Seventy years ago the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich, later the author of the global bestseller The Story of Art, wrote a history of the world for younger readers. Now available for the first time in English, this timeless book tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colourful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. Each chapter is accompanied by an original illustration by Clifford Harper.
In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colourful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. 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.The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.
'I wish it had been available when I was young.' Allan Massie, Literary Review
'There is not one of the 39 short chapters that is not enlivened by a sharp insight or arresting image.' Tim Blanning, The Sunday Telegraph
'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
'Do not, from its title, underestimate this book.' Brian Sewell, Evening Standard
'Gombrich opens with the most magical definition of history I have ever read.' Amanda Vickery, Guardian Review
'Brilliant, irresistible: a wonderful surprise.' Philip Pullman
'the whole experience of human history, from prehistory to the Second World War, compressed into a flowing narrative... A delight.' The Daily Telegraph
Author
About E. H. Gombrich
Among E. H. Gombrich's many writings are the international bestsellers The Story of Art and Art and Illusion. He was director of the Warburg Institute of the University of London from 1959 to 1976.
