I’m forty and undereducated. Any ideas?
I’ve enjoyed this history site.
[Strolls over to the world history section of the bookshelves]
J. M. Roberts. His History of the World has enjoyed massive success and about ten thousand new, revised, updated, brief, and variant editions. Brief is relative, of course. 550 vs 1200 pages. You should easily be able to find inexpensive used copies.
New and interesting is A Brief History of the Human Race, by Michael Cook. Cook is an Islamic scholar and so spends more time on non-western history than most. I’m currently reading it so I don’t know how it ends (quality-wise that is) but it’s very readable and only 350 pages.
A totally different kind of history is the three volume series by the late great Daniel Boorstin. The Discoverers, The Creators, and The Seekers. Boorstin concentrates on smaller events and people that made the great leaps in the sciences, the arts and religion and philosophy. Boorstin was a master at giving the historic importance, context, and results of a revolution inside of a chapter. There is no one volume edition. Start with the Discoverers because it is by far the best.
If you haunt garage sales or library booksales you may be able to find all eleven volumes of Will (and Ariel) Durant’s The Story of Civilization for $5.00 like I did. He (with wife Ariel first as research assistant, later as full co-writer) wrote the series over half a century, so the style, approach, and understanding of history varies as it progresses. Very old fashioned in many ways, but so ubiquitous that I have to mention it.
I should have mentioned that if you are interested in the history of “discovery”, there is no better book than The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin. An amazing (and often moving) description of discoveries and the people who made them.
It has always been my contention that one of the best ways for beginners to learn history is to start out with a historical atlas. I’d recommend this one for starters - clear, big maps, with a nice glossary of historical terms:
- Tamerlane
This should be in Cafe Society, but I’ll recommend a book before it gets shunted away.
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present by Jacques Barzun. He gives a very good overview of the origins of the modern world in a readable, yet information-rich style. Here is a review of the work.
I have used several courses from The Teaching Company www.teach12.com
They have college courses on cd or dvd and can often be found at your library.
PS: I don’t work for them or get any kind of kickback…just have loved their courses on long drives.
A History of Private Life, Aries and Duby, General Editors
Outline of History, by H. G. Wells
A History of The English Speaking Peoples, by Winston Churchill
and countless others. Brouse Amazon and take your pick. Good luck! 
I second the JM Roberts world history. He also has a very readable history of the twentieth century.
I also recommend “Guns, Germs, and Steel” (don’t remember the author), which covers the geological, cultural, and ecological reasons behind differing rates of achievment among different cultures, and how that affected their history. This leads to the classic “Why didn’t the Europeans die in massive numbers from North American diseases instead of the other way around” question. I believe Cecil had a column on the subject.
Larry Gonick’s three-volume “Cartoon History of the Universe” is also good. Seriously. And it has a massive bibliography. He also did a good “Cartoon History of the United States”.
There was a great TV series and book called “Connections”, which followed the chains of influence from one person to another, to look at the roots of various modern inventions.
I’ll second Wells’ Outline of History.
I’ll also throw in Larry Gonick’s CArtoon History of the Universe series, if you’re interested in a much lighter read.
Disoverers Web
Smithsonian Institution
Not all encompassing, but as far a good historical writing goes, I recommend reading anything by Barbara Tuchman
I’m in the middle of this right now and it is excellent.
Didn’t notice the initial post on Boorstin, and am ashamed I didn’t think of it myself, as I’ve read it twice.
Excellent.