Resumo de Intimate History Of Humanity

What a wonderful andintelligent book to read agian and again. Theodore Zeldin discusses in 25chapters the past, the present and the future. These are just some of thetitles in the book, and as you can see the subjects are just enchanting inevery way, and it drives the reader to get involved in every way, and make hisown beliefs and thoughts.An intellectually dazzling view of our past andfuture.The 25 chapters that followbear titles like How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters,and a new pair of spectacles, revive them," and "How people choose away of life, and how it does not wholly satisfy them." This portrait is followedby a history of slavery--not a linear history, but a selective highlighting ofrelevant themes and moments in the history of slavery. This first chapter isone of the strongest in the book, and I summarize it as an example of Zeldin'sproject at its brightest. Such a history might help to disabuse us of thefeelings of necessity and immutability that hover about our frustrations. The lack of relativism isquite intentional. Zeldin is inspired by the universalism of the Enlightenment,and speaks admiringly of the Declaration of the Rights of Man as being adeclaration not just for the French people, but for all people. Despite thestaggering breadth of Zeldin's reading, despite the range and diversity of thelives he portrays, this book ultimately makes for a disappointingly narrowread.And while it is hard tofault the impressive range of material that Zeldin leads us through quitecomfortably, certain choices narrow the breadth of the book even further. Whilewe do get the occasional glimpse into the rich cultures of India, China, andJapan (less so with cultures with less sophisticated literary traditions) mostof his anecdotes draw from the history of the Christian and Muslim West. To seethe many ways they have solved those problems is fascinating and liberating. The scopeis so wide ranging, the range of fascinating tiny details so vast, that it'sdifficult to review, and impossible to summarize, at least with my paltryexpository skills. Instead of explaining the peculiarity of individuals bypointing to their family or childhood, I take a longer view: I show how theypay attention to--or ignore--the experience of previous, more distantgenerations, and how they are continuing the struggles of many othercommunities all over the world ...

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