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La Storia Del Mondo In 100 Oggetti (2012)

by Neil MacGregor(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

8845927431 (ISBN13: 9788845927430)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Adelphi

review 1: It's an interesting concept - outlining the history of mankind through objects that represent who we are and what we did. Not all the objects are famous or historically significant; sometimes MacGregor chooses an object that is representative of a culture or moment in time. Yet, there is an enormous amount to be learned through this kind of historical tour and MacGregor utilizes his chosen objects (all from the famed British Museum) to highlight a number of historical themes.The most obvious (although unstated) theme of this kind of historical tour is that humans need objects to create legacies or record meaning. What separates humans from other living creatures is our search for personal meaning. We are a species that desperately needs to leave legacies - an explanati... moreon of how and why our own individual lives were important in the grand scheme of existence. Many of these objects (intentionally or not) record the existence and customs of ancient civilizations and their people. That we continue to study them intently (and not just the great leaders, but the essentials of everyday life) reminds us all that our legacies can, in fact, continue to live on in history.Another interesting them is the seemingly inevitable globalization of the economy. In fact, there is much evidence here to suggest that ancient civilizations were far more globally connected than we realize. Take, for example, the Sutton Hoo warrior helmet. The helmet was found inside a burial ship (a Scandinavian tradition) in Sutton Hoo England in the late 1930s. Inside the burial site were found not only the helmet (of Scandinavian design), but gold coins from France, imperial table silver from Byzantium and garnets from India or Sri Lanka. While that may not seem so strange by today's standards, the burial site has been dated to 600 AD suggesting that trade in a global way was already widely accepted. As you might expect there are chapters among the hundred objects that are more interesting and some that are less interesting. While overall the book is interesting and I was intrigued by a number of the themes highlighted by MacGregor, there were points at which the story lagged. For those who are interested in history, there is much to enjoy here, but I admit to being a tad bit disappointed that the story was not more riveting.It's worth a read, certainly, but I would not list this among the best books of history. Since the book was based on a public television series, perhaps, this is one of the rare instances in which watching the TV movie could be more compelling than reading the book.
review 2: What an incredible book. One hundred objects, each contextualized across time and geography in clear yet elucidating prose. Each object is selected precisely because it says something larger about the world when it was made, used, and sold or found ( or more likely stolen). Don't let the size of the book intimidate you. You will be sucked in, only to find on the last page that you wish the number in the title were larger. less

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