A Little History of the World

By: E. H. Gombrich

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

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.

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)

Graceful story, perfect narrator

It's true, as others have said here, that this is mainly a history of the WESTERN world. There's a bit about India and China, mostly in the context of religious history (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism); but it's mostly about the Mediterranean and western and northern Europe. But if you go into it knowing what it is, it's a gem of a book, presenting the history of those areas of the world in a lucid, engaging, and graceful manner. It's particularly useful in emphasizing aspects of European history that many other short histories of the world gloss over or rush through.

Ralph Cosham is the perfect narrator for this, so much so that I kept confusing him in my mind with the author.

A note about that religious history: in the context of an already short book, Gombrich's discussion of non-Western religious traditions is by no means skimpy: it's an outline, but a relaxed and anecdotal outline, and it shows a decidedly sympathetic and open mind.

I hope to re-listen soon!

After listening to this book, I felt like the world's history was opening up for me. This comes from someone who doesn't often read about history, so veterans and scholars of the subject will probably disagree due to general lack of details. This is acceptable because I bought this book not wanting to listen to 40-50 hours of historical storytelling. Ralph Cosham's narration fits well with Gombrich's storytelling flow, and made the historic events interesting enough that I hope to read more about some select topics. If the author had began writing this book more recently, I would lower this rating to a 4 star one due to the lack of non-European events. However, I forgive him since the first edition was published in 1935. I hope to re-listen again this summer but this time with a notepad.

Fantastic summary of world history from pre history to world war 2

Throughly enjoyed this book. It’s mostly based in Europe, North Africa and America. If you want a little history of the far East or Africa or America look elsewhere.

Enjoyable

A wonderful telling of history, quite a bit of history; not a lot of dates and well put forth.
I highly recommend this book.

This is such a lovely book

This book does such a wonderful job of quickly highlighting moments in our worlds history in such a way to give the reader (or listener) a better sense of where many of the puzzle pieces fit. A very thoughtfully written book. Though written for a younger audience it’s seems a lovely book for any age.

a fun read

I am not a history buff but this book taught me so much. Easy and interesting read.

Superb

This is the best history book I have ever read. What I really like about it , is that it helps you to put all the history you had in your head in one chronological , logical cool story.

At some point, you will forget that you are reading a history book. It feels like you're watching a movie of some sort.

I couldn't put down this book.
Will read it again for sure.

Lessons for The Little

I listened to this “little” and formidable book with my grandchildren in mind. In the background of the narrative, the constant presence of the idea (and ideals) expressed in George Santayana’s dictum: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Let us hope we can all (as suggested by the music) “make the world a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race”...

Fun and easy to listen to.

A brief cliff notes history of the world. Was perfect for car listening since it was so easy to follow without much concentration while still being informative.

Thousands of Years in 9 Hours

A good summary of events, people, places, things over several thousand years. Their mention and interconnected relationships provide springboards for further research on the part of the reader. Objectivity of the author seemed paramount in the accounts. Upon reflection it is sorrowful that our history is so filled with wars and destruction. Hopefully we can do better by considering this knowledge of the past. Hopefully.