A History of the World in 100 Objects

Oct 20, 2024 8:43 AM

Author:Neil MacGregor

Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects takes a bold, original approach to human history, exploring past civilizations through the objects that defined them.

Encompassing a grand sweep of human history, A History of the World in 100 Objects begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, and ends with objects which characterise the world we live in today.

Seen through MacGregor's eyes, history is a kaleidoscope - shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, and shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. A stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people; Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency; and an early Victorian tea-set speaks to us about the impact of empire.

An intellectual and visual feast, this is one of the most engrossing and unusual history books published in years.

'Brilliant, engagingly written, deeply researched' Mary Beard, Guardian

'A triumph: hugely popular, and rightly lauded as one of the most effective and intellectually ambitious initiatives in the making of 'public history' for many decades' Sunday Telegraph

'Highly intelligent, delightfully written and utterly absorbing ' Timothy Clifford, Spectator

'This is a story book, vivid and witty, shining with insights, connections, shocks and delights' Gillian Reynolds Daily Telegraph

Reviews

Vividly written

—— Pennant Magazine (Journal of the Forces Pension Society)

Superb... A wholly absorbing and powerful narrative full of good sense, properly weighed facts and clear understanding

—— Peter Hitchens , Daily Mail

Abdullah's voice is reasoned and often humorous, didactic rather than dictatorial ... he is a spokesman for his country

—— Walll Street Journal

Romer carries the reader along effortlessly on a lengthy, complex yet immensely satisfying journey

—— Joyce Tyldesley , BBC History

Intriguing, iconoclastic ... An artist's sensibility is evident ... memorable and original

—— Toby Wilkinson , Times Literary Supplement

Enthralling from the first word to the last

—— The Atlantic Monthly

Moving and extremely well-documented

—— Oxford Mail

Excellent... One often feels as if one is actually present at the scenes she describes. There can be no higher praise... Inconvenient People is as interesting a work of social history as you are ever likely to read.

—— Anthony Daniels , Spectator

Fascinating and chilling, Inconvenient People reads like a series of Victorian novels in brief - only all the tales are true

—— Bel Mooney , Daily Mail

This superlative study opens the door on the cruelty of the quacks who locked up lost souls

—— Edward Pearce , Independent

Several riveting cases Sarah Wise has unearthed for this fine social history of contested lunacy in the 19th century... Wise has given us a fascinating book that teems with rich archival research. The pictorial sources are an added boon and make for a wonderfully illustrated addition to the history of the 19th century

—— Lisa Appignanesi , Daily Telegraph

Rich, gripping and moving mix of social history, psychiatry and storytelling

—— Your Family Tree

A dark and disturbing investigation...trenchant and disturbing book

—— John Carey , Sunday Times

There is so much to interest and entertain in this book, which is enhanced by over eighty informative illustrations

—— Gillian Tindall , Literary Review

A wonderfully engaging book

—— Jad Adams , Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

Fascinating book (4 stars)

—— Michael Kerrigan , Scotsman

Wise reopens 12 uncontested lunacy cases from the 1800s, meticulously exploring the details of each and recreating the stories with a page-turning eye for a great narrative

—— Independent

Sarah Wise knows how to grab the reader’s attention with phrases that would have done Bulwer-Lytton proud. But the book’s readability does not disguise its scholarship. This is a valuable contribution to our understanding of nineteenth-century

—— Charlotte Moore , Book Oxygen

I thrilled to Sarah Wise’s Inconvenient People, an enthralling study of those who fell foul of Victorian mad-doctors and greedy relatives

—— Philip Hoare , Sunday Telegraph

It makes for a harrowing read, but much of it is also hilarious, and as gripping as the most lurid Victorian melodramatic novel. Yet again, one closes a book with the impression that beneath the polished mahogany surfaces and shimmering silks of Victorian interiors lurked Hell itself

—— A. N. Wilson , Mail on Sunday

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