a little history of the world by ernst gombrich

JSTOR ( December 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī Little History of the World (originally in German, Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser) is a history book by Ernst Gombrich.Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources.įind sources: 'A Little History of the World' – news ‘If you are on a Gombrich spree you might like to get hold of his A Little History of the World, which will make you and any children you have handy writhe, ripple and froth with pleasure.This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. A delight.’ Robert Hanks, Daily Telegraph ‘A marvellous antidote to history without chronology: the whole experience of human history, from prehistory to the Second World War, compressed into a flowing narrative… excels in creating a sense of the continuities of history – the ways in which human nature has not budged over the millenium, and the smallness of the differences between people. ‘His enthusiasm for his subject is irresistible … With Gombrich’s Little History, at last available in English there will be many generations of future historians who will attribute to it their lifelong passion for history – and for truth.’ Lisa Jardine, The Times ‘Gombrich opens with the most magical definition of history I have ever read … Tolerance, reason and humanity … suffuse every page of the Little History.’ Amanda Vickery, Guardian ‘Brilliant, irresistible: a wonderful surprise.’ Philip Pullman The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history. An illustrated edition of this title is also available. 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. In between emerges a colourful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savoured and collected. Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation.Ī Little History of the Worldpresents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in twenty-five languages across the world. In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited to attempt a history of the world for younger readers – his Little History of the World.

A little history of the world by ernst gombrich