A Little History of the World: Amazon.co.uk: E H Gombrich: Books

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Product Description

Review
"... [a] wondrous, passionate history book... full of ... common sense and wonder ... an inspiration for children and a refreshment for adults." --Irish Times, January 2009

Review
"I love the new translation of Gombrich's classic history for children. Both entertaining and informative, it makes perfect bedtime reading."

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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First Sentence
All stories begin with 'Once upon a time'. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

55 Reviews

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (55 customer reviews)

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For all ages, 17 Aug 2006

By	sydney (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little History of the World (Hardcover)

I read this to see if it would be a suitable present for some friend's children, and wound up keeping it myself! You'd have to be one whiz at history not to learn a great deal from this book, it was great to have so many names that rang a vague bell finally put in context in such a concise and entertaining way. An excellent read, and one of the best-presented books in terms of binding and typography I've seen in a while.

The reviewer below who worried about the 'unrestrained paean to Marxism' clearly didn't read Gombrich's thoughtful and honest afterword, where he reviews his own opinions from over 50 years back and concludes that he was mistaken about the Soviet Union (to which he only devotes literally five lines which are not particularily opinionated) and too hard on industrialization. He also corrects his younger self on his orignal, parochial view of the Treaty of Versailles. I honour his candour in keeping the original lines in. In any case the idea that this book, with or without the afterword, is propaganda for ANY ideology is frankly absurd, and I would hate to see any reasonable person avoid the "Little History" from that mistaken impression.

Of course anyone will quarrel with the presentation of parts of history on which have an opinion-- personally I think he was rather too hard on Elizabeth I and rather too easy on the Chinese empire and the Aztecs! But that's the consequence of Gombrich's vivid storybook style, I think, and the fact that he has to deal with very complex situations in a couple of lines. I was especially impressed with the steady grace with which he handles potentially explosive religious issues. On the whole I don't think any but the most committed idealogue, left or right, would have a serious issue with their children reading this book. His view of history is probably best summed up with this:

"Now let's take a last look at these people dressed in skins, as they paddle their boats made of hollowed-out tree turnks towards their villages of huts... Do you think much has changed since then? Ther were people just like us. Often unkind to one another. Often cruel and deceitful. Sadly, so are we. But even then a mother might sacrifice her life for her child and friends might die for each other. And how could it be otherwise?"

Now to pick up another copy for those kids...

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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible history in a beautiful book, 5 Oct 2005

By	elizabeth5493 "elizabeth5493" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little History of the World (Hardcover)

'Once upon a time ... ' A brilliant introduction to 'what is history' which draws you in irresistably - a great outline for adults as well as children. Although inevitably biased towards European history, it does cover the world and tells the 'story' in a way which will encourage you to find out more. Not only beautifully written, as you would expect from Gombrich, but also beautifully produced - in hardback on good-quality paper with stunning [lino-cut?] illustrations and at a very reasonable price. Order more than one - it makes a great present.

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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper., 7 Oct 2005

By A Customer

This review is from: A Little History of the World (Hardcover)

Worth it just for the quality of paper, binding, cover and engravings alone. (First time in months I have seen a brand new hardback printed in the UK.) The quality of production and writing are superb. This is an interesting historical artifact by itself, having been written for children in 1935. That fact needs to be borne in mind during those moments when the book inevitably 'skims' over large subjects. I would recommend this just as a good read and a nicely finished book rather than look to it as an academic work.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Honestly, how adorable does a history of the world need to be?
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	88% buy the item featured on this page: A Little History of the World 4.4 out of 5 stars (55) �5.49
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A Little History of the World (Paperback)

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