A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium [Paperback]

Chris Harman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1844672387 | ISBN-13: 978-1844672387 | Publication Date: April 17, 2008 | Edition: First Edition

The only comprehensive “bottom up” history of the world from the earliest human society to the twenty-first century.

Chris Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a narrative of ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies in pursuit of common human goals. Interacting with the forces of technological change as well as the impact of powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas, these societies have engendered events familiar to every schoolchild—from the empires of antiquity to the world wars of the twentieth century.

In a bravura conclusion, Chris Harman exposes the reductive complacency of contemporary capitalism, and asks, in a world riven as never before by suffering and inequality, why we imagine that it can—or should—survive much longer. Ambitious, provocative and invigorating, A People's History of the World delivers a vital corrective to traditional history, as well as a powerful sense of the deep currents of humanity which surge beneath the froth of government.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I have had many people ask me if there is a book which does for world history what my book A People's History of the United States does for this country. I always responded that I know of only one book that accomplishes this extremely difficult task, and that is Chris Harman's A People's History of the World. It is an indispensable volume on my reference bookshelf.” (Howard Zinn )

“The left ... has few accounts which convey as well as this book does the broad sweep of human history.” (Robin Blackburn )

About the Author

Chris Harman is the author of numerous books including The Fire Last Time: 1968 and After and The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918-23.

Product Details

• Paperback: 729 pages
• Publisher: Verso; First Edition edition (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844672387
• ISBN-13: 978-1844672387
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A People's History, May 28, 2008

By 

Daniel Schmidt (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium (Paperback)

This is an ambitious work. Chris Harman attempts to place the entirety of human life in terms of the class and class consciousness. Yes, that is incredibly vague and does no justice to the extremely important work (which is nearly a decade old now, but just released in paperback).

Harman is an optimist. My personal favorite thing about "A People's History of the World" is his insistence that 'human nature' is a construct:

"Human beings, we have been told, have always been greedy, competitive and aggressive, and that explains horrors like war, exploitation, slavery and oppression of women. I argue very differently. 'Human nature' as we know it today is a product of our history, not its cause."

For Harman, all humans make a choice. Choices are not the same for everyone. He mentions slave and slave owner, employer and employee or male and female, for examples. These make up history and explain his theory that "understanding the material basis of history is an essential, but not sufficient, precondition to understanding everything else."

Harman begins where all standard 'histories of the world' begin: the trees. From there, we survived in bands as hunter-gatherers (which Harman displays as the reason for our survival and directly contradicts the theory of 'human nature' discussed above). From there he distinguishes the importance of people's adopting agriculture, but he is interested in the first people to accumulation harvest's above subsistence means, which created the first classes. Those who worked to supply the surplus food and those who guarded the food. From this beginning, the world as we know it takes shape.

A history of the world does not require much summary. From the rise of ancient civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, etc.) to the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR - Harman includes it and provides in class struggle.

I found his take on Christianity after the fall of the Roman Empire, his take on the beginnings of the Soviet Union to it's demise, and his breadth of knowledge in European affairs in general to be the highlights of the book. It also doesn't help that he is an outstanding writer (a little dry at times, but this is a history book). He understands history and never shies away from his thesis and is convincing with evidence to support his thoughts.

Obviously one cannot agree with everything. Personally, I did not agree with the downplaying of certain factors for the overall congruence of 'class struggle' as the overriding factor, period. I understand his focus on European history, but his forays in Asia, Latin America and especially Africa are too short and could use a lot more analysis.

Like Howard Zinn says on the cover, "An indispensable volume on my reference bookshelf." I found myself compulsively highlighting this book with interesting tidbits and other facts and opinions that I find myself wishing I wrote. This is book is brief for a history of the world, but it fluid and packs a punch - especially from where it is coming from. For those skeptical, try this out against any standard history to open your mind to a different view on our impact on the world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and critical with multiple perspectives., December 29, 2010

By 

John Forte - See all my reviews

This review is from: A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium (Paperback)

This book truly proves that individuals can write great works of history without a PHD. The methodology seems to focus on social movements and the plight of the lower classes rather than praising "heroic individuals". Each summary is quite short, yet it contains a thoroughly critical analysis. Additionally, it exposes readers to works that contain a more narrowed focus for further reading. I would recommend this book to ALL historians, as it is a great reference for other reading and teaching. Certainly, this book is not all-inclusive and the author mentions this flaw, but it is a crucial perspective on a wide range of historical events.

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the first history of peoples from a marxist point of view, July 4, 2008

By 

Ahmet Muhtar Cakmak (Turkey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium (Paperback)

there are many books which attempt to give us man's history. Harman, one of the leading Marxist writers of our time, try to write the history of man from marxist point of view. Just for this reason it is wortwhile to read. It is an important effort against the ideological/theoretical offensive of the so-called individualistic reading of our history.