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Traces the progress and regress of the world's civilizations over the past thousand years and shows how the capacity of one people to influence another has shifted geographically.
A fascinating sequel to any general history text that covers the same span (1000-2000 AD). This is semi-popular history, appealing to readers who already have a good overview but are looking for the "missing pieces" or a less western slant. Fernandez-Armesto's own slant is plainly stated: the dominance of Western civilization has at best been short-lived and temporary, and we should anticipate a restoration of the balance. Also, history has not unfolded as a series of world-changing events so much as a series of changes to cultures, shaping and defining what subsequent events would follow. Interpreting historical events requires viewing them in terms of their influences.
The author does two key things magnificently: shines a light on every corner of the globe, keeping our entire world in perspective so that no civilization of note, be it African or North American, etc. is overlooked; and he retires nearly all of the expected milestones by which we mark a historical trajectory over this period, to replace them with dusted off exhibits more rarely seen that respond to the question "what significance was assigned to this thing when it happened?". These two differences make for a wonderful read from start to finish, and practically guarantees it will teach you something new. As a bonus, the book is filled with fantastic, unexpected illustrations bearing footnote-like captions.
Part One sets the stage, outlining the world as it was in the early millennium:
Ch1 - In the year 1000, western Europe was arguably the least civilized of noteworthy cultures around the globe.
Ch2 - Eastern orthodoxy of the Byzantine empire, and Moscow as eastern Rome's spiritual successor.
Ch3 - Islam was the most sturdy and successful at weathering nomadic invasions, plague and internal strife.
Ch4 - China's internal focus at the mid-point of the millenium, clearing the way for an uncontested Europe.
Ch5 - Europe was in poor condition for influence and expansion, if not for explorers seeking adventure and glory.
Part Two shows how these cultures began to develop and expand (or not):
Ch6 - Fascinating look at North American and African civilizations, blaming isolation for their collapse.
Ch7 - Conquests by the Mughal empire, Ottomans, Russia, Portugal and Spain.
Ch8 - Colonization by China, Portugal, etc. with a look at slavery and indigenous peoples.
Ch9 - Evangelization by Islam & Christianity in the new world and at home, Buddhism in Mongolia.
Ch10 - Trade in the East Indies and the eventual decline of Spanish pre-eminence on the Atlantic.
Part Three is focussed on the Atlantic portion of the globe, studying the question of western dominance:
Ch11 - Describes the Atlantic political split between old world and new, while retaining cultural ties.
Ch12 - The new North/South American trade as an unstabling factor in Europe-Asia trade.
Ch13 - Mending of the Atlantic political divide: culture, immigration, trade and military support.
Ch14 - Modelling the Atlantic elsewhere: New Zealand and several African examples.
Part Four makes the case for the ebb of western dominance:
Ch15 - Cultural relativism and its conflict with social Darwinism
Ch16 - Western failings in terms of wars, economic depression, totalitarianism, technology downsides
Ch17 - Casebook declines of Argentina, British Empire, France
Ch18 - Post-imperialism in Africa & southeast Asia, and counter-colonization
Ch19 - 20thC Islamic resurgency, in Iran and more generally; hit/miss speculations
Part Five makes the case for returning eastern prominence (or at least a new global balance):
Ch20 - Japan's modernization, imperialism, and subsequent economic miracle
Ch21 - Similar coverage of China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore
Ch22 - History of the European Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, California, Vancouver)
Ch23 - The new cultural influence of East upon West, especially from Japan
Epilogue - Mediocre predictions and slanted views on delicate subjects; the only bad part of the book. ( )
Global history of a millenium writ by a lover steeped in the documents, arts, and archeology of fact. Filled with thought-provoking bon mots. For example, in describing the Islamic resistance to the bungled reforms of Colonel Reza Shah in Iran, "for nothing so stimulates religious reaction as the fear of pagan revanche". [578] The author indulges more subjective adjectives -- referring to Muhammed Reza Sha's "antic choice" to quadruple the price of oil in 1974 [580] -- than one finds in most histories.
The work is a constant delight. The "story-telling" is captivating and colorful, the associations are evocative and largely accurate. So refreshing to find a historian who is able to reveal the resonance and parallels of events.
Few other historians reveal such intimacy to such a variety of original sources without causing us to fret over their biases. What fun to be bombarded with detailed and unexpected "snapshots" of the past! He refuses to ignore the contributions of women, the continent of Africa, the often invisible power of the peasantry, and gays. Iconoclasms such as "treacherous victory" expose the sometimes subtle truth.
