As we get deeper into the first semester and it gets colder out, I always find myself enjoying being intellectual: getting a cup of hot chocolate, curling up in leather couches with blankets and reading a good book. The following book is neither East Coast nor West Coast, as previous weeks have explored, but an intellectual adventure all around the world.
Author:E.H. Gombrich
Title: "A Little History of the World" (1935)
Number of Pages: 284 in the 2005 Yale University Press edition
Originally In: German
I miss geography class. Somewhere between middle school and high school, the subject faded away, and I doubt you've met many geography majors in college. Gombrich's book brings me back to geography days of yore, with its brevity and endless parade of names and nations. Yet, unlike a normal history textbook with names, times and lots of details, Gombrich covers the entire history of our universe in less than 300 pages. Although I'm sure he's left a few bits out, it's a good place to start.
Written in the '30s in six weeks, Gombrich would research throughout the day and write each entry at night. Since "A Little History of the World" was actually meant for children, he breaks down our world into short chapters that keep even the most fidgety child intrigued, with just enough enticing details to stay interesting. From Mesopotamia to China to England to America, every locale is celebrated. Thus, a history of the world becomes a history of us, without boundaries of race, religion or ethnicity. Despite the universality of its message, it wasn't until 2005 that the book was translated into English.
One of my favorite accounts in the book involves Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. After his empire broke apart, he went away to a monastery where his main hobby was taking care of all the clocks. Charles desperately wanted them to all chime at the same time. All his countless hours were to no avail, and Charles was never able to get all the clocks to chime at the same time — a reminder of his failure to unite his empire. How poignant!
Another tidbit: Did you know the Chinese created paper, compasses, woodblock printing and gunpowder before any other civilization? Or that Alexander the Great took over half the world, from Greece to Africa to the Middle East?
Another interesting observation considers historical periodization, examining the names of eras and just how subjective they are. Gombrich points out that people in the Dark Ages wouldn't necessarily call the period by that name; in fact, it wasn't until the Enlightenment that the Dark Ages were considered "dark." And the Enlightenment wasn't the Enlightenment until long after the time of Locke. How do you think our time will be personified later on? How will we, the Millennials, be characterized?
Sometimes I become so overwhelmed with school, work, clubs, family, friends and life in general, but Gombrich's little book puts the entire big world in perspective. His collection shows us the unifying power of history; every country goes through the same things, and thus we repeat the same dilemmas as well. There are great rulers and awful rulers; there is greed and pride and every other emotion. I'm sure they even had some amazing parties with beautiful people and pumping music.
Though Gombrich's last chapter on our mortality is a bit of a downer, it's also hopeful and inspiring. We must make the most of our time, just as past civilizations and leaders have. And, maybe, one day, our own personal history will be part of the world's history as well.
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Alexandria Chu is a junior majoring in English. She can be reached at Alexandria.Chu@tufts.edu.
