The World: A Family History

A superbly organized, energetic, humane, gripping chronicle of the human race ... No enquiring mind can afford to do without this book. Sebag Montefiore shows off his best talent : blending human virtues and evils together in a stormy, addictive painting. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history through the families that moved the world. He paints a colourful picture of wars and conquests; of grand visions, of the advances and limitations of rulers; of remarkable people and mostly remarkable families. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind’s experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity’s achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. Sebag Montefiore takes us through the psychology of the great rulers with both meticulous intimacy and grand theatrical sensibility. He sketches personalities so vividly that it is very difficult to let go of his writing. I would recommend not having anything important to do while reading this book. It is highly addictive.

Good book, well researched as is always the case with anything written by Simon Sebag-Montefiore. However, some appalling research gaps/typos (? - possibly Kindle formatting errors - ?) - e.g. we are told that Lord Mountbatten was assassinated in 1981 when it was in fact IN 1979, and that Donald Trump assumed the US Presidency in 2019 when it was in fact IN 2017. Book is also very rushed as it gets closer to the end, as if Mr Sebag-Montefiore wanted to cram in events of the last 25 years and had only so many more pages in which to do it. As an overall work, great, and once you see the relationships between people that spring up throughout your world-view will either be altered/confirmed. But, beware of the style and pacing as the book progresses

The human race is not very nice at all. Simon has written a massive book on the history of the world, its a sort of horrible histories for adults. We are a nasty, horrid, murdering, blood thirsty race only interested in land acquisition and power and rape of the lands and people for financial gain and nothing will stand in our way. Nepotism, Machiavellian, despots, dictators, kings and queens, servants and slaves and revolutionaries . And as for the women, blimey ! Its all there and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learnt so much, history lessons at school were never this interesting or fun if you can call it fun. (there is wry humour in it) The sort of book to read while cringing and saying urgh quite a lot and it's sad to say the human race still has much to learn from the past. Thank you Simon its a wonderful book well researched and as always you write so well, I'll be buying more copies to give as gifts but I'm glad to say my copy was on kindle which I think was much more manageable. So what next Simon? how do you top that?

An excellent book. I’ve only just received The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore and have been enjoying it since. It is a huge book at over 1000 pages and differs from other world histories in its approach by focusing upon families to tell the story of The World. The author writes in the Introduction: ‘Unlike many of the histories that I grew up with, this is a genuine world history, not unbalanced by excessive focus on Britain and Europe but rather giving Asia, Africa and the Americas the attention they deserve. The focus on family also makes it possible to pay more attention to the lives of women and children, both of whom were slighted in the books I read as a schoolboy.’ The writing, as one has come to expect from Simon Sebag Montefiore, is superb; beautifully constructed and a pleasure to read. I’m only a couple of chapters in, so far, but have skimmed through the whole of the book and I am very pleased with my purchase. Highly recommended. I hope you find my review helpful.

I'm lost for words to adequately describe this work from Simon Seabag Montefiore. I wouldn't have the first clue as to how to even start such a mammoth task. The research alone is daunting, to say the least. This is brilliant. An eye-opener, it's interesting, it educates, it saddens the reader and delights the reader. It has taken ages for me to read and digest, but easily worth the effort. The World is magnificent.

This is a good book but not for me

To call this book a momentous achievement is a gross understatement. It almost beggars belief that one man could dare to try to summarise world history from pre history till now yet Montefiore has attempted just that. He uses families to recount how power and progress have shaped humanity. Given that he is himself part of an ancient Jewish dynasty, it is no surprise that Jewish involvement in history attracts frequent references. I was surprised and saddened that the author seems almost obsessed with the sexual proclivities and habits of almost all his chosen subjects to such an extent that it almost spoiled the book for me. Similarly, although violence and power do go hand in hand, the author seemed to delight in the gory details of violence which did not seem necessary. The breadth and depth of the global canvas on which he paints is breathtaking and I was somewhat overwhelmed with the constant torrent of detail. Rather like taking off a pair of tight shoes I was relieved to finish the book but will never forget it. At the end, Montefiore defends his decision to use a limited bibliography at the end of each chapter but I do not think that worked well since cross referring the additional information was often difficult.

