|
The New Penguin History of the World | 
 enlarge | Author: J. M. Roberts
Creator: Odd Arne Westad
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy Used: $10.00
You Save: $12.00 (55%)
New (35) Used (12) from $10.00
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 119210
Media: Paperback
Edition: 5 Rev Upd
Pages: 1264
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 2.4
ISBN: 0141030429
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9780141030425
ASIN: 0141030429
Publication Date: December 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An extremely accessible narrative of the world s history
A book of extraordinary ambition, scholarship and accessibility, The New Penguin History of the World covers the history of our planet from our origins on the African savannah to the state of the world six years after September 11, 2001. Tracing the development of different civilizations through the ages, J. M. Roberts examines the periods of turbulence and change, the international shifts in order and power, and the conflicts, divisions, and advances that have shaped the way we live.
A truly global and comprehensive chronicle of human experience of ordinary people, as well as of those in power across all continents and conditions, The New Penguin History of the World brilliantly conveys the staggering diversity of human life and achievement.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 An updated version of ISBN: 0140154957 October 27, 2004
C. Goss (Austin, Texas)
48 out of 53 found this review helpful
Not having read his older version I have no idea how it compares or how much has been changed and/or added. My first attempt at a straight through read of a book on the subject, I am confident I made a good choice in picking up this particular book.
Some have said that this book suffers from an over-abundence of euro-centrism. I would disagree. If your conception of a fair portrayl of world history is the collection of "national" (for lack of a better word) histories each given an equal amount of attention (or even an amount of attention proportinate to their achievments within their borders), then this book will certainly not satisfy you. In this book, great civilazations (such as the chinese, japanese, and native americans) that were more isolationist in ideology get compartively little attention because they contributed compartively little to the lives of those living outside their oversight. Therefore, in selecting national histories to focus on, Roberts spends a large portion of the time discussing the history of europeans because they played a large role ("for better or for worse" he acknowledges) in the histories of other people. That europeans, for better or for worse, have succeded more then any other people in spreading their idealogies and influences is less a matter of opinion and more a matter of fact.
So if you are interested in a 1200-page, slightly sophisticated introduction to world history, with a particular focus on war and economics, I would heartily recommend this book.
A good read for western-orientated history buffs June 5, 2005
Jonny Harman (Moscow, Russia)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful
I feel that two things need to be accepted if this book is going to be appreciated.
First:
Roberts one-way-or-another justifies the emphasis that he places on Europe (and especially Western Europe) and (later) on America in account of the fact that these areas are largely influential in the world today. In this sense, it is more a history of the modern world - and of events that brought this about - rather than of the world as it may have been at any selected time in history. Given this logic, areas like China, for example, tend to receive attention more proportional to Roberts' assumptions on their place in the world at the time of writing, rather than in respect to how powerful and influential they may once have been (or may soon become).
Accordingly, this history starts off more-or-less in the traditional way, with much emphasis being placed on the early Middle Eastern / Mediterranean civilisations (the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, etc). It then progresses comfortably to the rise and fall of Rome (and the Greco-Roman Empire) and then to the tumultuous rise of (especially Western) Europe to world supremacy. As we know, this then passes on to America and (for a while) Russia.
All the other main players, such as Japan, China, India, and the Ottoman Empire (to name only a handful) receive their due chapters (often with much emphasis on how they affected or otherwise failed to affect Europe). Then of course such civilisations as those once belonging to the Americas get their coverage partly because we've heard of them, partly because it's important to see how Western civilisations swept them away, and partly (I venture to say) because without the Americas the book would hardly seem geographically balanced.
What I am getting at here is that this book might disappoint some people who want for a more balanced perspective on history, but it shouldn't significantly bother anyone who is happy to read the chain of events as outlined above. As I have already touched upon, some justification can be found in the fact that Roberts is really more interested in giving us a history as far as it has shaped today's world. Another thing to bear in mind is that it is merely a one volume book, and as such much of these limitations are quite unavoidable. This is the first thing that a reader must come to accept if he or she is going to enjoy this book (and readers who are looking for a more balanced and thorough account need to appreciate that they will ultimately have to read a great many related books). After all, there is much history to be understood from this book, even if it cannot hope to fit the whole history of the world so neatly into only one volume.
Second:
The other thing to accept or appreciate is more a matter of the book's register. For example, it may help if the reader already has some general historical knowledge; it is very much a book for people who are already fascinated by history. (There are much more entertaining reads for those who are relatively new to the subject. Try something by Giles Milton, or read something more specific - say, about WWII, or any other particular history that interests you.) In other words, I doubt this is a book to inspire in the uninitiated a new found love for historical literature, but if you already have this love then this book will do much to further your interest and consolidate your knowledge.
By way of another example, I am at the moment two-thirds of the way through reading 'The Penguin History of Europe', by J.M. Roberts - I have already read many similar histories (such as 'Europe: A History', by Norman Davies) - and I find Roberts' style to be very similar in both books. It is in no way nearly as balanced or compulsive as other reads (Davies' book is brilliant for this), but it is thorough, educational, and mostly enjoyable, and it keeps me turning the pages. However, it may say something to add that I have read perhaps seven or eight other books since starting on this one if only to keep it light, and so neither reads are easy.
