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Titans of History: The Giants Who Made Our World
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanovs —and one of our pre-eminent historians and a prizewinning writer—comes an inspiring, horrifying, and accessible collection of short, entertaining, and vivid life stories about the giant characters who have changed the course of world history.
These titans of history—encompassing queens, empresses, and actresses, kings, sultans, and conquerors, as well as prophets, artists, courtesans, psychopaths, and explorers—lived lives of astonishing drama, courage and adventure, debauchery and slaughter, virtue and crime. The subjects range widely throughout time and geography from Buddha and Genghis Khan to Nero and Churchill; from Catherine the Great and Anne Frank to Toussaint l’Ouverture and Martin Luther King; from Mozart to Mao; from Jesus Christ and Shakespeare to Einstein and Elvis. Through these lives, Montefiore recounts the most momentous world events—from ancient times to the Crusades, the Holocaust, and the Gulf Wars.
These are the historical figures that everyone should know and the stories we should never forget.
These titans of history—encompassing queens, empresses, and actresses, kings, sultans, and conquerors, as well as prophets, artists, courtesans, psychopaths, and explorers—lived lives of astonishing drama, courage and adventure, debauchery and slaughter, virtue and crime. The subjects range widely throughout time and geography from Buddha and Genghis Khan to Nero and Churchill; from Catherine the Great and Anne Frank to Toussaint l’Ouverture and Martin Luther King; from Mozart to Mao; from Jesus Christ and Shakespeare to Einstein and Elvis. Through these lives, Montefiore recounts the most momentous world events—from ancient times to the Crusades, the Holocaust, and the Gulf Wars.
These are the historical figures that everyone should know and the stories we should never forget.
640 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2012
About the author
Simon Sebag Montefiore
63 books2,845 followersSimon Sebag Montefiore is the author of the global bestsellers 'The Romanovs' and 'Jerusalem: the Biography,' 'Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar' and Young Stalin and the novels Sashenka and One Night in Winter and "Red Sky at Noon." His books are published in 48 languages and are worldwide bestsellers. He has won prizes in both non-fiction and fiction. He read history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, where he received his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).
'The Romanovs' is his latest history book. He has now completed his Moscow Trilogy of novels featuring Benya Golden and Comrade Satinov, Sashenka, Dashka and Fabiana.... and Stalin himself.
Buy in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Winter-...
"A thrilling work of fiction. Montefiore weaves a tight, satisfying plot, delivering surprises to the last page. Stalin's chilling charisma is brilliantly realised. The novel's theme is Love: family love, youthful romance, adulterous passion. One Night in Winter is full of redemptive love and inner freedom." Evening Standard
"Gripping and cleverly plotted. Doomed love at the heart of a violent society is the heart of Montefiore's One Night in Winter... depicting the Kafkaesque labyrinth into which the victims stumble." The Sunday Times
"Compulsively involving. Our fear for the children keeps up turning the pages... We follow the passions with sympathy... The knot of events tugs at a wide range of emotions rarely experienced outside an intimate tyranny." The Times
"The novel is hugely romantic. His ease with the setting and historical characters is masterly. The book maintains a tense pace. Uniquely terrifying. Heartrending. Engrossing. " The Scotsman
“Delicately plotted and buried within a layered, elliptical narrative, One Night in Winter is also a fidgety page-turner which adroitly weaves a huge cast of characters into an arcane world.” Time Out
“A novel full of passion, conspiracy, hope, despair, suffering and redemption, it transcends boundaries of genre, being at once thriller and political drama, horror and romance. His ability to paint Stalin in such a way to make the reader quake with fire is matched by talent for creating truly heartbreaking characters: the children who find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy, the parents…. A gripping read and must surely be one of the best novels of 2013. ” NY Journal of Books
"Not just a thumpingly good read, but also essentially a story of human fragility and passions, albeit taking place under the intimidating shadow of a massive Stalinist portico." The National
"Seriously good fun... the Soviet march on Berlin, nightmarish drinking games at Stalin's countryhouse, the magnificence of the Bolshoi, interrogations, snow, sex and exile... lust adultery and romance. Eminently readable and strangely affecting." Sunday Telegraph
" "Hopelessly romantic and hopelessly moving. A mix of lovestory thriller and historical fiction. Engrossing." The Observer
“Gripping. Montefiore’s characters snare our sympathy and we follow them avidly. This intricate at times disturbing, always absorbing novel entertains and disturbs and seethes with moral complexity. Characters real+fictitious ring strikingly true.It is to a large extent Tolstoyan …..” The Australian
“Enthralling. Montefiore writes brilliantly about Love - from teenage romance to the grand passion of adultery. Readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel will lap this up. A historical novel that builds into a nail-biting drama … a world that resembles… Edith Wharton with the death penalty.” Novel of
'The Romanovs' is his latest history book. He has now completed his Moscow Trilogy of novels featuring Benya Golden and Comrade Satinov, Sashenka, Dashka and Fabiana.... and Stalin himself.
