--- product_id: 412140539 title: "The World: A Family History of Humanity" price: "$39.75" currency: USD in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/412140539-the-world-a-family-history-of-humanity store_origin: US region: United States of America --- # The World: A Family History of Humanity **Price:** $39.75 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The World: A Family History of Humanity - **How much does it cost?** $39.75 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/412140539-the-world-a-family-history-of-humanity) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families From the author of The Romanovs A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Smithsonian “ Succession meets Game of Thrones .” — The Spectator “The author brings his cast of dynastic titans, rogues and psychopaths to life...An epic that both entertains and informs.” — The Economist, Best Books of the Year Around 950,000 years ago, a family of five walked along the beach and left behind the oldest family footprints ever discovered. For award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, these poignant, familiar fossils serve as an inspiration for a new kind of world history, one that is genuinely global, spans all eras and all continents, and focuses on the family ties that connect every one of us. In this epic, ever-surprising book, Montefiore chronicles the world’s great dynasties across human history through palace intrigues, love affairs, and family lives, linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, and technology to the people at the heart of the human drama. It features a cast of extraordinary diversity: in addition to rulers and conquerors, there are priests, charlatans, artists, scientists, tycoons, gangsters, lovers, husbands, wives, and children. There is Hongwu, the beggar who founded the Ming dynasty; Ewuare, the Leopard-King of Benin; Henry Christophe, King of Haiti; Kamehameha, the conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, the Arab empress who defied Rome; Lady Murasaki, the first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, the Moroccan pirate-queen. Here too are moderns such as Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky. Here are the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads. These powerful families represent the breadth of human endeavor, with bloody succession battles, treacherous conspiracies, and shocking megalomania alongside flourishing culture, moving romances, and enlightened benevolence. A dazzling achievement as spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the whole human story in a single, masterful narrative. Review: This year's Mt Everest read - Wow! Montefiore links broad, global history in his uniquely personal way. It's a kind of behind-the-scenes, uncensored, gritty, raw history from the fragments of largely first-hand witnesses. If you're considering reading this masterpiece, be prepared for an immersive journey that will stay with you long after the 1000 pages are turned. One of the book's true strengths lies in experiencing it on Kindle. Montefiore leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for the history-deep divers. Montefiore's team have researched the latest historical perspectives and recent archeology. 'The World' should be enjoyed alongside its footnotes spiced with Montefiore's linguistic expressions. It's a rich tapestry. Montefiore's unique storytelling and wordhoard vocabulary shines through as he connects characters and timelines across generations. The seamless flow of history, long sections divided by estimated global population from Stoneage, Rome's Caesars, and the grand civilizations of China and Maya till now is a testament to the author's skill. The global, parallel history exploration of these societies in the ever-unfolding timeline adds more richness to the narrative. It's a treasure hunt. 'The World: A Family History of Humanity' invites readers to traverse the realms of parallel history. There's a sense of adventure here. It's an absolute must-read for history enthusiasts. p.s. I see way off-the-mark negative reviews snipping this or that irrelevance. Something other than this book might be motivating the snipping. Perhaps they read a different book. Review: A Seminal Work of Scholarship - I was shocked when I received the book as to how many pages and large it is. To put it mildly, it's a daunting task to read the book, at the same time a joy and a fascinating journey. I can only applaud the author for his skill, expertise, depth and the wonder I experienced in the six months it took to read it. I would recommend it to anyone, anytime. And, amazingly, though I knew some of my family history and knew it went back to at least the 1500's, my family name was on page 461 and another page of a couple of Portuguese ship captains. It mentions a map that one given to the Ottomans that had been captured by my (likely, not confirmed yet) distant relative. And guess what, I have a copy of that map that a friend picked up for me when she was in Ankara thirty years ago. Amazing. Again, you must read this book as it is a tome of family and human history that portrays us humans in all our glory, and evil. Thanks to