History of the world

[Empire101]

I know they have an evolution twist but has anyone read books by Geoffrey Blainey (such as "A short history of the world") or Jared Diamond (such as "guns, germs & steel" or "Collapse")?

Not christian books but interesting topic about the history of the world.

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

 

[Occams Barber]

I know they have an evolution twist but has anyone read books by Geoffrey Blainey (such as "A short history of the world") or Jared Diamond (such as "guns, germs & steel" or "Collapse")?

Not christian books but interesting topic about the history of the world.

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

I've read both of the books you mentioned.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'written from the perspective of a Christian'. If you're looking at history the religious leaning of the author should be irrelevant.

Judging from what you've read you might like:

• 'A Short History of Christianity' by Geoff Blainey

and

• 'Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind' by Juval Noah Harari.

OB

 

[HereIStand]

I know they have an evolution twist but has anyone read books by Geoffrey Blainey (such as "A short history of the world") or Jared Diamond (such as "guns, germs & steel" or "Collapse")?

Not christian books but interesting topic about the history of the world.

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

Try Susan Wise Bauer's histories. She is Christian and takes the Old Testament patriarchs and the Genesis flood as historical. Also, for a broad view, try John Warwick Montgomery's Where is History Going?

 

[Chesterton]

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

This is probably not exactly what you're looking for, but I'll go ahead and recommend it anyway: The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton

 

[AlexDTX]

I know they have an evolution twist but has anyone read books by Geoffrey Blainey (such as "A short history of the world") or Jared Diamond (such as "guns, germs & steel" or "Collapse")?

Not christian books but interesting topic about the history of the world.

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

I am not familiar with those books but I read a series of books that helped me get a sense of world history that I was able to use in conjunction with building a chronology of the biblical narrative. This is "The Penguin Atlas of History" by Colin McEvedy. He made one base map atlas of Europe, North Africa and West Asia to chart the movements of mankind. He takes an evolutionary point of view assuming the cradle of mankind was in central Africa, but once he gets into actual documented history, it shows a very similar pattern of the spread of mankind as the biblical narrative.

Another book that I found extremely helpful was the Genesis Record by Dr. Henry Morris, especially the evidence he provides for the table of nations listed in Genesis chapter 10.

 

[Korean-American Christian]

I know they have an evolution twist but has anyone read books by Geoffrey Blainey (such as "A short history of the world") or Jared Diamond (such as "guns, germs & steel" or "Collapse")?

Not christian books but interesting topic about the history of the world.

I would like to find similar written from the perspective of christianity.

All books written by Susan Wise Bauer -
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Edition

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance (Second Revised Edition) (Vol. 2) (Story of the World)

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 4: The Modern Age: From Victoria's Empire to the End of the USSR

 

[Athanasius7]

I would also recommend The Everlasting Man.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

I am not a fan of histories that skim millennia and condense it into one book. I find it leaves you with a simplistic and often incorrect understanding. I rather read a book on an event, say a specific war or a biography or a century. Over time, as you read more, they start slotting into place, like a jigsaw puzzle. It is more labour intensive, but if you enjoy history, well worth it, as it brings far more depth to the narrative. You can supplement this with the 'big picture'-type of books on specific topics, but I don't think it a good way to understand history at all.

In addition, it depends how you see history. Is it 'one damn thing after another', predictable processes, 'Great Men', etc. or are you looking for revisionism of Western Exceptionalism like Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel? If the latter, try Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's books or Eric Hobshawn (if you can stomach a bit of socialist panegyric). If not, then try Niall Ferguson.
For Ancient history, few do it justice in this format in my opinion, except maybe Adrian Goldsworthy. These are all secular histories though.

I highly recommend Chesterton's Everlasting Man as well, but this is not a conventional history.

 

[JackRT]

I regard Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel as nothing less than brilliant.