A Short History of the World - Paperback

by Christopher Lascelles (Author)

THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLER

"Just what we all wanted but were too scared to ask for: everything that ever happened in one digestible, readable book" - Matt Ridley

"A clearly written, remarkably comprehensive guide to the greatest story on Earth - man's journey from the earliest times to the modern day. Highly recommended" - Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets

"You know all this stuff already, more or less, but Lascelles covers all four walls without haste or waste, without dumbing down, and with a high degree of objectivity, reliability, and clarity" - Audiofile Magazine

"A 'Now I understand where that fits in' moment on every page" - Alice Boyle

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
There is an increasing realisation that our knowledge of world history - and how it all fits together - is far from perfect. A Short History of the World aims to fill the big gaps in our historical knowledge with a book that is easy to read and assumes little prior knowledge of past events. The book does not aim to come up with groundbreaking new theories on why things occurred, but rather gives a broad overview of the generally accepted version of events so that non-historians will feel less ignorant when discussing the past.

While the book covers world history from the Big Bang to the present day, it principally covers key people, events and empires since the dawn of the first civilisations in around 3500 BC. To help readers put events, places and empires into context, the book includes 36 specially commissioned maps to accompany the text. The result is a book that is reassuringly epic in scope but refreshingly short in length. An excellent place to start to bring your historical knowledge up to scratch.

Once you have read this, you will never feel exposed again.

Author Biography

Born in 1971, Christopher Lascelles studied modern languages and history at St Andrews University in Scotland. After graduating, he spent four years living in Russia, working for a publishing house in a period of unrest during which he saw Moscow surrounded by army tanks. Leaving Russia just before the new millennium, he studied business at INSEAD Business School in France before returning to England where he became involved in the world of climate change and start up businesses. A keen story-teller from an early age, Lascelles has always had an interest in the history of revolutions and how these have affected the world in which we live.