Simon Seabag Montefiore for his masterpiece. ## Images ![The World: A Family History of Humanity - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81SitvGCEOL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This year's Mt Everest read *by S***E on July 17, 2023* Wow! Montefiore links broad, global history in his uniquely personal way. It's a kind of behind-the-scenes, uncensored, gritty, raw history from the fragments of largely first-hand witnesses. If you're considering reading this masterpiece, be prepared for an immersive journey that will stay with you long after the 1000 pages are turned. One of the book's true strengths lies in experiencing it on Kindle. Montefiore leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for the history-deep divers. Montefiore's team have researched the latest historical perspectives and recent archeology. 'The World' should be enjoyed alongside its footnotes spiced with Montefiore's linguistic expressions. It's a rich tapestry. Montefiore's unique storytelling and wordhoard vocabulary shines through as he connects characters and timelines across generations. The seamless flow of history, long sections divided by estimated global population from Stoneage, Rome's Caesars, and the grand civilizations of China and Maya till now is a testament to the author's skill. The global, parallel history exploration of these societies in the ever-unfolding timeline adds more richness to the narrative. It's a treasure hunt. 'The World: A Family History of Humanity' invites readers to traverse the realms of parallel history. There's a sense of adventure here. It's an absolute must-read for history enthusiasts. p.s. I see way off-the-mark negative reviews snipping this or that irrelevance. Something other than this book might be motivating the snipping. Perhaps they read a different book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Seminal Work of Scholarship *by D***. on August 16, 2024* I was shocked when I received the book as to how many pages and large it is. To put it mildly, it's a daunting task to read the book, at the same time a joy and a fascinating journey. I can only applaud the author for his skill, expertise, depth and the wonder I experienced in the six months it took to read it. I would recommend it to anyone, anytime. And, amazingly, though I knew some of my family history and knew it went back to at least the 1500's, my family name was on page 461 and another page of a couple of Portuguese ship captains. It mentions a map that one given to the Ottomans that had been captured by my (likely, not confirmed yet) distant relative. And guess what, I have a copy of that map that a friend picked up for me when she was in Ankara thirty years ago. Amazing. Again, you must read this book as it is a tome of family and human history that portrays us humans in all our glory, and evil. Thanks to Simon Seabag Montefiore for his masterpiece. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A magnum opus that needs copy editing, better indexing, and fact checking *by M***N on August 8, 2024* This world history's unique approach and the author's skill as a writer carries the reader through 1,262 pages. I read it all and it is worthwhile. I just emailed these comments to one of the contacts listed on the author's web site, a good summary of the book's shortcomings: Sir, a magnum opus such as your book, The World: A Family History of Humanity, deserves good editing, indexing, and fact checking. I refer to the First American edition published by Knopf, ISBN 9780525659532 (hardcover). I read your book over several months, finishing it in early August. There were more than a hundred clear copy-editing errors; I do not list any here. There were also places where a good editor could improve your choice of terms or your writing, without changing your preferred writing style. The index lacks needed entries. For example, there is no index entry for Pearl Harbor (page 1044, index page 1292). While the index does contain many place names, the bias--somewhat justified--of the index is toward indexing persons, due to the personal and family focus of your history. However normal standards of indexing should be observed even if it means expending more pages. I saw enough clear factual errors to make me nervous: Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941, not 8 December (page 1044). In the Korean War, McArthur did not counterattack with a million American troops. About 327 thousand of his troops were Americans, most were South Koreans, and of course there were contingents from more than 20 other countries (page 1086). Donald Trump was elected President in 2016 not 2019 (page 1246). That error should have been caught by any reviewer familiar with the quadrennial election cycle in the USA. A book as magnificent as this one deserves to be polished and perfected with better editing, indexing, and fact checking. I still recommend buying this book. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/412140539-the-world-a-family-history-of-humanity](https://www.desertcart.us/products/412140539-the-world-a-family-history-of-humanity) --- *Product available on Desertcart United States of America* *Store origin: US* *Last updated: 2026-07-07*