as someone who is not well versed in history, i enjoyed being able to read about the history of the world without getting too deep into the details. 

i have often found history difficult to learn about because of how many different people and places are involved, which i have trouble managing and organizing in my thoughts. 

i really liked that each chapter was its own historical event/era, which helped with keeping like events and figures together and separating those that are alike but similar. an example is the timeline between ancient rome and modern day italy, or the fact that there were emperors much later than i had originally thought. 

another point i enjoyed about this was the revisit and revisions that Gombrich included as part of the last chapter. this book came out long ago and misses a lot of the major events that happened after it, but he touches on some of those as part of this revision since it was added much later than the initial publication. this also included thoughts about patriotism and how that line is often blurred with nationalism; i wholeheartedly agree that “One can be attached to one’s own country without needing to insist that the rest of the world’s inhabitants are worthless”. this quote stood out to me because it seemed to me a common theme within all major conflicts of history, where one was deemed lesser than the other. 

my great uncle gave me this book in 2005 and i wish i would have read it sooner. i am thankful to have had someone in my life who cared so much about history and sharing knowledge, even if it did take me nearly 20 years to finally read this book.