Bøger i Shortest History serien

In this thrilling history, David Baker captures the longest-possible time span-from the Big Bang to the present day-in an astonishingly concise retelling. His impressive timeline includes the "rise of complexity" in the cosmos and the creation of the first atoms; the origin of all galaxies, stars, and our solar system; and the evolution of life on Earth, from tiny single-celled organisms to human beings.Weaving together insights across the sciences-including chemistry, physics, biology, archaeology, and anthropology-Baker answers the fundamental questions: How did time begin? Why does matter exist? What made life on Earth the way it is? He also argues that never before has life on Earth been forced to adjust to a changing climate so rapidly, nor has one species ever been responsible for such sudden change. Baker's grand view offers the clearest picture of what may come next-and the role we can still play in our planet's fate.

A wise, illuminating little book' Sydney Morning Herald'An entertaining, learned piece of historical compression' The Age'Great stuff . . . the book as a whole is constantly thought-provoking' Courier Mail'Beautifully and sparely constructed, yet rich in fact, feeling and detail -- sweeping, challenging and funny' James Button'The balance of analysis and description, generalisation and specific instance, is beautifully maintained' ABRDescribing the birth of European civilisation from an unlikely mixture of three elements - classical learning, Christianity and German warrior culture - The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid historical overview from the ancient Greeks to the dawn of the modern era.In each later chapter, the author returns to explore in more detail one aspect of Europe's remarkable history: its political evolution; its linguistic boundaries and their defining influence; the crucial role played by power struggles between Pope and Emperor; and the great invasions and conquests that have transformed the continent. Along the way we meet a cast of highly distinctive characters, from pious knights to belligerent popes, from German romanti spouting folklore to French revolutionaries imitating their Roman heroes.Written with clarity, feeling and wit, The Shortest History of Europe is a tour-de-force of compression: it will be read in an afternoon, but remembered for a lifetime.