A Little History of the World by E.H. Gomrich

Everything has a backstory and is linked one way or another to something that happened in history. But making sense of it all and having enough general knowledge of what happened centuries ago isn’t always possible. That’s where Ernst Gombrich’s fantastic book: “A Little History of the World” becomes super handy.

What makes Gombrich’s book truly special is that it’s an informal recollection of some of the most important historical events that many people can easily read and understand. Targeted at children aged 9-12, the book is written in an easy and simplistic language and a style that makes it quite uncomplicated for anyone to get the gist of important historic events and places.

However, since it was written in the early 20th century, “A Little History of the World” has a deep concentration and focus on the western civilization. What makes it a simple read is that it feels like a blog post that tells a story of an important incident, or specific place in history in an opinionated, story-telling style. This makes it an informal tool to unfold the history of the world.

This book is a great source of information for anyone looking to have a basic, general knowledge and a good way to help you link common everyday things to their sources. Examples you will find in the book include the origin of certain words, such as democracy, vandalism, algebra and even where the days of the week and the names of the months came from. It also helps in making you understand how history is repeating itself. In addition, the book acts as a great starting point to help you get an idea of what topics to research to understand the whole picture and the exact sequence of events over time.