Buy in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Winter-...
"A thrilling work of fiction. Montefiore weaves a tight, satisfying plot, delivering surprises to the last page. Stalin's chilling charisma is brilliantly realised. The novel's theme is Love: family love, youthful romance, adulterous passion. One Night in Winter is full of redemptive love and inner freedom." Evening Standard
"Gripping and cleverly plotted. Doomed love at the heart of a violent society is the heart of Montefiore's One Night in Winter... depicting the Kafkaesque labyrinth into which the victims stumble." The Sunday Times
"Compulsively involving. Our fear for the children keeps up turning the pages... We follow the passions with sympathy... The knot of events tugs at a wide range of emotions rarely experienced outside an intimate tyranny." The Times
"The novel is hugely romantic. His ease with the setting and historical characters is masterly. The book maintains a tense pace. Uniquely terrifying. Heartrending. Engrossing. " The Scotsman
“Delicately plotted and buried within a layered, elliptical narrative, One Night in Winter is also a fidgety page-turner which adroitly weaves a huge cast of characters into an arcane world.” Time Out
“A novel full of passion, conspiracy, hope, despair, suffering and redemption, it transcends boundaries of genre, being at once thriller and political drama, horror and romance. His ability to paint Stalin in such a way to make the reader quake with fire is matched by talent for creating truly heartbreaking characters: the children who find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy, the parents…. A gripping read and must surely be one of the best novels of 2013. ” NY Journal of Books
"Not just a thumpingly good read, but also essentially a story of human fragility and passions, albeit taking place under the intimidating shadow of a massive Stalinist portico." The National
"Seriously good fun... the Soviet march on Berlin, nightmarish drinking games at Stalin's countryhouse, the magnificence of the Bolshoi, interrogations, snow, sex and exile... lust adultery and romance. Eminently readable and strangely affecting." Sunday Telegraph
" "Hopelessly romantic and hopelessly moving. A mix of lovestory thriller and historical fiction. Engrossing." The Observer
“Gripping. Montefiore’s characters snare our sympathy and we follow them avidly. This intricate at times disturbing, always absorbing novel entertains and disturbs and seethes with moral complexity. Characters real+fictitious ring strikingly true.It is to a large extent Tolstoyan …..” The Australian
“Enthralling. Montefiore writes brilliantly about Love - from teenage romance to the grand passion of adultery. Readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel will lap this up. A historical novel that builds into a nail-biting drama … a world that resembles… Edith Wharton with the death penalty.” Novel of
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
October 16, 2018
This Vintage paperback original published just published this October is the kind of thing people slaving away in their individual silos might like to read in snatches to put major figures in history in their proper perspective. I always wanted something like this when I was learning history: ordinarily we look individually at parts of the world. This book integrates history.
Each figure Montefiore chooses to introduce ordinarily gets a page or two. This is just enough to tell the major contributions of figures you may have only heard of but didn’t know why they were remembered. What was so interesting for me was that the history is chronological so we can see widely disparate events, discoveries, inventions with their contemporaneous personages elsewhere in the world, Walter Raleigh was roughly contemporaneous with Tokugawa Ieyasu and Akbar the Great.
