After three and a half years I have finally finished. Lost, found, given away, rebought, stopped and started many a time, I have just read the final lines of J.M. Roberts' "History of the World". Probably the most remarkable bit of scholarship I have read. To deal with such an all encompassing subject without loss of interest or purpose and within only 1200 pages (of admittedly very small print) is a phenomnal achievement.
It is just a pity that this is the last version the author will ever write, passing away in May 2003. I feel compelled to recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the past and the influence it has on all our lives. A wonderful guide to how the ever entwining web of culture, politics and peoples fits together.
I conclude with his final, as ever, inciteful lines:
"...the past is with all of us, for good and ill. History, we must recognize, still clutters up our present and there is no sign that will come to an end."
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