Described as, “a history book that is reassuringly epic in scope but refreshingly short in length,” today’s Free Fridays selection is the bestselling A Short History of the World by Christopher Lascelles.
There are thousands (maybe millions?) of book pages devoted to Abraham Lincoln. Same could be said for Churchill, the Mayans, and more. But what Christopher Lascelles aims to do in his compact compendium is offer a history of the world that fits our time-strapped lives. Leave the doorstop biographies to serious historians; this book gives the rest of us just the ammunition we need for our next cocktail party conversation.
Rather than just listing dates and places, Lascelles turns world history into a story. His narrative starts with the Big Bang and hits all of the high notes between then and now. You’ll easily remember everything he covers, because the people and places come vividly to life thanks to the author’s talent for spinning a good yarn. Visual learners will especially appreciate the 32 specially-drawn maps that help put the historical events into context.
Free Fridays Recommends
Each week, we ask our featured author to recommend a book or author that you may want to check out. Since authors are such passionate readers themselves, we thought you might like to find out what they love to read, too! Here’s what Christopher recommends:
When I was researching A Short History of the World, I came across many exciting stories. In fact I came across so many that I was unable to include them all. Undoubtedly one of the most exciting books I read was The Conquest of the Incas, by John Hemming. He relates the tragic story of how the Incas where conquered by Spanish Conquistadores but somehow he has managed to make it a complete page-turner. Two episodes stick out. First, how the Spanish soldiers managed to conquer an army of tens of thousands of Inca warriors with only 168 men (62 horsemen and 106 foot-soldiers) thanks largely to their guns and horses, which the Incas had never seen. Second, how the Spanish Emperor, Atahualpa, was duped into giving the Spanish a room full of gold as a ransom after being captured but was then executed anyway. A terrible story in very different times but the book is a classic, and a masterfully told one at that!
NOOK owners: go to shop and search for “Christopher Lascelles” to download this illuminating and accessible history book.
A compact history of the world sounds like an excellent addition to my Nook's history and reference shelf! Thanks Jeremy and B&N!
Also thanks to Spec for consolidating the freebie list each week, to Butterflly13 for all of the extras as well, and to all the others who contribute.
Have a great weekend reading everyone!
