# Where can I see a human history of the WHOLE world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508 "2013-11-09T14:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/1 "2013-11-09T14:32:41Z")
A whole lot of histories are middle eastern/euro centric, just going to look at the wikipedia timeline doesn’t have a lot of context. I was wondering about something like the history of humanity, which skips around with a lot of MEANWHILE IN… And basically includes all archaeological discoveries and reasoned supposition. MEANWHILE IN CHINA… EDIT:I know reading area histories is possible individually, but sometimes I think it would be interesting to see all areas in context and time. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/2 "2013-11-09T16:43:22Z")
Try asking a librarian for help, that’s what they are for. Does your mention of wikipedia sources mean you only want to read online? ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/3 "2013-11-09T17:40:05Z")
[How about this](http://www.slate.com/features/2013/08/histomapwider.jpg)? A bit short on detail, but fascinating. Someone posted a link to it before on the Dope; not sure who though. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/4 "2013-11-09T20:03:06Z")
You could try [Asimov’s](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asimovs-Chronology-World-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0062700367). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/5 "2013-11-09T22:13:34Z")
You could try Arnold Toynbee. In _A Study of History_, he essentially tries to create a Universal Theory of History by identifying the common patterns which related every human civilization. As a consequence he took pretty much all of human history into account when he wrote it. The problem is all of human history is a pretty big subject - the complete work is twelve volumes long and even the abridged version (by David Somervell) is a good-sized work. Another, and more critical problem, is Toynbee is primarily outlining his theory of why things happen in history rather than writing a narrative history of what happened. He pretty much assumes you already know the basic events. And one final problem is a lot of other historians have found reasons to disagree with Toynbee’s ideas in whole or in part. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/6 "2013-11-09T23:34:48Z")
Sadly, Mel Brooks only completed the first part of his History of the World. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/7 "2013-11-10T04:51:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem is all of human history is a pretty big subject… Right. You could make yourself crazy trying to keep track of all the important events that happened in one year all over the world, let alone trying to keep _simultaneous_ track of them. Whew. Ambitious. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/8 "2013-11-10T09:16:50Z")
I personally like _The Penguin History of the World_, by JM Roberts. Read it twice, and it’s not small, about 1000 pages of small print. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/9 "2013-11-10T09:23:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I personally like _The Penguin History of the World_, by JM Roberts. Read it twice, and it’s not small, about 1000 pages of small print. Just checked my copy. Make that 1100 pages of small print. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/10 "2013-11-10T10:27:30Z")
[History of the World by W. N. Weech](http://www.amazon.com/History-World-W-N-Weech/dp/B000S6GWV2) [History of the World by Roberts & Westad](http://www.amazon.com/The-History-World-J-Roberts/dp/0199936765/) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/11 "2013-11-10T11:01:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I personally like _The Penguin History of the World_, by JM Roberts. > [@sailor](#): > > [History of the World by Roberts & Westad](http://www.amazon.com/The-History-World-J-Roberts/dp/0199936765/) Looks like Roberts left Penguin. Anything by him is eminently readable. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/12 "2013-11-10T12:17:26Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > [How about this](http://www.slate.com/features/2013/08/histomapwider.jpg)? > A bit short on detail, but fascinating. That chart has much which is very doubtful. [ul][li] Hammurabi of Babylon is shown about 200 years before his correct date.[/li][li] Dates for Iranians and Hindus are before any attestation; Mitanni linked to Iranians (s/b Aryans), Elamites linked to Iranians :smack: ; Punjab was “inhabited until now by primitive Dravidians” :smack:[/li]_ **No, the Harappan civilisation was in many ways the most advanced of its era** _ – and quite likely NOT Dravidian. [li] “Goths … and other Teutonic tribes … invade Italy” ca 250 BC. … I don’t think it’s generally agreed the Goths had even crossed the Baltic by then.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/13 "2013-11-10T12:45:06Z")
One work which is surprisingly good is the Time-Life series, [Time Frame](http://www.goodreads.com/series/85009-timeframe). Each volume in the series covers a specific period of time, generally a century, and has around five chapters covering some major historic movements that occurred during that century. And they do make an effort to cover history outside of just Western civilization. So, for example, in the volume covering the eleventh century AD, you have a chapter on Song China, the rise of the Seljuk Turks, the Norman Conquest, the foundation of Kievan Russia, and the Chola Empire in India. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/14 "2013-11-10T19:46:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I personally like _The Penguin History of the World_, by JM Roberts. Read it twice, and it’s not small, about 1000 pages of small print. I thought the amount of space devoted to the Antarctic region and fluctuations in fish stocks was a bit excessive, though. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/15 "2013-11-10T22:27:47Z")
For a slightly different take - wide-scoped, offbeat, and engaging as hell: Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe. [Volumes 1-7: From the BIG BANG to Alexander the Great](http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204) [Volumes 8-13: From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome](http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-8-13/dp/0385420935) [Volumes 14-19: From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance](http://www.amazon.com/The-Cartoon-History-Universe-III/dp/0393324036) Followed by his Cartoon History of the Modern World series: [Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution](http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Modern-World-Part/dp/0060760044) [Part 2: From the Bastille to Baghdad](http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Modern-World-Part/dp/0060760087) They’re worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/16 "2013-11-10T22:35:56Z")
[This](http://www.amazon.com/Little-History-World-E-Gombrich/dp/030014332X) is the book you want - it is awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/17 "2013-11-11T02:30:37Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I thought the amount of space devoted to the Antarctic region and fluctuations in fish stocks was a bit excessive, though. Is that a whoosh? My copy doesn’t have any of that. It’s from 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/18 "2013-11-11T03:23:09Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > [This](http://www.amazon.com/Little-History-World-E-Gombrich/dp/030014332X) is the book you want - it is awesome! Ah, yes - seconded. Charming, and a fascinating window into the mindsets of the era in which it was written. ---
**Author:** ![Jaymosch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaymosch/32/2820_2.png) [@Jaymosch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaymosch)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/19 "2013-11-11T04:34:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is that a whoosh? My copy doesn’t have any of that. It’s from 1995. …penguin ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-see-a-human-history-of-the-whole-world/673508/20 "2013-11-11T04:35:58Z")
:smack::o