Read it to yourself or read it aloud to a child. Gombrich's 70 year old classic, finally translated into English, is pure pleasure. A marvelous introduction to the many stories about the human race.

The international bestseller available in English for the first time: E. H. Gombrich’s world history for the curious of all ages...

In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited by a publishing acquaintance to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in seventeen languages across the world.

Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation. A Little History of the World presents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savored and collected.

In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colorful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties.

The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history.

"The true fairy tale of the evolution of mankind."-Die Zeit

"Imagine the full story of human habitation on our planet being told in such flowing prose that you want to read it out loud. If you can''t imagine that, read A Little History of the World and experience it!"-Patricia S. Schroeder, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers and Former U.S. Representative from Colorado

"This `little history' has aged amazingly well."

"Gombrich accomplishes what many university-level Western Civilization classes cannot-a riveting account of events that shaped the world from the Stone Age to the 1930s, illustrating the relevance of history to current events. Teachers and schools should add this to their reading lists."-Claire Martin, The Denver Post

"A beautifully concise volume [that] will remind readers of any age that the past 5,000 years have been one big slugfest between darkness and enlightenment, unreason and reason."-Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times

"Magical, transporting. . . . A children''s history that adults will want to sneak off with and read on the sly."-VeryShortList.com

Among E. H. GOMBRICH’s many writings are the international bestsellers The Story of Art and Art and Illusion. He was director of the Warburg Institute of the University of London from 1959 to 1976.

Publisher: Yale University Press
Imprint: Yale University Press
Distributor: Yale University Press
Publication Date: 10-13-2005
Pages: 304
Measurements: 8.50in X 5.50in X 1.06in X 1.10lb