In one memorable entry, Montefiore places the Borgias together: Pope Alexander VI and his children, Cesare and his sister Lucrezia. The details of this family are so gruesome—the face slowly destroyed by syphilis and covered with a golden mask—that we wonder their foothold lasted so long and the conditions of society that produced it. Rodrigo Borgia, who eventually called himself Pope Alexander VI, was reputed to be seductively charming in person but that hardly seems enough to sustain a reign of debauchery and vice. Montefiore gives a few clues which the interested reader might pursue to a more rigorous study.
Women, South Americans, and Black Africans get relatively short shrift, but then so have they through time. These are names we for the most part recognize already, giving us a few short details about the lives of each. Isaac Babel and Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov have back-to-back entries, Babel being noted for his Red Calvary stories relating the brutality of Lenin’s 1920 war on Poland. Yezhov is remembered for the frenzy of his arrests as a secret policeman under Stalin, anticipating the direction of the leader without explicit instructions. He does the job requested of him but “he doesn’t know when to stop,” is how a colleague described him.
In the modern day, relatively few people are singled out, and those are mostly politicians or government leaders. JFK, Gorbachav, Elvis, Saddam Hussein, Muhammed Ali, Pol Pot, Thatcher…there are a few others, but the weighting is clear. In the end this book is grist for the mill. We can argue about what the author has chosen, but we would have to put together a series of arguments. It could be a fruitful endeavor for someone interested in how individuals shape events.
Each figure Montefiore chooses to introduce ordinarily gets a page or two. This is just enough to tell the major contributions of figures you may have only heard of but didn’t know why they were remembered. What was so interesting for me was that the history is chronological so we can see widely disparate events, discoveries, inventions with their contemporaneous personages elsewhere in the world, Walter Raleigh was roughly contemporaneous with Tokugawa Ieyasu and Akbar the Great.
In one memorable entry, Montefiore places the Borgias together: Pope Alexander VI and his children, Cesare and his sister Lucrezia. The details of this family are so gruesome—the face slowly destroyed by syphilis and covered with a golden mask—that we wonder their foothold lasted so long and the conditions of society that produced it. Rodrigo Borgia, who eventually called himself Pope Alexander VI, was reputed to be seductively charming in person but that hardly seems enough to sustain a reign of debauchery and vice. Montefiore gives a few clues which the interested reader might pursue to a more rigorous study.
Women, South Americans, and Black Africans get relatively short shrift, but then so have they through time. These are names we for the most part recognize already, giving us a few short details about the lives of each. Isaac Babel and Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov have back-to-back entries, Babel being noted for his Red Calvary stories relating the brutality of Lenin’s 1920 war on Poland. Yezhov is remembered for the frenzy of his arrests as a secret policeman under Stalin, anticipating the direction of the leader without explicit instructions. He does the job requested of him but “he doesn’t know when to stop,” is how a colleague described him.
In the modern day, relatively few people are singled out, and those are mostly politicians or government leaders. JFK, Gorbachav, Elvis, Saddam Hussein, Muhammed Ali, Pol Pot, Thatcher…there are a few others, but the weighting is clear. In the end this book is grist for the mill. We can argue about what the author has chosen, but we would have to put together a series of arguments. It could be a fruitful endeavor for someone interested in how individuals shape events.
October 12, 2018
Titans of History is literally a chronological collection of abridged biographies averaging three pages per "titan". Three pages, really?
I have no idea how this format is suppose to provide any real insight into any person. The sad truth that there is far more information available on Wikipedia and while not an accurate font of information, at least Wikipedia cites and references its sources.
A dull, insubstantial snapshot of our history as human beings on a planet that deserves far better.
I have no idea how this format is suppose to provide any real insight into any person. The sad truth that there is far more information available on Wikipedia and while not an accurate font of information, at least Wikipedia cites and references its sources.
A dull, insubstantial snapshot of our history as human beings on a planet that deserves far better.
