About book The New Penguin History Of The World (2004)
This title is a staple in the Barnes & Noble history section as well as in the prominent, warmly loved independent bookstores here and there. I happen to know that because I circled the book for at least a couple of years before finally purchasing it. Weighing in with 1,180 pages of text supplemented by 57 pages of Index, it seemed both too long and too short—too long because the project of reading it would take time that might be devoted to two or three other books that I looked forward to reading; too short because any useful history of human existence seemed to merit one of those ponderous three-volume sets that in fact I would never read.In any event quite often when I visited bookstores, I would sit down with the book and read short excerpts. Then upon coming to Mexico, I checked out a copy from the library and started it. It soon became a apparent that I needed my own copy. I purchased one and was off on a long adventure.J.M. Roberts, the British historian, died in May 2003 after completing the fourth edition. The first edition of The Penguin History of the World was published in 1976. He had a point of view, as any historian worth his salt must. At this point I am going to change to the present tense. Having lived with this man's words and thoughts for some time now, the man himself lives on for me. This fifth edition, first published in 2007, includes updates and further revision by Odd Arne Westad. Professor Barrie sees modern history—occupying the period from 1500 to the present—as the global triumph of Western European culture. He sees the years since World War II as marking at last the end of Western Europe's global hegemony. Asia is stepping to the forefront of history as limits on the power of the United States have become more and more pronounced. But it is an Asia that has now selectively embraced many of the cultural, economic, and political ideals of the Western Europe. While the power of the Western Europe has waned, the pervasive changes that European ideas have wrought in the rest of the world live on.He points out the trick bag in which non-European civilizations found themselves when they faced the implacable incursions of European civilization around the world. The only way to resist that successfully was to adopt European ways and European technology. I mention this because of the relatively brief treatment afforded Latin America, including Pre-Columbian civilizations there, and Africa, for example. Without having researched reviews of the book, I suspect that Professor Roberts must have been criticized for ethnocentrism or Euro-centrism through the years. He makes no apologies for this and addresses the subject directly. He is concerned with civilizations that changed world history. While he never characterizes Latin American or African civilizations as inferior, he simply holds that they did not have a wide impact in the world at large.The global triumph of European culture in modern times may seem a rather banal, stale even. The gift of this book, however, is to provide a perspective whereby one is able to step out of one's own cultural milieu and consider how things might have been different and more importantly, how imperfect that triumph has been. Also, one begins to perceive how very new concepts such as nationhood, capitalism, liberal concepts of individual rights and liberty, and other currently and widely received wisdom incorporate serious imperfections. This received wisdom does not represent the end of game of human progress. These concepts comprise only a temporary setting of ideas within which we live right now. Nothing more. Asia, for example, has never embraced western concepts of individual liberty. In that area, which is now becoming the forefront of historical evolution, the collective, not the individual, remains paramount.It can be a challenging book. I personally found the accounts of the waxing and waning of various ancient civilizations in the Near East and in India to be taxing. It is difficult to keep these peoples, so alien to us, straight in one's mind--the hallmarks of each, the contributions of each, the depredations of each. If that were to be the case with you, I would recommend that you simply keep reading. Drive on, and do not be too concerned about this.The reward for me personally was this. With the background provided from all of human history, when I came down to Professor Barrie's rendition of events in the last half of the Twentieth Century--events that I, as an older man now, lived through—the perspective that the book afforded was immensely satisfying. I have searched for some word more suitable than “satisfying” and have failed.Let me put it this way. The Chinese Revolution; Zionism and the foundation of the state of Israel; Indian independence, partition, and ensuing events; the Korean War; the Suez Canal crisis; the Japanese post-war economic renaissance; the Berlin Crisis; the Cuban missile crisis; the Vietnam War; the Cultural Revolution in China; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the international maneuverings of the two sides in the Cold War; Solidarity in Poland; Prague Spring; the apparently sudden collapse of the Soviet Union; the fall of the Berlin Wall; Islamic radicalism; 9/11; the ensuing misadventures of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan; and a myriad other events of this sort previously formed a senseless cacophony in my memory. Random human insanity. This book has provided me with handholds with which I have begun—and only begun--to gain a grasp on some context within which all of these events occurred. For example, I cannot tell you how helpful it is to consider the history of the Near and Middle East in the Twentieth Century within the framework of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire along with the background of that empire itself as it existed over centuries previously. One begins to understand. At this point in the end game of my life, I am grateful to Professor Barrie for that.At the same time, Professor Barrie adamantly asserts that the competent historian never predicts the future, by “extrapolation” or otherwise, because he simply cannot. Even in our age when change continues to accelerate, certain trends speed up while others slow down in an entirely unpredictable fashion. Therefore, the book in no way purports to be a vehicle for traveling into the future. Its focus is entirely on the past. As that future unfolds during the lifetime left to me and itself becomes the past, it would be wonderful if Professor Barrie were still around to complete further revisions of the book. Still, as nearly as I can tell, Odd Arne Westad is carrying on fairly seamlessly in the spirit of the original author. I wish him good health.