There has never been a world history anything like this one. Partly because it's a truly global history that is as interested in places like Hawaii, Haiti and East Africa as Europe and America and partly because it is a history made up of individuals and families and their stories, rather than states, movements, trends or statistics. But what really makes it different is that it gives you world history with all the juice left in, unfiltered by scholarly primness. It brings to vivid, bloody, sexy, eccentric life hundreds of great historical figures from around the world by focusing on their human qualities: their passions and obsessions, their physical beauty or ugliness, their loves, hatreds, desires and addictions. While it's a very long book, it doesn't actually feel like that when you're reading it because it's organised in tight, fast-moving short chapters, because your attention is taken all around the world and because the familiar characters - the Atillas, Caesars, Cromwells, Bismarcks, Michaelangelos and Roosevelts, are mixed up with less familiar, equally fascinating figures from China, Africa and the Arab world. It's a history buff's delight.

Wow! Montefiore links broad, global history in his uniquely personal way. It's a kind of behind-the-scenes, uncensored, gritty, raw history from the fragments of largely first-hand witnesses. If you're considering reading this masterpiece, be prepared for an immersive journey that will stay with you long after the 1000 pages are turned. One of the book's true strengths lies in experiencing it on Kindle. Montefiore leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for the history-deep divers. Montefiore's team have researched the latest historical perspectives and recent archeology. 'The World' should be enjoyed alongside its footnotes spiced with Montefiore's linguistic expressions. It's a rich tapestry. Montefiore's unique storytelling and wordhoard vocabulary shines through as he connects characters and timelines across generations. The seamless flow of history, long sections divided by estimated global population from Stoneage, Rome's Caesars, and the grand civilizations of China and Maya till now is a testament to the author's skill. The global, parallel history exploration of these societies in the ever-unfolding timeline adds more richness to the narrative. It's a treasure hunt. 'The World: A Family History of Humanity' invites readers to traverse the realms of parallel history. There's a sense of adventure here. It's an absolute must-read for history enthusiasts. p.s. I see way off-the-mark negative reviews snipping this or that irrelevance. Something other than this book might be motivating the snipping. Perhaps they read a different book.

The greatest ride through world history. It's not just the depth of detail, but the panache in the presentation. Read the footnotes too; they are truly the cherry on top.

Eigentlich ist es ja Quatsch, nur mal eben die Geschichte der ganzen Welt in einem Buch zu erklären. Aber wenn das so vergnüglich und so kenntnisreich geschieht, macht es nur Spaß! Der Autor hat sich vorgenommen, die Menschheitsgeschichte aus der Sicht der Familien und das heißt natürlich häufig aus der besser dokumentierten Sicht der Herrscherfamilien zu erklären. Im Ergebnis mag man das Buch gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Unentwegt gibt es Gift und Mordschlag, untreue Frauen und Männer, unfähige und brillante Herrscher und das wird eben nicht eurozentrisch sondern für alle Kontinente beschreiben. Zwischendurch, wenn es passt, beschreibt er auch die Geschichte seiner eigenen sephardischen Familie, wie sie aus Spanien vertrieben wurde. Oder, dass in weiten Teilen der Welt die DNA einen gemeinsamen Vorfahren aufweist. Vermutlich Dschingis Khan, der eben nicht nur Krieger anführte sondern auch sonst gut beschäftigt war....

I would've wanted to give more stars but the binding is aweful, I opened it up, carefully as I' d read that pages fall out.. and lo and behold, crack, the binding is coming undone. Shame, now I' m in a dilemma.. to send it back or not. I want to read it but it's falling apart.

Amazing and fascinating, a masterpiece. Reads like a crime novel, which it actually is in many instances. A must-read for secondary school and university students.