July 26, 2018
I would have gotten more out of Titans of History if I had just been handed a typed page of all the names included in the book and then gone on to read the Wikipedia entry on each of them on my own. The short biographies are, of course, well written, but why anyone thought it would be a good idea to distill these people's lives into little more than three pages apiece is beyond me. It lacks depth, information, and consequently, interest.
Titans of History is the kind of book that will find itself relegated to bathroom reading material. It's interesting enough and gives its information in short, manageable chunks while allowing you to emerge with a fun factoid or two after you've finished.
Titans of History is the kind of book that will find itself relegated to bathroom reading material. It's interesting enough and gives its information in short, manageable chunks while allowing you to emerge with a fun factoid or two after you've finished.
August 16, 2018
— DISCLAIMER: I received a free e-arc of this book via NetGalley - thank you to NetGalley and Vintage! All opinions expressed in this review are my own. I should also add that I am a trained historian and as such will likely be biased in reviewing a history book. —
When I first found out that I would be reviewing a book written by Simon Sebag Montefiore, I couldn’t contain my excitement, as back when I was a baby student and wrote my very first history paper for university, his book on Stalin and Molotov was one of my main sources and I really enjoyed it. But to be honest, I had a hard time with this book. I tried very hard to shut off my academic historian voice and keep in mind that it is intended to be a popular history book, however, I feel like some of the issues I had with it were intensified when considering that this would be read by people who might not have read anything else on this subject.
In the beginning, I felt like the choices were made well in respect to diversity, both gender and location, and I even found out about a couple of medieval women I need to read more on (sadly, women were much less prominent as the volume continued…). But as the book went on, these choices seemed more and more skewered to me. Less than half of the book is dedicated to ancient and medieval figures, leaving out many of those I believe are crucial, but so far, so good - I’m a medievalist and am biased, and most people don’t care about that time period (which is a shame!) so he might not have wanted to force it on them. However, while the Renaissance and the early modern period get slightly more attention, the last third of the book is solely 20th century. To me, that does not make much sense at all, as many of the important people of the twentieth century were resting on the shoulders of thinkers much earlier. But this issue can be put down to preference.
What makes me worry much more, is the fact that the book is incredibly western-centric. Most figures originate from Europe and North America, a bunch - maybe around 10% if we’re feeling generous - from Asia, and at most a handful for Africa and South America. In today’s xenophobic society, telling the average person that no one important came out of these large areas aids with the right’s nationalism and fear of difference. Right now, society needs a reminder that our western culture is not the only one of importance and that, in their core, humans are equal, no matter how they look or where they hail from.
A second point that worries me in respect to this being aimed at the public is the historical methodology that seems to be lacking in crucial points. There are no references - at least not in the review version I received - and there is a lack of critical commentary. This is something I especially noticed in the areas where my expertise lays - theories are presented as facts without critical analysis or any mention that they are theories. Furthermore, supposed quotes of the subjects of the chapters are taken as granted, without reference to how they made their way to us, which makes them untrustworthy. A good example for this is the medieval muslim ruler Saladin: Montefiore gives a supposed quote, but does not refer to where this originated. Given the context, I could well imagine the quote having come from a western chronicler of the crusades, intent on making his side look good. Perhaps I am overly worried by this, but I feel like such portrayals might prejudice readers, and give society a much more biased image.
And now, let’s end on a couple of ‘technical’ issues. First and foremost, the chapters were too short. Reading a Wikipedia article on the person in question might give a reader more information. Especially the earlier chapters amount only to very few pages. As I read the book on my kindle, it is hard to judge, but I feel like the later entries were much more detailed and longer than earlier ones. The second of these is that the people are organised by their year of birth. Especially in the twentieth century that makes for an interesting reading experience - Margaret Thatcher coming before Anne Frank, for example. I believe that it would have made more sense to organise the biographies by the years where a particular person had the most impact. This could easily have been done in the background and the portraits kept as they are now, making for a smoother reading experience.
When I first found out that I would be reviewing a book written by Simon Sebag Montefiore, I couldn’t contain my excitement, as back when I was a baby student and wrote my very first history paper for university, his book on Stalin and Molotov was one of my main sources and I really enjoyed it. But to be honest, I had a hard time with this book. I tried very hard to shut off my academic historian voice and keep in mind that it is intended to be a popular history book, however, I feel like some of the issues I had with it were intensified when considering that this would be read by people who might not have read anything else on this subject.
