John Ryan's Reviews > The Outline of History, Vol. 1

** spoiler alert ** As a kid, I remember checking out this book, although possibly a different edition, and losing interest soon after starting Well’s complicated, detailed book. It’s still a slow read with so many names, geography, wars, and issues. It’s worth the time to read this book to learn more about the history of our world. Wells brings a different perspective than other world history books. Two elements that are disturbing about this book is the absence of footnotes or any sourcing and the concentration on European history with only a brief touch on Asians rich contributions and barely anything about Africa south of Egypt. The reader misses a lot about the development of Asia, especially since the writer teases us about the five talented emperors who controlled the region from about 2,700 to 2,400 B.C. who brought forward the people.

What is refreshing about this compact 500-page book is that Wells raises how much more has been learned, how past scientists were wrong in their calculations, and that there are few absolutes. It gives me hope that we can continue to learn and what we are taking as fact may not be right, especially when we are looking at the comprehensive history of the world. Yet, there are some absolutes like no living thing lasts forever, a fact that changes everything.

Wells starts, well, at the beginning. I always found it more boring to talk about the world before humans existed and even before humans started to develop the life-changing inventions like fire and language. He speaks about how the oceans had far less salt, that there were not flowering plants but trees were plentiful and tall. Wells talks in details about reptiles and the start of mammals in the Mesozoic Period. He speaks about how the mammal is a “family animal” that has continued until today. His discussion of discoveries of the Neanderthal in Germany did not hold up with time since so much more has been discovered since the publishing of this book. It reminds us that even today’s books will most likely be proven wrong or at least incomplete since science and discoveries continue.

The development of villages about 5,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, was a game-changer. Societies were being established across Europe and Asia and even into Africa. Paleolithic man was much more of a wanderer, going from place to place. Another book I read spoke about when humans started to grow products for their consumption and, later, bartering rather than eat what they could capture, they also started to fight rather than simply leave and go somewhere else. Hunting people didn’t “own” any property but had large ranges. But Wells was confusing when he wrote about materials found in the 1950’s that showed the village of Jericho and that some villages dated back to 6,000 B.C. Words like “perhaps,” “about” and “very little known” sprinkle the book bringing doubt to what we really know and when the first of this or that existed. The author seemed to settle on 6-7,000 years ago when villages were first being established.

The earliest forms of government were priestly governments. He said that this approach lacked an efficient military leadership and envy between different religious factions. Because the army was not a professional, paid unit, as later defined, people could be easily bribed and, thus, controlled. The temple system had real issues but was the fundamental of earliest societies from the rest was built including the court system, the development of taxes, merchants (starting with ship builders), small retailers, and a growing number of independent property owners.

The discussion of religious rites and thoughts of death was fascinating. Neanderthals buried their dead with weapons and food, possibly because they thought it could be used in an afterlife.

Wells does an exceptional job in sharing how language and then writing became a turning point in the development of humans. Keeping track of history and business added to the development of our understanding of their lives and improved their lives considerably. Prior to language, humans thought of very little and were very literate. Their thought process didn’t allow them to invent so many items that brought upon civilization. Earlier languages consisted of a few hundred words with peasants getting along with only using less than a thousand words. Language developed slowly with many questions on how it was shared over larger geographical areas. Wells states that grammatical forms and the use of abstract ideas might have come as late as 400 to 500 generations ago. He states that the Aryan family of languages covered nearly all of Europe all the way to Russia, Armenia, Persia, and India. The Semitic set of languages were separate from the Aryan and were connected to Hebrew and Arabic. The Chinese (or Monosyllabic group) spread across China, Burma, and Tibet. He then tossed in there may have been even more primitive languages in Africa.

Writing really changed the development of humans, starting around 10,000 B.C. and 500 B.C. Men started to write stories about themselves, and their writing became more complex. With language and writing, music also developed. Ancient music had rhythm but no melody. Think of lots of noise – stomping, hand-clapping and primitive drumming. The Christian era changed that, and music became more sophisticated.

Wells speaks a lot about empires in his book: Sumerians, Sargon the First, Hammurabi, Egypt, and those in India and China. Alexander the Great, Psammetichus, Necho II, and Shi-Hwang-ti. There are lots of names and places tossed in as if it was a salad. It was interesting when Wells spoke about how Egypt developed around 5,000 B.C. in part due to the geographical safety the desert and sea provide the people.

Much of the book focuses on the Greek Empire. By 1,500 B.C., the Hellenes came to the land of Greece in various settlements of tribes. Their families were large, but their cities rarely exceeded 50,000 residents. Their leaders were called, interesting enough, Tyrants. They were the boss. By the sixth century B.C., government moved to what was called a democracy. Of course, it was not what we would consider a democracy but did give a voice to some, mostly with land. It was more like an oligarchy with some voice of the poor and put more of the tax burden on the rich. There were parties and leaders of parties but no government officials; decisions were more consensuses. With this system of limited leadership, vetoing an approach or program often held back progress. Even with this division in their system, there was unity within the Greeks due to a common language and financial system. They did not suffer an attack on their lands until 490 B.C. by the Persians. The author speaks about how the – later – Peloponnesian War that dragged on for 30 years wasted all the money and power of Greece. Unfortunately, the author’s description of the rise of Greece in literature, philosophy, and art was confusing and not focused. He reports that Plato was born in 427 B.C. but had few other clear statements about his life and work. In all the editions, one would have thought an editor would have made this rich time of history more pronounce.

