A magnificent, if not a must, read for anyone who wants a relatively comprehensive, readable history of the world.

Its focus is on human history, rather than that of science, technology, ideas, etc, though obviously there is a large interaction between each. Having been first published in 2000, it is relatively up to date, and given the scope of what it does cover the 'missing' 22 years since then are not a great chasm.

I have always enjoyed Blainey's writing: he has the ability to convey an enormous amount of information in a few short sentences, whilst hinting at/inviting the reader to contemplate the implications of that information. Some examples:

- page 407: "Cook's voyages into the pacific and Indian oceans were in effect like switching on a time machine. many Pacific islands, settled by the sea-skilled Polynesians in the course of several thousand years, had remained in isolation until Cook arrived. At such strange meetings between such different peoples and cultures there was bound to be some puzzlement and suspicion, even with goodwill on both sides. Captain Cook, normally tactful in his contacts with native peoples, was the victim of a misunderstanding. In 1779 in Hawaii he was clubbed to death."

- page 459: "Africa had its share of long rivers, but most were interrupted by waterfalls, rapids and cataracts. ....The history of Europe would have been different if the Danube, Rhine, Rhone and Elbe had also been interrupted by waterfalls.....Moreover Africa as a whole was weak in those gulfs and deep bays, those tongues of sea which enabled a sailing ship or galley to penetrate a considerable way towards the interior. Whereas more than 33[%] of the landmass of Europe was peninsula and island, only 2[%] of Africa was so shaped. There were considerable disadvantages for Africa, to which must be added the vast area of jungle."

With some deft commentary, Blainey is able to communicate the implications of change. The coming of steam, and in particular its impact on travel was immense. To demonstrate that, Blainey considers (page 464):

-the poet William Blake, who wrote much of foreign countries, and as a "...Londoner, he knew the River Thames and its rowing boats and the floating shops of the hawkers, but he did not see the sea itself until 1800 when he was aged 42. Renting a cottage only a short stroll from the beach he was surprised by the 'shifting lights of the sea' "

- another poet, John Keats (younger than Blake) who "wrote the words 'Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold, and many goodly states and kingdoms seen', he signified that he travelled by reading. At the time he had never moved far from his birthplace. He was to die young, in Rome, but he went there only because he suffered from tuberculosis and hoped to find a sunnier, healthier climate."

The study is not dry, with many amusing anecdotes:

- page 474: deciding that there should be a rail connection between St Petersburg and Moscow, "[t]he tsar himself took up a straight ruler and pencilled on the map the route which this railway should follow. It is said that he marked a straight line between the two cities, except the place where his thumb accidently obtruded over the edge of the ruler. The railway builders dutifully followed his accidental detour."

- page 484: thinker and eccentric, Henry David Thoreau argued in his book, Walden, "Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serous things ....We are in great haste to construct a ...telegraph [line] from Maine to Texas; but....., it may be, [we] have nothing important to communicate.". It reminds me a senior executive in the office I worked in in the mid 1980s, when we relied on telex systems for rapid international business communications, saying that the new fangled facsimile machines 'would never take hold'!. It was less than a decade later that the internet saw the demise of both.

As is obvious from my rating, I suggest this is an easy, interesting read for anyone who wants a guide as to human history. And for those who want more depth, there are plenty of helpful references to more reading.

Big Ship

22 May 2022 ( )

An interesting overview of world history. Blainey almost, but not quite, avoids the view that European history is the most important. He claims that the 20th century is not the most important century, yet devotes much space to it. Blainey concentrates much attention on technology and its effects on society. The idea of 'progress' lurks just out of sight of his arguments at all times. I liked his thoughts about religion as social technology and the decline in importance of the seasons, the sun and the moon in Western civilisation. {read December 2001}. ( )