# Please suggest a good book that covers world history/european history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297 "2003-12-21T09:25:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![culov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@culov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/culov)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/1 "2003-12-21T09:25:52Z")
Well ive read my share of book on american history, but i have never read nor taken a class on world history or european history. Everything that I know about world history, comes from common sense, and books which made short allusions to it. I would prefer the most unbiased book possible, but if the author must lean any way, it must be left. Im pretty much looking for something like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the US. What i mean, is that it must give me tons of facts, but it also must be readable because i plan on reading it like a novel. Id like to stay within the 500 page range, but a deviation of a couple hundred pages is fine. thanks, culov ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/2 "2003-12-21T12:03:54Z")
I think you’ll have to be more specific, but if by ‘history’ you’d like a summary of why the modern world is the way it is, I’d recommend Jared Diamond’s _Guns Germs and Steel_. It’s readable, but it’s nothing like a novel with little twists and turns. Rather, he starts each chapter with a premise (i.e. a lack of domesticatable animals doomed the native Americans to death by smallpox), then supplies well-reasoned support for the premise. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/3 "2003-12-21T12:30:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > **I’d recommend Jared Diamond’s _Guns Germs and Steel_. It’s readable, but it’s nothing like a novel with little twists and turns.** Believe it or not, this was the first book that popped to my mind as well. But I don’t think this is what the author wants. He doesn’t want to know right now how the history came about, but what the history is. [This](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195219279/qid=1072009875/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-3841344-9903954?v=glance&s=books) is probably what the OP has in mind. ---
**Author:** ![yola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/48db29/32.png) [@yola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yola)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/4 "2003-12-21T12:50:30Z")
Check out: “Cook: The Extraordinary Voyages of Captain James Cook” by Nicolaus Thomas. I just ordered it myself and can’t wait to read it. I saw the author talk about his new “Cook” book on cspan one night. If he writes as well as he speaks it will be a great read. And full of facts. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/5 "2003-12-21T13:16:17Z")
Alongside the book linked by **Gyan9** J. M. Roberts, _The Penguin History of Europe_ Norman Davies, _Europe: A History_ ---
**Author:** ![Deptford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Deptford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deptford)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/6 "2003-12-21T13:54:02Z")
I second the Norman davies reccomendation._Fantastic_ book. ---
**Author:** ![Zcrysis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zcrysis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zcrysis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/7 "2003-12-21T17:49:32Z")
- Millennium \* by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is a great treatment of the millenium, and covers a lot of non standard history. Also very readable, and he does have some intresting ideas. _Rise and Fall of the British Empire_ by Lawrence James is a good history of what the title says it covers, and according to my history teachers can be considered a very accurate treatment of the subject. James again is good at writing for readability and good with the anecdotes as well. - Freedom at Midnight \* is a very riveting account of Indian Independence and of Gandhi placed in his historical context. Can’t remember the authors but i think its the same people who wrote City of Joy. It might be a little short for your specifications though. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/8 "2003-12-21T17:57:54Z")
Moved to CS. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/9 "2003-12-21T18:09:29Z")
Look for _The Handy History Answer Book_-it’s basically a must have in my view, for history buffs. It’s not a very in-depth look, it’s more a handy guide to keep around. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/10 "2003-12-21T23:15:47Z")
I gotta recommend _Millennium_ too. Fascinating, and comes a bit close of “People’s History of the United States”, in that it discusses the often less-well-covered parts of the history. ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/11 "2003-12-22T10:54:50Z")
There is an excellent history series by Will and Ariel Durant. I believe there are 12 or 14 (or 16?) volumes total, each book covering a separate period of history, chronilogically arranged, so if you are interested in a particular time period you can use just one or two books. They are very well done, and in far more detail than the average all encompasing history book. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/12 "2003-12-22T11:07:39Z")
How about Eric Hobsbawm’s [_Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991_](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0349106711/qid=1072091281/sr=1-10/ref=sr_1_3_10/202-8606909-6307049)? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/13 "2003-12-23T08:47:05Z")
You want a history of the WORLD in 500 pages…? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/14 "2003-12-23T12:47:53Z")
I’ve got good experiences with the Penguin histories. So you could try the Penguin History of the World, except that it is 1151 pages. The fact that they think they need this many pages, however, does suggest that you simply cannot do the job in less. In other words, what **dutchboy208** said. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-suggest-a-good-book-that-covers-world-history-european-history/220297/15 "2003-12-23T12:49:20Z")
BTW, browsing through Barnes and Noble they _do_ in fact list _A Short History of the World_ by the same author (J. M. Roberts), which is listed as only 539 pages.