THE STORY OF THE WORLD IN 100 MOMENTS

A bold, fact-filled but reflective book by Neil Oliver that takes a look at global history through a personal lens

Author: Neil Oliver Publisher Transworld, Penguin Random House Price £25 (Hardback) Released 16 September

To try to distil the whole of humanity’s story into 100 segments is an ambitious, highly subjective endeavour. It is this conundrum that broadcaster and author Neil Oliver readily admits in his introduction to The Story of the World in 100 Moments: “Let us confront the obvious trouble and hope to head it off at the pass: these are my 100 moments. Any and every reader will likely question some choices, and that is how it should be.”

As is often the case with British historians, many of Oliver’s choices of significant moments in world history are somewhat Anglocentric. However, his book does a very good job of projecting a global scope. For example, the earliest known recorded poet, Enheduanna, is revealed to be a Sumerian woman from the 23rd century BCE. Oliver neatly contexualises her as having, “lived 40 centuries before Shakespeare,” and his book is peppered with lyrical phrases like this.

There are also fun stories such as why the Ancient Greeks regarded olive oil as ‘liquid gold’ and how New Zealand was first discovered by a legendary Polynesian called Kupe. Sometimes moments aren’t huge events but seemingly innocuous human practices with momentous implications such as the development of law, money, religion and photography. As an introduction to the many varied aspects of history, The Story of the World is to be recommended.