Here’s a recommendation for a book I did not edit or work on in any way except read it  – although I wish I could say I had. The title is A Short History of the World, by Christopher Lascelles.

A Short History of the World relates the key events that have happened on our planet from the Big Bang to today – in six easy-to-read chapters that show how history “fits together” in time.  What was happening in China when Baghdad was founded? How did Indonesia impact the economics of Europe? What were the Mayans writing about before most other peoples knew how to write?

In short, it covers everything that ever happened on our planet in one fun-to-read book – every human civilization since humans evolved, and even more. It includes many great maps to orient you on the planet, and Lascelles’ website has a fantastic timeline and a blog that discusses many of the details that surround the events he briefly covers in the book.

I’m a history nut because I want to know why we are the way we are and why we do the things we do. Often times the answers to these questions can be found in the past, even the very distant past. Not all the answers, but some.

Because A Short History of the World does not get bogged down in details (otherwise the book would be thousands of pages long), it shows the theme of all human history, making it an important book. You’ve heard the quote by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”?  As a species, we must not remember much, because as this book clearly shows, our history is the repetition of the same actions, caused by the same motives.

In every culture, in every time, the history of human beings shows us primarily motivated by fear, which is exhibited as greed and lust for power. The fear is a fundamental one: fear of scarcity.  It goes like this:

A leader (or group of leaders) arises and consolidates power through manipulation and/or violence, eventually creating an “empire”. Out of greed to accumulate more power, this empire expands by overrunning or destroying other peoples or empires. Sometimes, after they feel safe enough, these empires relax their grip and become open to new ideas in science, technology, or arts, which begin to flower. But then what happens? They find they have over-extended and cannot manage or defend their huge empire. The empire begins to be eaten from within or attacked from without by other would-be empires. The empire becomes suspicious and shuts down on freedom of their own peoples, in an attempt to protect their power. Eventually either the empire dwindles away, eroded from within, or is replaced by another. And the cycle begins again. Every single time, over and over. We can see this happening now, in our own time. Perhaps we should take our blinders off and stop thinking of ourselves as exceptions.

You’d think we would learn. We haven’t yet. Maybe this book, which by focusing on the recurring themes in world history, could help us learn. It would be nice to think so, wouldn’t it?