I love nothing better than a doorstopping history tome!

"The World" by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a sweeping and ambitious work that attempts to encapsulate the entirety of human history in a single volume. Spanning from the earliest civilizations to the modern era, Montefiore's narrative is both comprehensive and accessible, offering readers a whirlwind tour of the key events, figures, and ideas that have shaped our world.

Montefiore's prose is engaging and informative, making even the most complex historical concepts understandable to the lay reader. His passion for the subject matter shines through on every page, bringing to life the triumphs and tragedies of humanity's collective journey.

However, some readers may find "The World" to be overwhelming in its scope. Montefiore covers a vast amount of material in a relatively short space, which can lead to a feeling of superficiality in certain sections. Additionally, his narrative occasionally lacks depth, focusing more on the broad strokes of history than on the nuanced complexities of individual events or periods.

Despite these limitations, "The World" serves as an excellent introduction to world history for those looking to broaden their understanding of the past. Montefiore's ability to distill millennia of human experience into a single volume is no small feat, and his book is sure to inspire further exploration and inquiry into the rich tapestry of our shared heritage.

The author is a master historian which gives him the confidence and authority to write a truly unique history of the work. Montefiore writes global history as the history of human families, from a prehistoric family who leave fossil footprints to great dynastic leaders to the less know but equally important along the way. So much information but so readable. Highly recommend.

This was an entertaining and informative read. I found myself sharing what I learned from this book with those around me. I recommend it to fans of good and highly readable non-fiction. Montefiore never disappoints!

The scope of this book is incredibly vast, and with a title like The World, you would expect it to be. In the foreward, Simon Sebag Montefiore writes that he wanted to present the entire span of human history as a story of families, and this book is a chronicle of major ruling dynasties and historical figures throughout the world who have had a part in shaping it. Across all of these stories of families can be found stories of war, political turmoil, technological advances, tragedies and triumphs alike, and human drama on a monumental scale. The book's strength is in some ways also its weakness. It's not easy to write an engaging history of the world that spans millennia and crosses continents, and with the sheer amount of detail here it's not difficult to lose sight of the forest for the trees. But overall, this is an incredible and ambitious work that will provide plenty of interesting avenues for readers to pursue.

A Simon Sebag Montefiore book is one worth waiting for. This one, also, does not disappoint. Its vast scope, intricate textures, and illuminating humanity allow us readers to inhabit so many lives across the centuries. In so many clever and entertaining ways, it problematizes what we think we know of world history and the most famous figures within it. Even a label like "must-read" does not adequately describe the place it should occupy in our readerly lives.

Thank you to NetGalley and the amazing publisher for the ARC of this title! I am so grateful to be auto-approved for this title!
I look forward to reading and reviewing. More to come!

This is a big which is very ambitious in scope and, for the most part, achieves what it tries to set out to do. This a story told with empathy.

Have been a big fan of the past works from Simon Sebag Montefiore and this latest one is a keeper.

There are only a couple books that I am compelled to pre-order before even finishing the galley, and this is one of them. If this book doesn't go on to be a modern class work of history, then I don't know what will. The book is ambitious in scope and marvelously unique in its theme. I'm really surprised that there hasn't been some attempt at this history before (if there is, I'm not aware) but Montefiore's story shows history at its finest: storytelling. When there seems to be talk about the need for empathy in history, this book deals with it head on.

The World is one of those books that I loved diving into each night to discover whatever I had never thought about before, and how the story of people, really at the end of the day, drives history. The counterargument to all of this will be that this is elitist history, the "great man" refigured from a different perspective. Sure, these are names that everyone will know, but I think it's worth considering just how influential family bonds are, not just individuals. In other words, people don't act in a vacuum, and that's true for those people who tend to hold power.

Read and savor this book!