Rating: 
Summary: Should be sold with aspirin.
Review: I may actually know less about world history after reading this book than I did before. The author has removed all the excitement and pure narrative power of human history and reduced it to a weaving, confusing, incongruous listing of names and dates. In addition to being an unrepentant anglophile, he seems to feel that a culture can only be as valuable as its metallurgical advancement, droning so much that one expects his work would be produced in a hive and not a publishing house. This book is also printed in an eye-straining font, which only serves to increase the pain-inducing effect of the words themselves. I can only shudder when reminded that this was the "short" version!
Rating: 
Summary: Just what the title says
Review: I never paid enough attention to history in high school and got around most history classes in college. I wanted to catch up and get a basic understanding of world history. This was just right. It literally starts at the beginning with evolution and ends with the end of the cold war. I can see no western bias or concentration on any time period. Very evenly written.What makes this book stand out is the authors attempts to explain why history happened the way it did and not just what happened. When important, he presents all of the current outstanding theories on a particular subject, and lets the reader decide which seems most plausible.
Rating:
Summary: Wow... what a bad book!
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping for a clear and concise overview of world history in order to gain a general understanding of major world events and trends. The author had only 513 pages to cover the entire span of world history, so why does he waste space rambling about vague sociological trends, or how one country might possibly have affected another? The writing itself is incredibly clunky and unclear, and the organization is somewhat confusing. I only ever had a vague grasp of the details of a specific civilization before the author jumped to another geographic area and back 1 or 2 thousand years. I couldn't even finish the book ... I'd rather spend my time doing something (anything) else than spend it muddling through this mess.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Reading
Review: If you are looking for a outline and interesting details of the worlds history , this book covers it all. The places, the events, the people, the idea's, the cultures, the inventions, the wars, the politics, as well as a summary of the common person is described in vibrant detail. It can be used as a referance on your coffe table or for pleasure reading. It is a very enjoyable read , especially for people like me, who are just plain curios!
Rating:
Summary: Good outline of world history
Review: J.M. Roberts "A Short History of the World" covers a lot of ground in 500 pages, from the earliest hominids to the early 1990s. The book provides concise details on the major civilizations that have impacted our world, and more importantly, the lasting impact these civilizations had on their descendants and other civilizations. One can trace our current world conflicts back through thousands of years and realize there is no easy solution to the many problems that confront us.
While Roberts gave attention to Asian civilization, his writing did come off with a pro-Western, pro-British slant, especially in his description of the early Islamic movement as one of "conquest and expansion." The same could be said of Christian nations.
With such a wealth of information to process and absorb, I whittled away at this book over several months. The sections are arranged so that one can read in shorter bursts.
Also, I recommend frequent consultation with a historical atlas while reading this book, as no maps have been provided.
"A Short History of the World" is a good for exploring the big picture, and an excellent starting point to pursue other works that provide more in-depth detail of areas of further interest.
Rating:
Summary: Good outline of world history
Review: J.M. Roberts "A Short History of the World" covers a lot of ground in 500 pages, from the earliest hominids to the early 1990s. The book provides concise details on the major civilizations that have impacted our world, and more importantly, the lasting impact these civilizations had on their descendants and other civilizations. One can trace our current world conflicts back through thousands of years and realize there is no easy solution to the many problems that confront us.
While Roberts gave attention to Asian civilization, his writing did come off with a pro-Western, pro-British slant, especially in his description of the early Islamic movement as one of "conquest and expansion." The same could be said of Christian nations.
With such a wealth of information to process and absorb, I whittled away at this book over several months. The sections are arranged so that one can read in shorter bursts.
Also, I recommend frequent consultation with a historical atlas while reading this book, as no maps have been provided.
"A Short History of the World" is a good for exploring the big picture, and an excellent starting point to pursue other works that provide more in-depth detail of areas of further interest.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Summary of World History!
Review: J.M. Roberts has written an excellent short and readable synopsis of the history of humanity from earliest times until most the most recent era. I have not read the longer versions of his world history (of which A Short History is a condensation), but this title contains a wealth of material. Roberts does well at trackinga story line as far as neccessary without forcing centuries of mental backtracking when switching to coverage of different areas of the globe. His presentation is very balanced and he gives equal time to all areas of the world. In addition, he adds timely comments on the role of women at various points in history, a subject somewhat neglected in the past. While perceptive and all encompassing, the story is balanced and lacks (for the better!) the revisionist bias which has often come down hard on white, male Europe. He certainly recognizes the power and influence of Europe on world history, especially since the Age of Discovery, yet he does well in analyzing the reasons for it, as well as its implications on non-Western peoples. All this he does without being biased toward any particular group. The book is a very good introduction to the currents of world history and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to engage a very sweeping narrative of how and why our world is where it is today. I detect no obvious religious persuasion on Roberts' parrt, but I am impressed with the place he assigns Christianity in Earupean history at least, and the way in which religion is fairly treatd along with science in the modern period. Admittedly, there is a glaring lack of detail in terms of specific dates, battles, people, technology, and so forth, but that seems purely due to the selectiveness he must practice in order to tell compress some 10,000 (recorded) years of human development into 500 pages. Roberts' Short History of the World is a good book and well worth anyones time to read and grab a gliimpse of undertanding into what makes the world what it is today. Perhaps, given enough time, I might enjoy reading his full treatment.
Rating:
Summary: An Epic
Review: Much like a novel, this book pulled me in. Never have I read such a readable, historically accurate account of the past. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to expand thier basic knowledge of world history. Read on . . . . . .
Rating: 
Summary: Good Content, Poor Form
Review: There is no doubt that Roberts knows his history, and he has performed admirably in reducing the epic content to some 500 pages or so, but nonetheless I found his writing style tedious and cumbersome. Robert's sentences are disjointed and liberally populated with unnecessary commas. I often had to reread a paragraph because of some parenthetical remark that seemed placed specifically to disrupt the reader's flow of logic. I also felt that his history was slightly biased in favor of Britain, inasmuch as they often appeared to be the heroes of world history, but any history is bound to be biased on some level. In the end, I think you could find a better read.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, but informative
Review: This book is too long to be A Short History of the World - it's almost 500 pages. Not the best outline of history that I've read. For that try The Story of the World, by John van Southworth.
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