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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others



I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
  1. $16.76 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    La's Orchestra Saves the World

    Alexander McCall Smith

A Little History of the World

by E. H. Gombrich

A Little History of the World Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

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 fur 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.

Review:

"[A] children's history that adults will want to sneak off with and read on the sly. " Very Short List

Review:

"A remarkable book, written in an amiable, conversational style, effortlessly explaining, without condescension, difficult matters like the achievements of Charlemagne, the monetary system of medieval Europe and the ideas of the Enlightenment. . . . This resurrected history deserves reading for all its delights."-Edward Rothstein, New York Times

Review:

"In simple, vivid prose, Gombrich surveys the human past from pre-history to his own time. . . . Lucky children will have this book read to them. Intelligent adults will read it for themselves and regain contact with the spirit of European humanism at its best."-Anthony Grafton, Wall Street Journal

Review:

"A beautifully concise volume [that] will remind readers of any age that the past 5,000 years have been one big slugfest between darkness and enlightenment, unreason and reason."-Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times

About the Author

Among E. H. GOMBRICHs many writings are the international bestsellers The Story of Art and Art and Illusion. He was director of the Warburg Institute of the University of London from 1959 to 1976.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780300143324
Author:
Gombrich, E. H.
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Translator:
Mustill, Caroline
Illustrator:
Harper, Clifford
Author:
Harper, Clifford
Author:
Mustill, Caroline
Subject:
World - General
Subject:
World
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
September 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
284
Dimensions:
8.30x5.40x1.00 in. .80 lbs.

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