The Outline of History: The Whole Story of Man (Used Hardcover) - H.G. Wells (Book club ed, 1956)

Book club edition, published in 1956.

From the back cover: "The Outline of History is an attempt to tell truly and clearly, in one continuous narrative, the whole story of life and mankind, so far as it is known today. It is written plainly for the general reader." --H. G. Wells

From the dust jacket: The Outline of History has established itself as one of the truly great books of all time. It is a brilliant survey of man's progress, from the earliest struggles of the cave man to the momentous events of the present. From all the diverse cultural, economic, political, and social backgrounds of mankind, H. G. Wells has evolved a thrilling narrative, as readable as your daily newspaper. The dramatic struggle of man against nature and his environment is told in a lucid and concise style. The Outline of History is a library of knowledge of the past, an authentic record of world history interpreted by one of the keenest minds of this century.

Here is the whole story of man, commencing with a compact survey of the dim and primeval millions of years before the coming of man, and continuing through the earliest beginnings of society and of language, when man began to have some understanding of the need for cooperation.

Then follow the first periods of which we have reasonable records-- when the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Persians, the Judeans, and the Egyptians were the great powers. Literature and philosophy and art became important. Science and invention as we know them today appeared. Men became rulers and nations grew in strength.

The far-reaching Roman Empire, under the dictatorships of the Caesars, rose to magnificent heights and then disintegrated. We see the growth of Christianity and Islam and the clashes between them known as the Crusades. There are low ebbs of human progress in the Dark Ages. Distinct nationalities emerge--French and German and English. Then with the ending of the Middle Ages we see the magnificence of the Renaissance, the new awakening in thought and science, in art and literature, in religion and politics.

With modern times we come to the growth of the republics and to the splendors of the Grand Monarchies. The new democracies of France and the Americas come into being. Napoleon Bonaparte blazes through his extraordinary career. Life is revolutionized by mechanical inventions. Science shows the way to a new ease. But with this progress problems come too fast for man to solve. The economy of the world is upset; periods of depression, of unemployment, of catastrophe and greed and war are more and more frequent.

The Outline of History is outstanding in conception, scope, and treatment. Familiarity with what it tells is essential for a cultured understanding of the modern world and the forces that mold it.

Condition: Used book in Acceptable condition, some tearing on dust jacket, some stains on spine, inscription inside first page.

Hardcover.

0425ET