In one of the classic classroom-quiz-themed Calvin and Hobbes strips, our hero reflects on career choices.J. M. Roberts was a big-picture person. And this is a big-picture book, but even though it is an all-encompassing chronicle that traces every major development of historical significance beginning with our prosimian ancestors through to the early years of the 21st century, it is no meaningless clutter of facts and figures; Roberts brings his erudition to bear on these to identify within them the major historical processes of our past. Structurally, the book is divided into broad sections which illustrate these processes: Pre-historyFirst Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, East Asia)Classical Mediterranean (Greece, Rome, Jewry, Christianity)The Age of Diverging Traditions (Islam and Arab Empires, Byzantium, Europe, India, China and Japan)The Making of the European AgeThe Great AccelerationThe End of the Europeans' world (WWI, Ottoman Heritage, WWII) and The Latest Age. All through, the text is supplemented with a variety of maps and statistics pertinent to the era. Within each section, the unifying features and broader trends are identified and elaborated upon. It is therefore a somewhat personal view of history, but only in the ordering of events in terms of their relative importance, and the objectivity of the narration rarely suffers. Nor does the author make any artificial distinction between 'history' and 'sociology'; the roles of religion, polity and science in contributing to the periods and events that shaped our societies are highlighted and we get a rather fascinating account of their interplay, and of their waxing and waning influences on society throughout history. We get a glimpse into their contribution towards the aggregation of capital and labor for the creation of 'leisure' and of economic surpluses over and above the needs of consumption that were so essential to the development of new ideas and inventions, as well as the modification of social organization and the growth of population which has made ours the dominant species of the planet with such unprecedented capacity to alter its environment.Despite having to employ, perforce, rather broad strokes in the attempt to condense the shared experience of millions of lives into a few pages of history, Dr Roberts manages to intersperse the account with enough whimsy to keep the narrative interesting. So there's trivia ("The 'War of Jenkins' Ear' of 1739 (started literally due to).. the organ produced in pickle by its owner in the House of Commons, whose sensitive patriotism was inflamed and outraged to hear of the alleged mutilation by Spanish coastguard"), insight ("The undermining of the authority of scripture remains the most obvious single way in which science affected formulated beliefs... by 1914, radio messages could be sent across the Atlantic, flying-machines which did not rely upon support by bags of gas of lower density than air were common, aspirins were easily available and an American manufacturer was selling the first cheap mass-produced automobile. The growing power and scope of science was by no means adequately represented by such facts, but material advance of this sort impressed the average man and led him to worship at a new shrine...This was what made the nineteenth century the first in which science truly became an object of religion - perhaps of idolatry.") humor ("Mistakenly, liberalism and nationalism were usually supposed to be inseparable...before 1848...many confused the two; the most famous and admired of those who did so was Mazzini, a young Italian. By advocating an Italian unity most of his countrymen did not want and conspiring unsuccessfully to bring it about, he became an inspiration and model for other nationalists and democrats in every continent for over a century and one of the first idols of radical chic.") and even poetic nostalgia ("We have now lost one of the most pleasant of industrial sights, the long, streaming plume of steam from the funnel of a locomotive at speed, hanging for a few seconds behind it against a green landscape before disappearing..") scattered throughout the text.Previous reviews note that Europe's role in world history gets a lot of emphasis here, but this need not be considered a drawback of the book; for history belongs to the victorious, for they get to write it, and it is true that the dominant ideas and techniques of our age are undoubtedly European in origin. These are uncertain times. If distance does indeed bring perspective, then having dealt with the entire span of human history across space and time from a 21st century vantage point, the author is in a unique position to comment on the outlook for the future for humankind. It is therefore rather telling when he says in the preface to this edition "...I now feel that my children will probably not live in so agreeable a world as I have known..." Indeed, when judged by the standards of antiquity, humanity has never had it better - despite variations across regions, every relevant socio-economic indicator indicates betterment: average life expectancy is higher and infant mortality rates lower than ever before, average wealth has increased consistently, and practical, legal and personal freedoms and human rights are greater than ever before. And yet the longevity of many of our current problems- turmoil in the middle east, poverty and gender inequality in sub-saharan Africa and many third world countries, widening disparities between the well-off and the poor, increasing trends towards fanaticism, radical nationalism and religious intolerance coupled with newer social, economic & environmental challenges remind us that though we have come far, there is a long distance to cover still.Resolving problems requires that they be clearly understood, and this book is as good a place as any to begin that process. Politicians and policy-makers everywhere should read this.
