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A History of Civilizations Hardcover – 1994

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Fernand Braudel (Author)
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Fernand Braudel (Author), Richard Mayne (Translator)
22 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 600 pages
  • Publisher: Viking Adult (1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0713990228
  • ISBN-13: 978-0713990225
  • Product Dimensions: 20 x 20 x 20 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful
The First and Still the Best Multidisciplinary World History
By Ralph White on November 21, 2005
Format: Paperback
When Fernand Braudel originally published this text in the sixties, he became a pariah at the Sorbonne. In retrospect that disapprobation was the kind of seal of approval that "banned in Boston" came to embody. Previous histories drilled deep into one facet of history. Braudel's was a pioneering effort in multidisciplinary historical analysis. It captures the historical flow that evolves civilizations, sacrificing only the detail outside the themes. Even subsequent to "A History of Civilizations," other historians have been unable to write a thematic survey that matches this original. And don't be tempted to skip the "soft" introductory chapters with titles like "The Study of Civilization Involves All the Social Sciences," and "The Continuity of Civilizations." These tee up the hard topics, like "The Greatness and Decline of Islam." There's method in Braudel's approach, and it takes patience. Braudel's translator, Richard Mayne had his job cut out for him. The complex syntax is that of a French intellectual of the sixties, and it is retained in Mayne's text, but you become accustomed to it. Don't look for maps or photographs in this Penguin Paperback; the text alone is six hundred pages. There's only one other book in this space, "From Dawn to Decadence," by Jacques Barzun. In my view they are complementary.
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
So so, but ....
By T on August 25, 2008
Format: Paperback
Braudel is considered one of the great 20th c. historians. He fought the French educational establishment to broaden the scope of history to include material from sociology, anthropology, geography, etc., and above all economics. This was in opposition to the traditional kings and battles approach, and this book was intended as a textbook (not accepted by the authorities). Arguably the movement's been quite fruitful, but this book is a very mixed bag - occasionally excellent, sometimes quite bad, and usually mediocre to good. It's also not a history of civilizations - it deals with what Braudel considered the great living civilizations - and rather than being history as usually understood, it describes primary characteristics of each with some development over time. Even the treatment of each "civilization" varies a great deal from one to the next, e.g. considerable space is devoted to the literature of Latin America while not to the others. The civilizations included are the Muslim World, Black Africa, the Far East (includes India), then Europe and European civilization elsewhere (to which he devotes half the book).

In spite of the many gaps, blind spots and weaknesses, there are some real high points and original insights. For example, Braudel points out that, while the Crusades are usually seen as unmitigated folly in the West, and while they achieved nothing lasting on land, at their beginning the Mediterranean was dominated by Islam while at their end it was dominated by the West. This had important consequences limiting Islamic power and culture while removing constraints from those of the West. He's probably at his best dealing with the West and Islam, and at his worst dealing with Latin America.Read more ›
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Great to Good
By Robertomelbourne on February 4, 1999
Format: Paperback
It was always going to be difficult to write a book about Civilizations. The decision tree alone of what information to include/exclude would be a significant problem.
Braudel's thesis is that religion, culture and geography, together with traditional tools of history are all important in understanding civilizations. This is a true and accurate perspective.
He concentrates on Nth America, Europe, Asia, Islam and Africa. His chapter on Islam, and the first civilization studied, was outstanding and certainly he was able to tie in his thesis to this examination. However, I got the impression he got lazy, and ended up providing cobbled sketches of the other civilizations, and concentrating more on history than analysis. Hence why Great to good.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
The "de-masculinization of history..."
By John P. Jones III TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on May 24, 2010
Format: Paperback
Fernand Braudel first published this excellent, one-volume "history of the world" over 50 years ago. As Howard Zinn would later attempt in the United States, Braudel wanted to change how history was taught in France. He wanted to move away from what is now called the "Big Man" theory of history; that is, that all historical events are the results of the decisions of a very few men, who mainly lived in the West. He wanted to include numerous other factors, the lives of ordinary people, and their economic base, (and was admirably aided by Theodore Zeldin in this effort), and he strove for a greater emphasis on non-Western civilizations. In undertaking such an effort in the early `60's, he was ahead of his time, and to a very large measure, succeeded. Braudel is a synthesizer; striving for the "big picture" of historical actions, so it is only natural that early in his work he referenced the Hindu philosopher Chatterji, and his famous parable about the blind men and the various parts of the elephant that they can feel, yet cannot see or deduce the whole.

Others have criticized the amount of material covered on "other" civilizations (too much or too little); I felt it got it just about right. He starts, suitably enough, with the now very topical Islamic world. It was rather astonishing to have Braudel quoting from an Afghan intellectual, Najm oud-Din Bammat, on the requirements for Islam to undertake internal revolutions like the Reformation and the Enlightenment, and even that "...the Muslim countries are still waiting and searching for their Garibaldis." Braudel has been criticized for his thin section on Africa, less than 50 pages, before he moves on to the civilizations of the Far East, China, India, Japan and the "Maritime" countries, which he covers with 150 pages.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

great book but not really for high school textbook. More summary, opinion than facts.

Published 1 month ago by H. Ma
Five Stars

Received as described. Thanks.

Published 9 months ago by Ahmed El Attar
A Book of Great Interest to Students of History

Fernand Braudel examines history in terms of geography and in terms of economic, political, philosophical and spiritual trends. Read more

Published 19 months ago by SSSS
A Great Intro to World History

It's a great read, and one of the first books that got me seriously interested in history.

It covers basically all the major world civilizations, and provides an... Read more

Published on April 16, 2013 by J. Daniels
Good Book, but a Slow Read

This book by Braudel covers the history of the main civilizations of the world. Overall, I liked the book, but it is a very slow read I thought. Read more

Published on February 5, 2012 by C. Richard
This book brought me to a land of confusion

This book is a mixed bag, and I find myself explaining this book in two ways. I loved the sheer amount of information this book expounds upon, but was often confused by the manner... Read more

Published on May 5, 2010 by Bobby Gammill III
An old historian writes his view of world history

Fernand Braudel was born in 1902 in northwestern Lorraine, France and died in Paris in 1985. This book represents his view of historical events over the past several centuries. Read more

Published on December 22, 2009 by James William Martin
Excellent Review Material

If you are going to take a test (AP, IB, CLEP ect.) This is an excellent, accessible overview. Braudel is a competent and insightful writer; the format is VERY economic.

Published on August 5, 2008 by Alaric
Agh!

I read this bookk when it was just published, years and years ago. Then, I was young and silly, and thought that the book was, well, so so. Now at 70 y.old.amd woth my Ph D. Read more

Published on February 10, 2008 by Eugenia Maldonado
A Brief Survey of World History from a French Perspective, Circa 1963

Braudel writes well in French and the English translation is excellent. If you are looking for a comprehensive world history with great detail and thorough research, look... Read more

Published on January 17, 2006 by John A. Willis

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