A History of the World in 100 ObjectsAllen Lane, 2010 - 707 pages Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects takes a bold, original approach to human history, exploring past civilizations through the objects that defined them. Encompassing a grand sweep of human history, A History of the World in 100 Objects begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, and ends with objects which characterise the world we live in today. Seen through MacGregor's eyes, history is a kaleidoscope - shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, and shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. A stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people; Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency; and an early Victorian tea-set speaks to us about the impact of empire. An intellectual and visual feast, this is one of the most engrossing and unusual history books published in years. 'Brilliant, engagingly written, deeply researched' Mary Beard, Guardian 'A triumph: hugely popular, and rightly lauded as one of the most effective and intellectually ambitious initiatives in the making of 'public history' for many decades' Sunday Telegraph 'Highly intelligent, delightfully written and utterly absorbing ' Timothy Clifford, Spectator 'This is a story book, vivid and witty, shining with insights, connections, shocks and delights' Gillian Reynolds Daily Telegraph |
From inside the book
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Page 59
... thousand years after the earliest Jomon pots , and in the Americas it was a few thousand years after that . But almost everywhere the invention of the pot was connected with new cuisines and a more varied menu . Nowadays Jomon pots are ...
... thousand years after the earliest Jomon pots , and in the Americas it was a few thousand years after that . But almost everywhere the invention of the pot was connected with new cuisines and a more varied menu . Nowadays Jomon pots are ...
Page 385
... thousand years on a beach in East Africa . An alert beachcomber picked them up in 1948 and presented them to the British Museum in 1974 , realizing that these broken oddments , of no financial value at all , would open up not just life ...
... thousand years on a beach in East Africa . An alert beachcomber picked them up in 1948 and presented them to the British Museum in 1974 , realizing that these broken oddments , of no financial value at all , would open up not just life ...
Page 468
... thousand years . One of the things I love about this Ming note is that right in the middle of it is a picture of the actual coins that the paper note represents . There are ten stacks of coins with a hundred in each pile , so a total of ...
... thousand years . One of the things I love about this Ming note is that right in the middle of it is a picture of the actual coins that the paper note represents . There are ten stacks of coins with a hundred in each pile , so a total of ...
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Common terms and phrases
Africa America ancient animals archaeologists artist Ashoka Asia Augustus Aztec beautiful became Borobudur Britain British Museum bronze Buddha Buddhist bull-leaper caliph carved centimetres central centre century ceremonial China Chinese Christian civilization clay cm H cm/w coins culture decorated Dynasty Egypt Egyptian emperor Europe European figures flagons gods gold Greek head Hindu Huastec huge human imperial India inscription Iran Islamic jade Japan Japanese kind king kingdom Korea Kumaragupta Lachish land live London look Maya Mediterranean Mexico Middle East Moche modern Muslim Nile objects Olmec painting Papyrus Parthenon piece political porcelain Qianlong emperor religion religious Rhind Mathematical Papyrus ritual Roman Empire Rosetta Stone ruler Samarra sculpture shape ship Silk Road Silla silver society statue stone story survived Sutton Hoo symbols Ta'lab tablet tell temple things trade tradition Ulugh Beg Viking whole writing Zoroastrianism