Wells did a much better job describing life in India. Like Egypt, geography largely protected India with mountains, desert areas, and the ocean providing safety from war. Wells writes that for centuries, the history of India had been “happier, less fierce, and more dreamlike than any other history.” Love stories consume the history of the noblemen and the rajahs. Buddhistic doctrine of Karma brought happiness to future lives depending on how one lived the current one. He later spoke about India as being a “patchwork-quilt of states. Sometimes, such as during the Gupta Empire of the four through sixth centuries, bringing together a larger area for great literary activity. The organization of government had little impact on the lives of their people. Wells used the discussion of Buddhism to skip over to China and speak about how Buddhism and Taoism lived side by side, leading to similar religions today.

The book devotes an intense chapter on the rise and collapse of the Roman Empire, rising interesting issues of holding a country together that we see evident in our own country today. Founded in 753 B.C., at a time when much of the country was marsh land and forests. War was the focus of the day with Rome being in an area that was hard to hold, lacking the geography that would aid the conquerors. By 265 B.C., according to the census, there were 300,000 citizens under Rome’s dominion. Fighting broke out constantly between Rome and Carthage until Rome forces won a seven-year battle in about 240 B.C. Wells spoke about how peace of the two sides still left Carthage with a mess – looting on behalf of the returning soldiers who were not paid and disorder throughout the land. Wells make the point that cooler heads could have resulted in more progress and a better life for all. When Rome won their war with Carthage, they were punishing in severe ways, taking Spain, stealing most of their war ships, and imposing huge financial penalties. Taxes were shifted from citizens of Rome to the foreigner.

Looking for lessons from this book, chapter 26 provides many. The author speaks about how democracy was held back because of the lack of education of the population and the absence of a press that all could pull undisputed facts. He speaks to gerrymandering by Rome to control the vote and deny true representation. And he spoke to the growing super wealthy causing general dissatisfaction. It led to Julius Ceasar being named dictator for ten years in 46 B.C. then, the following year, dictator for life. Only the assassination of Ceasar by his former supporters changed the direction of the country. The attempt to have a republic collapsed largely because the good faith needed to hold together different views fell through. Their bond based on moral basis rather than a religious bond could not hold up into the first century B.C. People looked inward to what was personally desired rather than giving up some for the betterment of a system. The system turned to a monarchy.

Wells highlights the various groups of Roman emperors:
 Tiberius (A.D. 14 to 37), a capable ruler but became deeply unpopular in Rome.
 Caligula (A.D. 37 to 41), insane and eccentric. Murdered by his servants.
 Claudius (A.D. 41 to 54), uncle of Caligula. Hardworking and capable. He expanded the empire to the west.
 Nero (A.D. 54 to 68). Cruel, killing off family members. He became unpopular in Roam. Committed suicide.
Wells speaks to the years of order between 27 B.C. and A.D. 180 as “wasted opportunities” because it was years of spending rather than creating, where the rich grew richer and poor poorer. Limited reforms did take place on the use of slaves, like forbidding them to be required to participate in gladiator shows but the focus of society was to turn inward and not expand out to the growing cultures of India, China, or Persia. Wells says that the world “was not progressing during these two centuries of Roman prosperity” despite limited war or famine. Life was hardly worth living for the poor and enslaved. The author spells out that giving government to the rich and not spreading knowledge led to its downfall.

The book ends addressing the plight of the Jews, how they were rejected from their own land and about how Jesus preached from a boat upon the Lake of Galilee. He then moves to Asia where he does a vastly inadequate job in talking about this vast area of the world, drawing very little information and hurrying along a rich, interesting history.

Among so many facts, Wells raised in the book include:
 The telescope, Wells contends powerfully, was a “new phase in human thought, a new vision of life.” He writes that this instrument “released a human imagination,” like no other.
 It took man until the 18th century to study fossils systematically.
 The diameter of our world is slightly under 8,000 miles.
 Women probably started the industry of agriculture, using seeds and literally planting a home. They were responsible for food and collection of plants and probably decided to grow their own.
 Books of the Old Testament were in existence, much as they are today, 100 years before the birth of Christ.
 Ireland retained primitive life the longest, cut off from all the Keltic-speaking communities.
 Almost all information about the personality of Jesus is from the four Gospels written a few decades after his death – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Historians put most emphasis on the Gospel of St. Mark. These were the most revolutionary doctrines that changed human thought.

This book could use seriously use a timeline; that would be a game changer with so much time being reviewed and complicated titles summing up different periods of time. It would be helpful in putting it all in perspective, allow the reader to check in on where he or she is on the journey of life, and would be a vast improvement from the drawings that consume too many pages of this book.

Wells, an interesting character, produced an interesting book that holds up over time but could have been more focused.