Why read A Concise History of the World?

Book cover of A Concise History of the World

Book description

This book tells the story of humankind as producers and reproducers from the Paleolithic to the present. Renowned social and cultural historian Merry Wiesner-Hanks brings a new perspective to world history by examining social and cultural developments across the globe, including families and kin groups, social and gender hierarchies, sexuality,…

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History

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Concise History of the World as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

John Robert McNeill

Author

This one is a polar opposite of Cook’s, in that it has a strong chronological structure to it and presents the story in five chapters, each devoted to a segment of time. It is the only world history that is really strong on gender, family, marriage, and women. But it also tackles the more traditional subjects for historians. A strength that it shares with Cook’s and Manning’s books is attention to the history of social inequality, a subject that more and more historians have taken up. At 376 pages, this one is not the briefest on my list.

From John's list on The best short books on world history from the Paleolithic to the present.