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This is a masterpiece, highly recommended to anyone seriously interested in a good quality, thoughtful, insightful overview of human history. This book manages to provide a surprisingly good level of detail while keeping a wide breath of analysis and encompassing the whole of historical development since prehistory up to contemporary times. It should be kept as a reference, not just read (and probably it should be read at least twice, to fully enjoy it).It is a real pity that there are a few (mostly editorial) choices that I personally found quite questionable: first, the maps are so small as to be rendered virtually unreadable – and they are not always relevant nor helpful - an unforgivable error on the part of the publisher. Lack of timelines and suggested readings are also quite frustrating. I personally think that timelines would have been extremely valuable for a book of such breadth and ambition, and I am very disappointed by the fact that there are none provided.Apart from the issues mentioned above, it is nonetheless an amazingly engrossing and rewarding read, so I am giving it 5 stars.
—Fortunr
Terdapat agak banyak buku sejarah dunia yg diceritakan dalam 1 jilid di rak2 kedai buku sekarang. Andrew Marr's BBC History of the World dan EH Gombrich Little History of The World adalah antara yang popular.Tapi sini aku akan berikan sebab2 kenapa Odd Arne Westad & JM Roberts The Penguin/Oxford History of The World adalah the superior one.1) Penulis2 adalah pure historian.Kata orang, sejarah ditulis oleh pemenang. Terdapat implikasi yang subtle kalau kita menerima pernyataan itu. Antaranya adalah, kita mengiyakan bahawa sejarah adalah ditulis dari sudut pandang seseorang penulis; dan sejarah yang ditulis oleh penulis yang berada di pihak pemenanglah yang paling diterima ramai.Perkara ini paling terpapar bilamana kita membaca sejarah2 yang dikhabarkan melalui pena tokoh pemikir atau ahli falsafah. Aku secara peribadi tiada masalah sangat dengan hasil2 penulisan oleh golongan2 ini; in fact some of the best historical readings yang aku pernah baca adalah datangnya daripada orang2 dari kategori ini.Cumanya kita kena menerima bahawa tokoh pemikir/ahli falsafah/intelektual ini ada projek yang mereka ingin kehadapankan. Jadi mereka terkadang overexaggerate sesetengah kejadian dalam sejarah, dan undermine sesetengah kejadian yang lain.Sebagai sejarahwan tulen, Westead dan Roberts sentiasa memastikan bahawa dakwaan atau kenyataan mereka bersandarkan kepada bukti; walau di dlm sesetengah tempoh dalam sejarah yg tertentu tidak banyak bukti yang dapat digali, penulis cuba untuk menimbulkan ‘circumstantial evidence’ spt menganalogikan latar zaman satu2 tempoh sejarah dengan latar zaman tempoh yg berdekatan. Situasi ini sering didapati apabila penulis cuba untuk meriwayatkan peristiwa2 yg berlaku di dalam masyarakat yang sasteranya masih belum matang seperti Rusia sebelum zaman penyatuan oleh Ivan.2) JM Roberts adalah specialist dalam sejarah Europe, Odd Arne Westead pula specialist dalam sejarah Cina.There’s literally a feeling that you’re getting the best of both world. Bagi sesiapa yang familiar dgn sejarah Eropah tentu sedar bagaimana masyarakat2 di benua Eropah sendiri beragam adatnya dan perjalanan sejarah mereka.Orang suka mengelompokkan masyarakat Eropah silam kepada dua, yang bertamadun dan yang gasar. Mereka2 yang bertamadun rata2nya hidup di kawasan2 terawal yg disentuh oleh tradisi agama Kristian. Mereka adalah penghuni2 Rom, Itali, Greek dan kawasan sekitar. Manakala mereka yang hidup di luar lingkup kawasan geografi tersebut adalah orang2 gasar. Ia adalah kaedah pembahagian yang pragmatik dan amat berguna bilamana anda cuba untuk menayangkan bagaimana Eropah berevolusi kepada kawan2 yg berminat, tetapi banyak fakta2 sejarah lain yang tersembunyi melalui penceritaan sebegitu.Antaranya adalah, kenapa Perancis dikagumi oleh bangsa2 Eropah yang lain, tension antara England dan Perancis serta Perancis dan Jerman, hubungan Portugal-Sepanyol dengan negara Eropah yang lain, hubungan England dan Belanda, kenapa Rusia dan negara2 Eropah Tengah kelihatan sangat berbeza dengan negara2 Eropah Barat dll.Lama