A history of Civilizations by Fernand Braudel
First of all I’m going to make an admission, not to be confused with an apology. I have not finished this book. I cannot bring myself to waste any more of my time. I am on page 140 and I cannot face the other four hundred or so. If, after 140 pages and a forty pages preface an author has not managed to interest me in some way, then he or she never will. This is an awful book; avoid it!
As its title suggests, this book is supposed to be an overview of the history of civilizations on our planet. It was intended that it be studied by French high school students, but it is hard to see how any history teacher would have got out of his classroom alive should he have used this coma inducing rubbish.
To be fair, the book probably suffers much in translation. The prose is tough going and plods along, giving information in the least direct way. Having said this, the introduction is interesting. Braudel’s theories on how to interest children in history are worth a read. After this it is all downhill.
As the book was first published in 1963 one would expected it to be a little outdated; it certainly is this as well as Eurocentric and chauvinistic. The first two sections deal with Islam and Africa and towards both Braudel assumes the air of a benevolent school teacher, trying to encourage his students to do better. If only these two areas of the world could make some changes, then they too could come up to the level of the star pupil (the West). You can almost hear the resignation and pity in Braudel’s voice.
Braudel makes lots of statements for which he offers no supporting evidence. Byzantium was beaten from within? If that’s your opinion, fine, but don’t offer it as fact and then move onto your next point without so much as a justifying sentence.
There are many books available that claim to be an overview of the history of civilization. They all suffer from the same problem: having to cover too much ground for any person, era or place to make an impression. Braudel’s book is no exception.
If you are inclined to read a book of this type go for the similarly titled Civilizations by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. Its prose has much more verve and it is more up to date.
Before you pity other, less stellar cultures, consider how much is luck and location. I very much enjoyed Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel. It is not a history of civilization, but an attempt to understand and explain the spread of various cultural benefits.
Well to be clear, it’s not me pitying these other cultures. I think it’s obvious from my review that I am parodying Braudel’s opinion that somehow the West is the example that all other cultures should be trying to emulate.
It’s an interesting point about luck and location and one that Braudel himself touches upon. Fernandez-Armesto deals with this issue at greater length and with more perception and clarity. I do think however that there is much to be said about how the West has, and continues to exploit the rest of the world for its own ends. Take Africa for example. It has been thoroughly robbed of its natural resources, not to mention the human suffering caused by European colonial empires. This is where it is difficult to stomach Braudel who is of the opinion that “gifts” such as the supposedly unifying languages of French and English, railway links and an education system somehow ameliorate the damage done.
Sorry. My comment was clumsily stated. It was a generic “you” as in:
Before anyone pities other, less stellar cultures….
One of the things I got from Diamond’s book was an appreciation for how much knowledge and skill it requires to live in a so-called primitive culture. The native of New Guinea may not know how to live in New York City, but a New Yorker could not survive at all in the the jungles of New Guinea.
Ah, now it makes sense.
Yes I’ll definitely give Diamond a go. Thanks for giving my blog the time of day. Drop in again and check out some other stuff sometime.