The best History of Civilization & Culture books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I too enjoyed reading Sapiens.

The book goes in-depth how much of the world is a "fiction" around us - LLCs aren't real, baseball's rules aren't real, capitalism isn't real. But if the reader's takeaway means that "fiction" == "not real and therefore meaningless", they've hugely missed the point.

It should be mandatory that everyone either read or watch the documentary Guns Germs and Steel. Because on the face of it it wouldnt be a unfair question to ask why did Europeans become the most advanced and dominated other cultures. Guns Germs and Steel lays out a rock solid case on and to sum up the answer comes down to Geography and timing not because of superiority of any race. But the answer is even more complicated then that... andv to sit there and argue with these knuckleheads with this long complicated arguments is pointless. It would be better if kids learn young about why these discrepancies exist so we can shut down those questions early on.

The primary source is the Greenland chapter in Jared Diamond's "Collapse Another book on the pre-Columbian North American ivory trade is Farley Mowat's "the Far Farer's Mowat's book "West Viking" in 1961 had endorsed the theory that the Vikings had really made it to North America. When they found the Viking settlement at L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Mowat realized that it was not an agricultural settlement but a pirate outpost to prey on existing shipping.

Even Columbus sailed off the shores of Greenland in 1477. His brother was in Bristol England advocating for a trans-Atlantic voyage, when Columbus made his first 1492 voyage. When news of his success reached England, the Bristol traders sent Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) to re-establish their trade with North America. They made more money off fish and fur than the Spanish made in gold.

You should read Sapiens, the author explains how the agricultural revolution was a horrible thing for mankind.

tl;dr : We stopped eating diverse foods, which were then more prone to parasites, began to live together and spread diseases among us, stopped running like our bodies are supposed to and began working with our backs curved, which gave us hernias and stuff, etc.

The book isn't just about the agricultural revolution, it's about the history of our species from the first homo sapiens to right now. Amazing book, very trippy.

you make it sound as if I personally take some EU funds. And you have a really condescending attitude. "You take our money, we helped you, so you must listen as we tell you". From my perspective (I am Czech), it was Germany and Russia who fucked my country up 80 years ago. One side Nazis killing slavic people because they were untermenschen, on the other side fucking USSR. If it were not for these two countries, communism would not have decimated eastern Europe. You need some history lessons

https://www.amazon.com/Bloodlands-Europe-Between-Hitler-Stalin/dp/0465031471

and nowadays we see history repeating itself. Gemany is no more nazistic and imperialistic, but it is spineless and enabling another fascist Regime, which is current Russia. Russia is again threatening other countries

I started reading the book "Sapiens: a brief history of humankind" per my boss' recommendation. Now our department has two cynical persons facing an existential crisis and constantly discussing how transient and seemingly meaningless humankind is to the earth. And we agree that, as humankind, we are committing a very slow suicide.

That aside, it makes a good read. Not too much of an academic paper but deep enough to make you think.

There was a great book published a couple years ago about the Bronze Age collapse: "1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed" by Eric Cline. He has his own idea, of course, of what happened, but it also contains what I thought was a great overview of what little we know about what was going on at the time as well as the various theories advanced about it. The only thing I disliked about it is that the author lapses into elaborate technical detail and terminology occasionally, but it's worth muddling through, or doing quick search on Wikipedia for.

I highly recommend it if you're interested!

https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691168385

I don't think so.

I took an online class based on this book and it has a good theory in it. It's been a few years but, IIRC, Harari says that the followers of monotheistic religions are almost required to suppress or eliminate other religions and their deities. If your god is the only true god, all other gods must be false gods or your entire religion is false. Nobody likes their religion being called a false religion, especially when they're deeply emotionally invested in the religion.

Basically, IMO, calling pagan gods "demons" is the result of a smear campaign against those gods and religions tied to them by monotheistic religions. Polytheistic/pagan religions are much older than monotheistic religions, but one of the results of this drive to prove that YHWH is the one "true god" is that some of the other deities became "demons". And the Bible, of course, has to reflect this bias.

Yes, you have some people who believe in monotheistic religions and are more secular. But this smear campaign was run by the church and people who were/are deeply religious and fundamentalist.

100 years ago, if you had breast cancer, they’d pretty much cut your entire chest off.

We’ve gone from that to using the body’s immune system to target and kill stage 4 cancer cells. That’s a huge improvement imo.

If you're looking for a book to read, The Emperor of All Maladies is fascinating.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

It reads almost like a mystery novel even though you know how it will end, weirdly enough. I highly recommend it to anyone who has been touched by cancer.

I'm having some difficulty discerning what's new here. So, for example, the promotion blurb on Eric Cline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed notes:

>In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes.

Thanks! Snyder is a great writer. Bloodlands is definitely worth the read -- it's a look at the mass killings under the Hitler and Stalin regimes. If that sounds like both-sides-ism or something, it's more like 'political mass murder' is itself the center of the story, often told from the point of view of its victims.

IMHO this is a semantics issue that stems from American political culture. Many words/phrases have been co-opted by one of the two major political movements (right or left) in the United States. Using these words triggers a Pavlovian (often hostile) response from people with politically indoctrinated minds. A majority of American TBMs are deeply entrenched in this world of confrontational political ideology.

