction by his granddaughter interestingly recounts how Gombrich came to write A Little History and The Story of Art.

This is a concise book! There are many absences! England and America and Asia are not given nearly as much coverage compared to Europe. However, it is so well-written and so engaging and so humane that reading it will make readers think more about what it means to be human and will inspire readers to become interested in history.

Ralph Cosham does his usual fine reading here: nothing fancy, just an appealing and accurate and fluid manner and voice. I easily imagined that I was a child listening to Grandfather Gombrich telling me history stories at bedtime

A Humane and Engaging Introduction to History

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Brilliant, accessible world history in an elegant nutshell. Perfectly done. From the beginning of the universe to modern day. Here are the people, the cultures, the philosophy
of 3000+ years of history. Erudite, humane, no judgments made -- history pure and simple.
Was written for his grandson but it's an adult read. A must read for those who like history and for those wondering what's it all about.

Need another star for this book; five not enough

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Another piece of our historic puzzle, a breeze to get through. I would recommend this with other books of it's kind.

A good little book on about our history

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The way this book was written makes you feel like you are hearing this information secondhand, which you are. It is a very relaxing and reads like you are being told a story, rather than studying a textbook.

Speaking with a historian

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This book is so beautiful, and so lovingly writen that you can not stop listening to it.

Wonderful, inspiring

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