Almost Everything that Ever Happened

A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future by Charles Van Doren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There's a lot to enjoy in this book. It is very readable with a suitably broad scope, and it is filled with things I didn't know or only half-knew or looked at a different way before, especially with reference to ancient times. I'll admit, that's what I was looking for most, and so that was the part I enjoyed most.

The discussion of modern times has some interesting twists--the author refers to WWI and WWII as a single war with a pause in the middle, and I found that perspective and the discussion that went with it useful. The closer we get to modern times, the more it looks like topics in cultural history rather than an overview of the progress of knowledge, and looking back over it I think that's really what the author was going for. The description after the title and subtitle would probably be more accurate and could be reworked into a title: "The pivotal events, people, and achievements of world history." I get it that he had to settle for just the pivotal moments. It is, after all, a single volume, not an encyclopedia; he had to choose what he included.

The last section, about the future, written about 1990, is interesting because of what has come true and what hasn't. He was overly optimistic about the future of communism in China (at least so far as we can see 28 years after) but his discussion of AI sounds like it could have been written this year. He has other hits and misses, looked at with the benefit of hindsight, but it may be that the next few decades will prove him right on a few more things.

Although I was entertained and engaged in some sections, especially the first half, I did not find the entire book compelling. (Is that on me? Maybe.) Nevertheless, I give high marks for erudition and clarity, finding it comprehensible throughout, and recommend it for other non-expert history enthusiasts.

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