Recognize the subconscious emotional responses that are triggered when you hear/read the following words:

Patriotism, Climate, Defense, Feminism, Drugs, Immigrant, Ground Zero, Fascist, Handouts, Abortion, Safety Net, Civil Rights, Preemptive, Guns, Black, White, Extremist.

Remember, these are just words. People's ideas give them meaning. Pointing out this phenomenon isn't a value statement by me on anyone's personally held moral values (which should hopefully be able to endure rational analysis and modification).

I've seen many exmos retain their exact same political stance after leaving TSCC. Just because a person has become self-aware of a strongly held and harmful myth-belief called "religion" doesn't mean they will automatically become self-aware of another strongly held and often harmful myth-belief called "politics".

Let us all just be good humans to each other.

Oh...and read Sapiens. That book clears up a LOT of this stuff.

Philosophy, writing, gaming, art (music, photography, /r/glitch_art). Honestly anything classified as a "soft science" kinda gets my motor going. I also really like anthorpology...specifically food anthro. I just started reading through Salt: A World History, and it's been interesting so far. From Amazon: > In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

Having armies and defence forces that can destroy entire nations is a big deterrent, in Sapiens Harare attributes our declining major international conflict rates to this.

I’m reading the book, Sapiens, at the moment. It contains a long chapter about this specific topic. I would recommend this book to anyone from beginning to the end.

OOOO you should read this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552

​

Really good.

Long story short: population density allowed for these diseases to grow and become not a problem in Europe far earlier than in the Americas. Americas were just too big, not old enough, and didn't have enough domesticable animals for this to occur.

great read on this topic

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552

This is a fantastic read which both addresses this sentiment and explores why some areas of the world didn't follow suit in industrialization. I'm not a big reader but it is pretty great. Even has some pictures.

When I was in college we got to go to an old aristocrat's home in France where the guy had died with no family and the place was left relatively untouched (I'm sure it was restored).

I remember looking around and imagining his life and thinking -- Man, I live so much better than this this would be terrible.

That comforts me. We live better than all the other people that ever lived. Also to realize the scale of time and universe and feel and accept the meaninglessness on that scale. You can also see how arbitrary literally everything is and realize no matter your choices and beliefs they are also arbitrary -- then you can pick something that makes you happy.

Check out https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095

As far as resources go, it depends on your specific questions but I would recommend How the Catholic Church built Western Civilization and God and the Philosophers. You should be able to buy used copies of these cheaply on Amazon.

EDIT: Also, read Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. You should be able to find this at your local library.

I also recommend reading Fides et Ratio, if your up to it. It's a papal letter to the entire church on faith and reason, written by one of the great giants of the 20th century, Pope John Paul II. I linked to it elsewhere in the thread.

Yes, and it's fantastic. https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095

Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout.

New York Times Bestseller

A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?

Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

The book that these bullet points come from is called Bloodlands:Europe between Hitler and Stalin, and is extremely in depth and readable.

I recently read a book about the Bronze Age civilization collapsing. It was eye-opening. This seems to happen at about 1500-year intervals (last was Romans?). It does seem inevitable (we're overdue) that our society will collapse but I'm not entirely sure humanity is done. Our economic and political structures may collapse/significantly change. It'll probably be awful to live through, for those that make it, but new systems will rise. Humanity will continue. It will continue to make very poor choices leading to its harm because we're all selfish, short-sighted, and frankly, often pretty stupid.

But enjoy the better parts of it while you're here. Try to make it decent for yourself and others in the process. (I need this reminder, too).

Check out Bloodlands if you want see just how bad it was in Eastern Europe and why Russia believes the Ukraine belongs to them.

Pretty sure that comment is referencing this book, which gives a solid case for why Europe in particular dominated the world in the Colonial Era.

Yes, sodium is sodium. There's plenty of salt around though — if you're into it, the book Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky is excellent, genuinely one of the best books I've ever read about a seemingly niche topic.

Adding extra words to your frantic grasp at straws doesn't make it any less of a frantic grasp at straws.

>You should read this book, written by a University Historian, about the history of homosapians: https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095

Have you read this book? Aside from the fact that I literally already touched on the basics of human evolution so mentioning anything else is not going g to change anything I said with respect to that.

>"In 2003, scientists completed the Human Genome Project" "If separate racial or ethnic groups actually existed, we would expect to find “trademark” genetic features (alleles) that are characteristic of a single group but not present in any others."

The genetic markers for blue eyes didn't exist until 10,000 years ago. Make of that what you will, which I'm sure will be out of proportion nor responded to in any useful fashion.

Religion is man made, invented by homo sapiens, become prominent during ice age, used effectively as a tool to conquer and plunder, read the book Sapiens (https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095)

> in short Jews have nothing to do with christian civilization or scxienbce

I don't think that "judeochristian" term is referring to people so much as the line of God's revelation.

As a Christian, I believe that I am connected in the faith at least to Abraham at least, and somewhat to Noah and even back to Adam.

> catholic europe did hardly more science then india or Asia

I strongly disagree. There were centuries of infrastructure, culture and craftsmanship that the Catholic Church built up including the printing press, Galileo, Universities. Much of it is taken for granted, including "discovery" of the Americas.

For an academic study of the subject, I recommend the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Church-Built-Western-Civilization/dp/1596983280