The author still teaches at Oxford and lives with his husband, Frankie Munez. ( )
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto’s behemoth tome on the last thousand years of human history is absolutely breathtaking. It's intense, insane, and inexplicably indispensable as a source for mankind’s achievements, failures, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths. He starts in Japan in 1002 and ends in the same place in 1995. In between, he covers the growth and decline of the Middle East, the expansion and convulsions of imperial Europe, the colonization and independence of countless island nations, and the sheer immensity of scholarship required to pull this study off. While he sometimes skims over large chunks of time, it's for the better. Including every detail of every country would simply be impossible. This isn’t an easy read, but it is very rewarding. ( )
It is the dead who govern. Look you, man, how they work their will upon us! Who have made the laws? The dead! Who have made the customs that we obey and that form and shape our lives? The dead! And the titles to our lands? Have not the dead devised them? If a surveyor runs a line he begins at some corner the dead set up; and if one goes to law upon a question the judge looks backwards through his books until he finds how the dead have settled it - and he follows that. And all the writers, when they would give weight and authority to their opinions, quote the dead; and the orators who preach and lecture - are not their mouths filled with words that the dead have spoken? Why, man, our lives follow grooves that the dead have run out with their thumbnails! - M. Davisson Post, Uncle Abner
"The Aleph?" I echoed.
"Yes, the place where all the places of the world meet without mingling, beheld from every possible angle at once ..." I tried to make sense of it. "But isn't the cellar very dark?" "Truth never penetrates an unwilling mind. If all the places of the earth are in the Aleph, then all sources of illumination, all lamps, all veins of light are there." "I shall go and look at once." - J. L. Borges, The Aleph
Dedication
First words
I have a vision of some galactic museum of the distant future in which diet Coke cans will share with coats of chain mail a single small vitrine marked "Planet Earth, 1000-2000, Christian Era."
Quotations
The history we learn, or to which we ascribe importance, is screened through a film of hindsight, which filters out the stories of undeveloped potential. Because of the long-term success of European imperial initiatives, we study the origins of European expansion to the exclusion of parallel phenomena in other societies. A vital part of the reality of the past drops out of our picture.
History is moulded more by the falsehoods men believe than by the facts that can be verified.
Traces the progress and regress of the world's civilizations over the past thousand years and shows how the capacity of one people to influence another has shifted geographically.
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The author does two key things magnificently: shines a light on every corner of the globe, keeping our entire world in perspective so that no civilization of note, be it African or North American, etc. is overlooked; and he retires nearly all of the expected milestones by which we mark a historical trajectory over this period, to replace them with dusted off exhibits more rarely seen that respond to the question "what significance was assigned to this thing when it happened?". These two differences make for a wonderful read from start to finish, and practically guarantees it will teach you something new. As a bonus, the book is filled with fantastic, unexpected illustrations bearing footnote-like captions.
Part One sets the stage, outlining the world as it was in the early millennium:
Ch1 - In the year 1000, western Europe was arguably the least civilized of noteworthy cultures around the globe.
Ch2 - Eastern orthodoxy of the Byzantine empire, and Moscow as eastern Rome's spiritual successor.
Ch3 - Islam was the most sturdy and successful at weathering nomadic invasions, plague and internal strife.
Ch4 - China's internal focus at the mid-point of the millenium, clearing the way for an uncontested Europe.
Ch5 - Europe was in poor condition for influence and expansion, if not for explorers seeking adventure and glory.
Part Two shows how these cultures began to develop and expand (or not):
Ch6 - Fascinating look at North American and African civilizations, blaming isolation for their collapse.
Ch7 - Conquests by the Mughal empire, Ottomans, Russia, Portugal and Spain.
Ch8 - Colonization by China, Portugal, etc. with a look at slavery and indigenous peoples.
Ch9 - Evangelization by Islam & Christianity in the new world and at home, Buddhism in Mongolia.
Ch10 - Trade in the East Indies and the eventual decline of Spanish pre-eminence on the Atlantic.
Part Three is focussed on the Atlantic portion of the globe, studying the question of western dominance:
Ch11 - Describes the Atlantic political split between old world and new, while retaining cultural ties.
Ch12 - The new North/South American trade as an unstabling factor in Europe-Asia trade.
Ch13 - Mending of the Atlantic political divide: culture, immigration, trade and military support.
Ch14 - Modelling the Atlantic elsewhere: New Zealand and several African examples.
Part Four makes the case for the ebb of western dominance:
Ch15 - Cultural relativism and its conflict with social Darwinism
Ch16 - Western failings in terms of wars, economic depression, totalitarianism, technology downsides
Ch17 - Casebook declines of Argentina, British Empire, France
Ch18 - Post-imperialism in Africa & southeast Asia, and counter-colonization
Ch19 - 20thC Islamic resurgency, in Iran and more generally; hit/miss speculations
Part Five makes the case for returning eastern prominence (or at least a new global balance):
Ch20 - Japan's modernization, imperialism, and subsequent economic miracle
Ch21 - Similar coverage of China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore
Ch22 - History of the European Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, California, Vancouver)
Ch23 - The new cultural influence of East upon West, especially from Japan
Epilogue - Mediocre predictions and slanted views on delicate subjects; the only bad part of the book. (