kelamaan anda akan dapati adalah mustahil untuk anda lompokkan negara Eropah dalam satu istilah abstrak bernama ‘Barat’ (satu istilah yg sangat digemari ahli falsafah).Kejayaan Westead dan Roberts bagi aku adalah mereka berjaya menyedarkan pembaca betapa kompleksnya struktur dan budaya masyarakat Eropah, tetapi pada masa yang sama Westead dan Roberts mampu menggariskan ciri2 besar yang mendefinisikan Eropah secara umumnya.Aku juga tidak menyangka sejarah China begitu unik dan bagaimana radikalnya perubahan2 yg berlaku kepada Gergasi Asia ini sejak sekitar 100 tahun terakhir ini. Memandangkan China telah memberi kesan terhadap perkembangan negara2 sekitar seperti Korea dan Jepun dalam aspek intelektual dan budaya terutamanya, lewat pena penulis, pembaca akan mampu melihat negara2 Timur ini dalam perspektif yang bermakna.3) Terdapat perasaan bahawa anda sedang membaca a kind of People's History of The World dalam buku ini.People’s History adalah suatu topik kesarjanaan dalam bidang penulisan sejarah yang cuba untuk memberi perhatian lebih kepada apa yang berlaku kepada rakyat ramai dalam satu2 tempoh sejarah. Because you see, Revolusi 9 Mei di China, French Revolution, Enlightenment, Renaissance, Middle Age, Pax Romana etc sounds nice and dandy when you read it in a typical history book. Tetapi bila anda membaca rekod2 sejarah seperti diari2 yg ditinggalkan oleh mereka yang hidup ditengah2 tempoh tersebut, it is usually very ugly.Aku percaya ramai daripada kita di sini telah mengalami 2 Revolusi di bumi Mesir dan punya gambaran kasar apa yang berlaku, jadi apa yang aku cakap ini bukanlah satu penemuan baru.Sewaktu menceritakan mana2 tempoh bersejarah (historical epoch) penulis, Westead dan Roberts sentiasa tidak lupa untuk mengingatkan pembaca akan apa yang sedang berlaku kepada majoriti manusia ketika itu, secara tidak langsung melatih pembaca untuk berfikir secara realistik bila membaca sejarah.4) Buku ini adalah antara buku sejarah-dunia-dalam-1-jilid terawal dalam pasaran; mula diterbitkan sekitar 70-an.Edisi terbaru telah di-revise sebanyak 6 kali. In short, it's a pretty established and authoritative book.5) The book preoccupies itself with how the modern world emerged.Sebab yang ke-5 ini mungkin agak subjektif; ada sesetengah orang lagi minat nak tahu apa yang berlaku di Eropah pada Zaman Gelap cthnya, atau bagaimana emmpayar Rom ditadbir zaman Antonine.Tapi aku percaya semua pembaca yang bakal menyentuh buku ini kehidupan mereka telah sedikit sebanyak disentuh dengan produk2 dan kesan2 modeniti.Jadi walaupun separuh buku ini disibukkan dengan zaman moden (that is roughly 1500 AD onwards), pembaca pasti akan menjumpai beberapa topik yang diperbincangkan menyentuh sedikit sebanyak perkara2/fenomena yg pernah dialami mereka. In short, it's not for everybody. But theres definitely something for everybody. A definite good addition on any readers bookshelf.Cons buku ini:-Kadang-kadang, cara penulisan Westead dan Roberts nampak unnecessarily complicated dan memeningkan. Mungkin kerana mereka hendak memastikan pembaca follow their lines of exposition, jadi Westead dan Roberts selalu menggariskan persamaan (dan perbezaan) antara satu tempoh sejarah di suatu tempat dengan satu tempoh sejarah di latar geografikal yang lain. Ada kalanya ia menjadi, dan ada kalanya ia annoying.-Buku ini terlalu panjang di dalam menceritakan perkembangan dan evolusi dunia moden.-Buku ini terlalu pendek di dalam menceritakan peresapan tamadun Greek kepada Asia (the so-called Hellenization), juga aku rasa sejarah India silam (sebelum Era Kerajaan Mughal) tidak diberikan perhatian yang sewajarnya.
—Ahmad Ardy
Nothing if not pithy, the PHotW crams several thousand years of human history into about 1000 pages. It's done with plenty of wit. Roberts tends toward "macro" observations of social, political and/or religious trends or movements. In the process he sometimes misses or jettisons some surprising details (there's no mention, for example, of Marie Antionette), though he does pepper the book with plenty of interesting observations and the occasional offbeat anecdote (such as the fate of the Roman emperor Valerian, who was skinned alive and taxidermied by the Persians).
—Andy
