If I had only found this book in high school – and had been fluent in German at 15 – I would have been a lot smarter in history class, particularly when I was forced to stay studying at home as a result of the infamous “Hot Dog Incident” of 1990.
When I was 15, I was walking along main street in my hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut to get a hot dog, as one does on a suburban Saturday. My high school class mates will fondly remember ‘Chez Lenard,’ the god of the town gourmet hot dog stand. When we “went into town,” which was the thing to do, a visit to the stand was the adventurous highlight.
On this particular day, I never got the hot dog because I was hit by a car.
I didn’t look both ways when crossing the street, as often happens to those hit by cars. Ultimately, I was fine, but my poor mama watched from the car and had a Mom Freakout, as anyone with a child (or five) would do.
[Fear not: we'll get to the book.]
I was home for awhile, recovering from some bruises, but had to keep up with my schoolwork. While generally a good student, I loathed ancient history class. It was likely the only class in which I ever received less than a B.
I would rather stick a fork in my eye than read my ancient history text book.
But there I was, stuck not with a fork, but at home, surrounded by pages of essay questions demanding to know my assertions and analyses.
Fast forward 18 years. When I first started reading Gombrich’s A Little History of the World, I had little faith in its ability to erase my ancient history aversion. But it was recommended to me as different, easy to understand, fun to read. Even with that assurance, I was skeptical that ancient history and fun were related.
I was wrong.
From the start, Gombrich enlists the reader on a journey, taking her or him on a pilgrimage from ‘before there were any people’ up to the end of World War II. That’s a long time to cover in 280 pages.
But he does it masterfully, in a style written for young readers – and yay! – we adult readers like it. Simple sentences, easy explanations and wit. Chapter titles like “An Unlucky King and Lucky King,” and “Heroes and Their Weapons,” wrap it all up in digestible morsels with factual information.
What’s even better is that it covers more than American and British history, which is most of what we were taught in the U.S., China, Turkey, Africa are all included equally.
And yes, while Gombrich illustrates that history *does* repeat itself, he doesn’t write the same bland comatose-invoking text over and over. It’s fresh in each chapter.
Thankfully, I received it as a gift four years ago; since then, I’ve given it as a gift to five people, who’ve all attested to resulting increased intelligence. You will be smarter after reading this book, I promise. Like “Jeopardy” smarter. If you aren’t, I guarantee your money back on the purchase.
P.S.: I’m fine since the car accident, just have a bit of sciatica, which I mostly attribute to aging. I don’t eat hot dogs anymore.
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“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.”
-Hegel
That said, I do enjoy it. Lately it’s been via documentaries, such as Ken Burns’ Civil War which I recently watched (completely engrossing).
Personally, I never tire of learning about those Romans. This has been recently refueled by the really rather brilliant podcast The History of Rome which I often listen to while cooking. Also, if you’re ever at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hang a left when you enter and check out the Greek/Roman collection. Absolutely amazing.
I have heard good things about The Little History of the World. I’ve put it on my amazon list. Time to diversify my history.
Hey Erik – definitely read it and I’m glad you put it on your Amazon list…so glad you shared The History of Rome. I think we forget about podcasts as an educational tool and I’m so glad you reminded me to check it out. And I love the Hegel quote – awesome!
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