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milmad1231 t1_j0l03pk wrote

I never really applied myself in school, I think due to big traumas I experienced as a kid. I learned to just avoid things, and I never really absorbed the information I was learning. I was pretty good at history though, and always interested in it. Now I’m an adult who spends wayyy too much time on their phone looking at stupid shit that I don’t actually care about, because I don’t know what else to do with my time and feelings. Okay I’m sorry this is long winded! The point is, where can I start with a good “history 101”? I know I can scroll here and just learn so much over time, but I’d like to just fall into something like a timeline of… everything? I guess? To help my brain not be so overwhelmed, and it also just sounds like something I would really enjoy. I want to know so much and I don’t know where to start. Thank you guys!! Sorry its so long

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AngryBlitzcrankMain t1_j0l0vts wrote

Depends where do you want to start. Prehistory, going through paleolitic people and out hominid ancestors? Starting with oldest civilizations and some easy overview? Or just follow one country/region topic and its evolution over time?

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milmad1231 t1_j0l2syf wrote

Prehistory! I just kind of fell into a Wikipedia timeline now. I read about the very early universe, early universe, and then it got a little complicated. So I found an article by The Guardian that breaks the timeline of the universe down into more layman’s terms, so I’m in the bath reading that lol Edit: article is from 2008 so I ended up confused. But I learned to check article dates so whatever lmfao

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AngryBlitzcrankMain t1_j0l3rpn wrote

I can recommend Robin´s Dunbar The Human story then. I also loved Graham Clarke, but that one is some good 40 years old now, if not more, so you can probably aim at something with more updated information.

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PolybiusChampion t1_j0lbmy1 wrote

For a quick jump into literally everything, Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything is great.

If you want the full PHD in human history Will and Ariel Durant’s multi volume The Story of Civilization is wonderful. A bit dated, but it’s bedrock in history. You can find complete sets for reasonable money.

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Bentresh t1_j0m65cv wrote

Durant’s first volume is so badly dated that it is virtually obsolete. There are far better surveys of ancient history available now.

I wrote more about this in a previous post.

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Clio90808 t1_j0m1y1f wrote

you might take a look at the History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, delightful book....

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milmad1231 t1_j0qqzoa wrote

This book looks like a great read, thank you! Just borrowed the audiobook from Libby :)

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ImOnlyHereCauseGME t1_j0q21cl wrote

You should check out the YouTube channel called Crash Course World History. Very broad overviews of history from the beginning of agriculture to modern times. It’s done by a history teacher who tries to make it engaging and funny and relate it to why history matters. I really enjoyed the series and it made me decide which periods of history or historical events were interesting to me so that I could then do a deeper dive into those periods. Hope you find the videos as enjoyable as I did! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9

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GSilky t1_j0qpl3h wrote

If you're interested in a book, or e-book, check out Will Durant and the story of civilization series. It's highly accessible and despite a few issues, is still useful today. He takes a broad view of what is important and spends more time on art, ideas, and processes than battles and assassinations. The writing style is superb and uses a judicious mix of details and broad strokes (he even uses a different font size for sections that are highly specialized like currency and price overviews so it's easy to skip the uninteresting), and to this day the books give me plenty of avenues for exploration.

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