A History of the World in 100 Objects

Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best Books of the Month, November 2011: In A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neal MacGregor, director of the British Museum, takes readers on a tour of the world by way of its material goods. From everyday items such as pots, utensils, and money to valuables such as art and jewelry, MacGregor shows that the things humans have left behind are often as rich and informative as written texts. Whether it’s a strange and unique object like a throne made of rifles from Mozambique or a medieval German crystal, or a familiar one like a sculpture of the head of Augustus or Hokusai’s painting The Great Wave, MacGregor skillfully weaves each one into the fabric of the society that it came from. In that sense, the book is much more than a museum catalog: it’s a hundred keyhole views into a hundred different societies from around the world and throughout history.

ReviewA History of the World in 100 Objects … has been a triumph: hugely popular, and rightly lauded as one of the most effective and intellectually ambitious initiatives in the making of ’public history’ for many decades. — John Adamson Sunday Telegraph Highly intelligent, delightfully written and utterly absorbing — Timothy Clifford Spectator Allen Lane has done Mr MacGregor proud… The objects have been beautifully photographed, Mr MacGregor’s voice comes through distinctively and his arguments about the interconnectedness of disparate societies through the ages are all the stronger for the detail afforded by extra space. A book to savour and start over Economist This is a story book, vivid and witty, shining with insights, connections, shocks and delights — Gillian Reynolds Daily Telegraph The style is authentic, personal and humorous. MacGregor could not have skewered our pretensions better…Look on our works, ye mighty, and despair — Andrew Roberts Financial Times Brilliant, engagingly written, deeply researched — Mary Beard Guardian