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''A Little History of the World'' (originally in German, ''Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser'') is a history book by Ernst Gombrich. It was written in 1935 in Vienna, Austria, when Gombrich was 26 years old. He was rewriting it for English readers when he died in 2001, at 92, in London. Gombrich insisted only he translate it into English. After his death, the translation was completed by Caroline Mustill, an assistant to Gombrich from 1995 until his death, and granddaughter Leonie Gombrich, it was published in 2005 by Yale University Press. == Short history == The short history chronicles human development from the inventions of cavemen to the results of the First World War. Additionally, the book describes the beliefs of many major world religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, and incorporates these ideas into its narrative presentation of historical people and events. Leonie Gombrich explains in the book's introduction that Gombrich, writing the last phases of his doctoral thesis, corresponded with the young daughter of some friends, who wanted to know what he was spending all of his time on at work. It was a great pleasure for Gombrich to explain his doctoral work to the girl, using only words and concepts that children could understand. Convinced that an intelligent child could understand even seemingly complicated ideas in history, given that they were put into intelligible terms, Gombrich composed a sample chapter on the "Ritterzeit" (Time of the Knights), and sent it to the publisher Walter Neurath. Excited about the text, but somewhat pressed for time, Neurath asked Gombrich to produce a complete script in six weeks, so that the book could be printed. Unsure of his ability to satisfy such a demand, Gombrich, after some convincing, promised to try. He set himself to the task of writing a chapter a day (with the exception of Sundays, when he would share his work with his later wife, Ilse Heller). He spent his mornings and afternoons reading in his home and at the library and reserved his evenings for composition.〔 His themes he chose based on what seemed to him to be the most influencing events in history—from a modern perspective, and based upon what remains best remembered. Somewhat miraculously, he delivered the text on time, and the book appeared to the public in 1936. Later, the book was banned during the National Socialist (Nazi) regime for being too pacifistic.〔 (Little History of the World'', English Edition, Preface. ) Gombrich's goal in the book is summarized in his following words, which appear in the foreword to the book's Turkish edition:
(The above information is contained in the foreword, by his granddaughter, the writer, Leonie Gombrich.) Anthony Grafton, in the ''Wall Street Journal'', reviewed Gombrich's book: "Lucky children will have this book read to them. Intelligent adults will read it for themselves and regain contact with the spirit of European humanism at its best." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A Little History of the World」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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