History of Goucher College, 1930-1985 Book

“World History” is a colossal topic to tackle in one book; but Clive Ponting did a brilliant job. It is a chronological history of the world. It covers from the first moments of the humans in this world until the end of 20th Century.

Many people consider the human history starts with the Ancient Greeks, continued by the Romans, then together with the rise of Christianity come the European Kingdoms and Dynasties, and with the climactic points of Age of Exploration, Renaissance and Reformation in Europe an economical and cultural domination the Europeans until the rise of United States in the early 20th Century and the world as we know it now. This book criticizes such World History view and brings a new perspective. It tries to see the world as a whole, and challenges many assumptions we have regarding the Europeans being the “first” in many things in culture and technology. It argues Asia —China in particular— had progressed economically, culturally and technologically a lot sooner than Europe, and the Europe caught up only later in the 2nd millennium.

It was impressing to see how much the history of Mesoamerica, India, China and Japan is covered in detail. I enjoyed in particular the part it explains how much the world of Islam shaped the world by making it possible for different cultures —from the steppes of Asia to the Iberian Peninsula— to be able to interact with each other, which makes it possible from people all around the world learn from each other and progress. This is indeed one of the new perspectives this book introduces.

I recommend this book for people who would like to get new perspectives on the world history, especially who would like to step away from the Eurocentric view for a while. It is a long read; but I enjoyed it slowly by extending the reading over a long period of time.