After Eden is an accessible look at humanity's trajectory and impact, within a global context. For a relatively short book when considering the entirety of the world's history, Chasteen does a good job at hitting the key points and explaining them in conjunction with events happening in other parts of the world. The structure of the book is very helpful in keeping on track, as the main overarching theme is split into subsections that address a particular region or element. Overall, a well researched history that provides a global perspective while also highlighting specific events and patterns at a local level.

After Eden: A Short History of the World is exactly the sort of thing I like: A thoroughly accessible trip through human history, reframing the events I was aware of through the added context of those things I had not known or considered. For example: I had heard before of Spaniards working conquered indigenous people of the Americas to death in silver mines, but I never knew that that was to satisfy Ming China’s need for portable currency in their booming domestic economy; Europe wanted silks and porcelain, but the only thing China wanted in return was silver (until, eventually, England appeared in Chinese ports with their war ships and said, “We don’t care for this trade deficit, old chaps, so we’re going to have to insist you start buying this opium we’re growing in India.”) Author (and professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) John Charles Chasteen makes countless such connections in this book, illustrating how farms led to cities and empires, and eventually, the global market economy of a handful of winners and billions of losers that we see today. Chasteen proves that there is nothing natural or inevitable about the systems we have in place today, making the incredibly urgent point that only by understanding human history can we see a different path forward: one that prioritises the well-being of everyone and the planet we live on. So whether one is interested in seeing a different way forward or simply reading a holistic story of our shared past, After Eden is stuffed with fascinating information, and I loved it all.