E. H. Gombrich - A Little History of the World: Illustrated Edition

A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

More praise for A Little History of the World

I am going to buy ten copies of this book and give it to my ten favourite children This is a book which teaches what it is to be civilized by its very tone, which is one of gentleness, curiosity and erudition.

A. N. Wilson, Times Literary Supplement

[Gombrich] excels in creating a sense of the continuities of history the ways in which human nature has not budged over the millennia, and the smallness of the differences between people. A delight.

Robert Hanks, Daily Telegraph

Gombrich opens with the most magical definition of history I have ever read.... Tolerance, reason and humanity... suffuse every page.

Amanda Vickery, The Guardian

retains an irresistible, boyish energy and enthusiasm... Here, in this little book are answers to many of the questions you never dared to ask.

Margaret Drabble, New Statesman

An engrossing kaleidoscopic account of global history.

Tristram Hunt, BBC History Magazine

A bedtime treat to share with my two children and proof that brilliance and perspicacity neednt be stuffy.

Bettany Hughes, The Times

Thrilling, opinionated, with crashing judgments and the boring bits left out, A Little History of the World turns out not to be a story told by your grandfather, but by your impossibly cool big brother A joyful book.

Irish Times

As an outline of how we have come to be where we are I doubt if it could be bettered. It certainly couldnt be done more agreeably: a perfect birthday present for a child with an inquiring mind. I wish it had been available when I was young.

Allan Massie, Literary Review

The Little History grips the reader with its vivid accounts of ordinary people and of world-shaking events. As in all of his extraordinary works, Gombrich illuminates the present day with his humane and fascinating insights into the past.

R A Magazine

The true fairy tale of the evolution of mankind.

Die Zeit

A thing of ripping yarns told at a rattling pace. Had I a dozen grandchildren (of any age) Id order two dozen copies, one for the children, the other for their parents. Do not underestimate this book.

Brian Sewell, The Evening Standard

An enduring joy We have no shortage of historians eager to tell us what was important in the past and why; but few of them dare speak straight to the imagination of young people, to open their minds and to enrich their vision in the manner that Gombrich achieves so effortlessly here.

Peter Furtado, Times Higher Education Supplement

[Gombrichs] humanism is a lesson for all.

Raymond Carr, The Spectator

A masterpiece of nonfiction writing for children. It is a wry and charming book, perfectly suited to the capacities of a 10-year-old, but also remarkably free of condescension. An adult can read it with pleasure. And, indeed, with instruction.

Scott McLemee, Newsday

E. H.
GOMBRICH

ILLUSTRATED EDITION

TRANSLATED BY CAROLINE MUSTILL

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS | NEW HAVEN AND LONDON

The Estate of E. H. Gombrich would like to thank, for information and advice: Patrick Boyde, Henry French, Rhodri Hayward, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, J. B. Trapp and, in particular, Adrian Lyttelton.

Copyright 1985 by DuMont Literatur und Kunst Verlag GmbH und Co. KG, Cologne, Germany

First published in English in 2005; paperback edition 2008.

This illustrated edition first published in 2011

English translation copyright 2005 by Caroline Mustill

Preface to the English edition 2011 by Leonie Gombrich

Published in German as Eine kurze Weltgeschichte fr junge Leser by Ernst H. Gombrich

Originally published under the title Weltgeschichte von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart by Steyrermhl-Verlag, Vienna in 1936

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.

For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact:

U.S. Office:

Europe Office:

Set in Minion by Yale University Press

Printed in China by Worldprint

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gombrich, E. H. (Ernst Hans), 1909-2001.

[Kurze Weltgeschichte fr Junge Leser. English]

A little history of the world : illustrated edition / E.H. Gombrich.

p. cm.

Originally published in 2005 with added illustrations.

ISBN 978-0-300-17614-8 (cl : alk. paper)

1. World historyJuvenile literature. I. Title.

D23.G6413 2011

909dc23

2011027503

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Fr Ilse

Wie Du stets Dirs angehrt

Also stets Dirs angehrt

The past and memory Before there were any people Dragonlike creatures Earth without life Sun without earth What is history?

The Heidelberg jaw Neanderthal man Prehistory Fire Tools Cavemen Language Painting Making magic The Ice Age and the Early Stone Age Pile dwellings The Bronze Age People like you and me

King Menes Egypt A hymn to the Nile Pharaohs Pyramids The religion of the ancient Egyptians The Sphinx Hieroglyphs Papyrus Revolution in the old kingdom Akhenatons reforms

Mesopotamia today The burial sites at Ur Clay tablets and cuneiform script Hamurabis laws Star worship The origin of the days of the week The Tower of Babel Nebuchadnezzar

Palestine Abraham of Ur The Flood Moses bondage in Egypt and the year of the departure from Egypt Saul, David, Solomon The division of the kingdom The destruction of Israel The prophets speak The Babylonian Captivity The Return The Old Testament and faith in the Messiah

Writing with the alphabet The Phoenicians and their trading posts

The songs of Homer Schliemanns excavations Sea-raider kings Crete and the labyrinth The Dorian migration The songs of the heroes Greek tribes and their colonies

The Persians and their faith Cyrus conquers Babylon Cambyses in Egypt Dariuss empire The Ionian revolt The first Punitive Expedition The second Punitive Expedition and the Battle of Marathon Xerxes campaign Thermopylae The Battle of Salamis

The Olympic Games The Delphic Oracle Sparta and Spartan education Athens Draco and Solon The Peoples Assembly and tyrants The time of Pericles Philosophy Sculpture and painting Architecture Theatre

India Mohenjo-Daro, a city from the time of Ur The Indian migrations Indo-European languages Castes Brahma and the transmigration of souls This is you Prince Gautama The Enlightenment Release from sufffering Nirvana The followers of the Buddha

China in the time before Christ The emperor of China and the princes The meaning of Chinese writing Confucius The importance of practices and customs The family Ruler and subject Lao-tzu The Tao

The Peloponnesian War The Delphic War Philip of Macedon The Battle of Chaeronea The decline of the Persian empire Alexander the Great The destruction of Thebes Aristotle and his knowledge Diogenes The conquest of Asia Minor The Gordion Knot The Battle of Issus The conquest of Tyre and the conquest of Egypt Alexandria The Battle of Gaugamela The Indian expedition Porus Alexander, ruler of the Orient Alexanders death and his successors Hellenism The library of Alexandria