A History of the World in 100 Objects

Front Cover
Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 2010 M10 28 - 464 pages
From the first signs of our origins to the present day, Mankind has made things with their hands: tools for survival, icons for sacred worship, objects to reflect our relationship with the natural world, the recording of knowledge and things to delight. The History of the World in a 100 Hundred Objects explores our global story through the things our ancestors have left behind.The 100 objects have been selected from the unparalleled collections of the British Museum, and stretch over 2 million years of history from the first hand tools discovered In Tanzania to the latest technology of the present era. Some of the objects are familiar, others less well known but equally fascinating; combined, the artefacts reflect the many strands of man_s progress: the development of farming, the rise of cities and states, the evolution of knowledge and science, the balance between the sacred and profane. The book will illustrate and explore each object, revealing the sometimes unexpected story of its discovery, how the world_s experts have interpreted it, and its contemporary power. With a specially commissioned introduction by the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, the History of the World in 100 Objects will be an instant classic to tie-in with the groundbreaking collaboration between the Museum and BBC Radio 4. The book is fully illustrated to bring the objects to life alongside the powerful description of the object, where it comes from, and what it means. The History of the World in 100 Objects will be one of the most cherished and praised book of 2010.

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About the author (2010)

Robert Neil MacGregor, OM, FSA (born on June 16, 1946, in Glasgow, Scotland) is an art historian and museum director. He was the Editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1981 to 1987, the Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, and was appointed Director of the British Museum in 2002. He has presented three television series on art and the radio series A History of the World in 100 Objects, which aired in 2010.

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