Overall, 'The New Penguin History of the World' is a thoroughly good book. It is mostly interesting, always educational, and it pretty much accomplishes what it sets out to do. If you can accept the near-inevitable Western emphasis on this book, and if you are already something of a history buff, then I am sure that you will fully enjoy this read. I may have found it a challenge - sometimes getting through a chapter could be nearly overwhelming - but this reflects more on the depth of the work than on the style in which it is written. It is much to say for the book that despite the density of the thing it kept me happily turning the pages for weeks on end.
 Still terrible even after being "updated" November 16, 2004
Jim (Northern Virginia)
21 out of 56 found this review helpful
In his introduction to the earlier edition, Roberts quotes a saying to the effect that a work of history should not reveal the author's "party, country, or religion." Sadly, Roberts utterly fails at his own goal.
This book purports to give a global history, but it's mostly European history and a brief sprinkling of the other areas of the world that one might have heard of.
To pick just one example that I found particularly egregious, the book goes into depth about Charlemagne and his ancestors (of limited historical importance), then devotes about 20 pages for over 1000 years of Chinese history. I kid you not.
Roberts tries to justify this by saying how Europeans have been so influential in the world, but this is only partly true. China has over one billion people who have largely remained isolated from the world. It's true that one can explain a lot of history without much need for the details of China, but it shortchanges a huge mass of humanity and their doings, no matter what their impact on the West has been. [Let me note that a reviewer of the earlier edition, also named Jim, makes a similar point about China as well; it is coincidence: he and I are not the same person].
Moreover, with China's rising influence over the already Sinic-based cultures of Southeast Asia, for example, or India's likely rise in the coming years, any claims to a "European dominated" world are already becoming obsolete. The truth is, the finer points of the Peloponnesian War are not really more important than the details of the Tai, Mon, and Kymer kingdoms, for example.
I suspect the real reason for such imbalance was because the author just didn't know anything about China (or India) and couldn't be bothered to find out. Supposedly Roberts has a reputation as a distinguished professor, and I think the reputation made him complacent in writing this and trying to pass it off as some great world history. The editors who should have said something about it were probably loath to criticize such a "master."
I was thinking that the new edition might fix some of these problems (since appreciation of globalism has become more prevalent), but no. Also, I suppose the book is marketed to mostly English speaking Westerners, so a little more detail about Europe may be inevitable. But it shouldn't be billed as some comprehensive history of the world when it makes such a ridiculously small effort to actually cover the world properly.
A true history of the world, propotional to all the areas of the world, would be an instant classic. Unfortunately, this book only makes you wish for it.
Roberts' great triumph January 31, 2006
David N. Reiss (Haymarket, VA United States)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is the last edition of the book there will be. Roberts died soon after he finished this book. The original one volume "History of the World" was the best one volume world history book in existence. The update is well worth the price for it as well. I own several editions of the book.
I would compare the excellence in quality of the book to the 11 volume "Story of Civilization" series by Wil Durant. Of course, Durant's works are in many cases outdated today. Roberts updated his work in order to "fix" things where evidence has leaned one-way or-another over the last several years, as well as to bring it up-to-date with the fall of the Soviet Union and the new global supremacy of the United States.
Of course, Roberts only hits the highlights. But he doesn't ignore anything; even so-called minor issues are discussed. In many ways, he is outlining how the modern world came to be the way it is. All too much of what passes for history now a days is really little more than gossip about minor events in the relatively recent past. The grand sweep of historical events is often lost. Looking at well sells as history books today can make one cringe that somebody would read something, let alone write it.
Because people lack and true appreciation and understanding of history, they seem to be electing leaders who also lack the willingness to learn from past events. Democracy is on - at the very lest - a tenitive rise. Leaders need to know how Rome or Britain affected things in the modern political landscape. Churchill made decisions that are still being played out in the Middle East and Iraq today. Roman and even ancient Greek leaders had to deal with the issues of in the Balkans in southeast Europe over two-millennia ago. You can't fully understand the former Yugoslavia without understanding Roman province carving and its long term affects on world history.
How can leaders hope to make the best decisions if they don't understand the causes of the original problems? And since democratically elected leaders are, at least in the West, the norm now, people need to understand history in order to recognize people who understand it.
Roberts tries to restore the grand scope to the matter of human history. Something people and our political leaders seem to have very much lost sight of now. True History, the whys and wherefores need more attention.
Best of the West... August 3, 2005
B. J. C. White (Christchurch, New Zealand)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I must sadly agree that there is simply not enough coverage of many regions and their rich histories: Roberts' unfortunately places too much emphasis on the flowering of Europe and its tremendous, ambivalent impact on the rest of the world. For those of us who might have been intrigued by finding out more about the Muslim heritage in SouthEast Asia (and its dialogue with Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism) - or the kingdoms of Benin, Congo, or Oman - the book is, on that score, a disappointment.
So why four stars?
Because the book is nonetheless VERY VERY GOOD. Roberts is never dry or dull, and attempts to be judicious and coolly objective. His partisanship is I suspect structural, not rhetorical. Narrative history at its best is enthralling, provocative and entertaining. This is narrative history close to its best.
And those who feel the need to castigate Roberts for any reference to September 11, 2001 should be aware that Roberts mentions that tragic event to argue AGAINST the defining role in world history that many have claimed for it. He is according it its PROPER place against the polemics surrounding it.
|
|
|
|
| |
