Best condensed history works?

Submitted by SintagmaNominalMan t3_10w7jkc in history

Hello, I'm doing a work about human cultures from the beginings of its history to today, and I'm currently using Ollie Bye's "History of the world every year" video and events list and contrasting it with Geacron. I've been reading about both this works and there are always people saying that both of this sources are inaccurate in many things. Do you know any condensed work that covers the entire or at least a very big chunk of the whole human history that you know is accurate? Or maybe at least a third source I can contrast the other two with? Thanks a bunch! ✨️✨️

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Lord0fHats t1_j7lni9j wrote

Susan Wise Baur attempted to do this in a trilogy; The History of the World. It has three volumes, and while it is a world history it's coverage of east Asia, Africa, and the Americas is lacking. It is however, probably the most condensed work to really try and tackle the entire world and tackle it without completely botching the effort.

Understand that many books cover a few hundred years of 1 place.

Covering the entire history of the entire planet is... It's a tall order. You won't find any work that does it excellently. Most of those that do exist suffer in fully accounting for Africa and the pre-Columbian Americas, which aren't helped by the lack of historical records for these places.

Historians unfortunately don't talk to archeologists as often as we should.

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Abject_Ad1879 t1_j7nkkr9 wrote

Just finished this series on Audible. Very good, fairly comprehensive and you will pick up a lot of history in oft neglected regions in university level History of Civilization courses. Broad overviews of Japan, China and Korea were enlightening.

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elbapo t1_j7lpslg wrote

Not necessarily the right category but this brought to mind bill brysons 'a short history of almost everything' and its a great read anyway.

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nineandaquarter t1_j7mnysl wrote

Great book! Worth buying and reading more than once. There's a fair bit of non-human history (e.g., a good chunk on geology and the politics of the science societies).

His other book "At Home" is more human-y with a focus on residential life over the centuries.

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boxingdude t1_j7ufjzb wrote

Thanks for the info my man! I just ordered "At home" from my local library branch. I'm looking forward to it!

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nineandaquarter t1_j7uj19x wrote

Glad to help! Yeah, it's a fun read and gives you lots of material to look smart at the next party you attend.

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inthenuts t1_j7m2svt wrote

I’m actively listening to this on audible right now!!

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jimmymd77 t1_j7nbmc6 wrote

The early archeologists teams throwing rocks at each other when their digs were close was my favorite part.

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Final-Front6717 t1_j7lob98 wrote

Norman Davies, Europe: A History is a good read. Good overview to give you your bearings and context to more in depth works.

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Ok372 t1_j7lxw65 wrote

The best I've seen is The Peguin History of The World (Roberts). It covers everything and is written like an essay.

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hearthpig t1_j7lsydl wrote

As a younger man seeking a comprehensive global history to begin to frame what I was learning, I got a lot out of Isaac Asimov's Chronology of the World. I am just a civilian....I don't have any clue what historians and historiographers think of this work.

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SintagmaNominalMan OP t1_j7ltqgt wrote

Well I'm kind of in the same spot, I am a digital artist but I want to work on this historical frames; thanks a bunch for the recomendation!

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lingh0e t1_j7mu159 wrote

James Burke's The Day the Universe Changed. It's an amazing television series from the 80's that still holds up today. He also wrote a book by the same name, which is also very good.

He does a very good job of condensing human history into specific bits.

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ZadokPriest t1_j7lsqzf wrote

Condensed...no I do not...however I have been reading "The Story of Civilization" series by Will Durant for like 30 years...

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SintagmaNominalMan OP t1_j7lthln wrote

I'll keep them in mind because they look super interesting and seem like a very good read, thanks a bunch!

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Bentresh t1_j7m3pzi wrote

Be aware that Durant’s first volume is so badly outdated that it is virtually obsolete. My r/askhistorians post on the book has more info.

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SintagmaNominalMan OP t1_j7m57n8 wrote

Oh wow, I'm glad I can have such an experienced commentary on the work, thank you so much

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Frikadellenbroodje t1_j7luhfr wrote

I enjoyed my required reading for World History: 'the Human Web' by McNeill and McNeill. It lays the focus on connections between groups of people. This gives an interesting perspective on world history and should contrast greatly from the deterministic 'year-by-year' approach to writing history.

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cnut4563 t1_j7mjbw2 wrote

Think I'll get scoffed at for this... but Yuval Noah Harri's Sapiens is, imho, GREAT (and a bestseller, so 🤷)

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Shadowsole t1_j7n8ovm wrote

I found sapiens interesting, and it's an okay start. But you'll get the most out of it if you read some critical reviews of it once you finish. That gives you a much more rounded understanding of the topic. I do it for every history/science book I read

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cnut4563 t1_j7q3z98 wrote

Could you link to some of those reviews please?

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Shadowsole t1_j7tbwgm wrote

I don't have a bunch of time but for a book on history my first stop is usually askhistorians, and they absolutely deliver on Sapiens that is a master thread with plenty of examples. there's a dead link to a essay on the topic but you can find it here

In all its a big book that doesn't really rely on evidence, he tends to start at a point and then draw his own conclusion.

It also has a issue in that a lot of it is based on the idea of a cognitive revolution ie behavioural modernity. this isn't something that happened all at once like he claims and is mostly abandoned in modern science

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cnut4563 t1_j7vnge9 wrote

Excellent, thank you for taking the time to do this. Hope others find it useful too. (love it when Reddit works like this)

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Vessarionovich t1_j842mdu wrote

Will Durant's 'The Story of Civilization'. Multi-volume. Begins with 'Our Oriental Heritage' and ends (I believe) with 'The Age of Voltaire'. Four different volumes cover just the 17th and 18th centuries.

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dittybopper_05H t1_j7m80cn wrote

If you want a really condensed but relatively accurate, funny, and easy to read solution, might I suggest Larry Gonick's work:

The Cartoon History of the Universe - From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great (Volumes 1-7)

The Cartoon History of the Universe II - From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome (Volumes 8-13)

The Cartoon History of the Universe III - From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance (Volumes 14-19)

He also has a 2 volume History of the Modern World.

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lapsedhuman t1_j7n88kh wrote

For a more entertaining take, try Larry Gonick's 'The Cartoon History of the Universe' and 'The Cartoon History of the World'.

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enfiel t1_j7oviml wrote

For the Roman Empire I recommend Chris Scarre's Chronicle of the Roman emperors.

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[deleted] t1_j7m5u29 wrote

[removed]

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ADAIRP1983 t1_j7m6g8f wrote

It’s being released as a graphic novel too which might appeal as an artist. It’s up to volume 2 at the moment

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