In the beginning, I felt like the choices were made well in respect to diversity, both gender and location, and I even found out about a couple of medieval women I need to read more on (sadly, women were much less prominent as the volume continued…). But as the book went on, these choices seemed more and more skewered to me. Less than half of the book is dedicated to ancient and medieval figures, leaving out many of those I believe are crucial, but so far, so good - I’m a medievalist and am biased, and most people don’t care about that time period (which is a shame!) so he might not have wanted to force it on them. However, while the Renaissance and the early modern period get slightly more attention, the last third of the book is solely 20th century. To me, that does not make much sense at all, as many of the important people of the twentieth century were resting on the shoulders of thinkers much earlier. But this issue can be put down to preference.
What makes me worry much more, is the fact that the book is incredibly western-centric. Most figures originate from Europe and North America, a bunch - maybe around 10% if we’re feeling generous - from Asia, and at most a handful for Africa and South America. In today’s xenophobic society, telling the average person that no one important came out of these large areas aids with the right’s nationalism and fear of difference. Right now, society needs a reminder that our western culture is not the only one of importance and that, in their core, humans are equal, no matter how they look or where they hail from.
A second point that worries me in respect to this being aimed at the public is the historical methodology that seems to be lacking in crucial points. There are no references - at least not in the review version I received - and there is a lack of critical commentary. This is something I especially noticed in the areas where my expertise lays - theories are presented as facts without critical analysis or any mention that they are theories. Furthermore, supposed quotes of the subjects of the chapters are taken as granted, without reference to how they made their way to us, which makes them untrustworthy. A good example for this is the medieval muslim ruler Saladin: Montefiore gives a supposed quote, but does not refer to where this originated. Given the context, I could well imagine the quote having come from a western chronicler of the crusades, intent on making his side look good. Perhaps I am overly worried by this, but I feel like such portrayals might prejudice readers, and give society a much more biased image.
And now, let’s end on a couple of ‘technical’ issues. First and foremost, the chapters were too short. Reading a Wikipedia article on the person in question might give a reader more information. Especially the earlier chapters amount only to very few pages. As I read the book on my kindle, it is hard to judge, but I feel like the later entries were much more detailed and longer than earlier ones. The second of these is that the people are organised by their year of birth. Especially in the twentieth century that makes for an interesting reading experience - Margaret Thatcher coming before Anne Frank, for example. I believe that it would have made more sense to organise the biographies by the years where a particular person had the most impact. This could easily have been done in the background and the portraits kept as they are now, making for a smoother reading experience.
April 27, 2019
A long book with biographies, and what's hugely disappointing is instead of focussing on the bigger picture, we get short digests on each of these "titans". And I thought no one reads or even needs the Encyclopedia Britannica!
My Rating - 2/5
My Rating - 2/5
September 9, 2014
An easy and amusing read for a history book. Although you can't expect it to give in-depth knowledge about the great people in human history, it's a nice peek into who they were and what they've done to be immortalised and remembered by many. And it's not your typical list of historical greats, too. I highly recommend this book for history lovers/enthusiasts.:)
November 8, 2018
So. Many. DUDES. Where are Marie Curie? Amelia Earhart? Malala? This bro fest wears me out.
October 7, 2021
Lengvai skaitoma knyga, kurią galima skaitinėti per darbo pertraukėles. Knygoje informacija pateikiama nedidelių straipsnių forma (tarsi skaitytum Wikipedia straipsnį) kas yra ir didžiausias knygos pliusas ir didžiausias minusas. Iš vienos pusės sužinai bazinę informaciją apie asmenį ir prireikus gali ieškoti biografijos arba knygos apie minimą laikotarpį iš kitos pusės trūksta informacijos apie "istorijos titaną" ir taip įdomios asmenybės istorija Tavęs neužkabina, kaip galėtu užkabinti. Silpnos 3 žvaigždutės.
March 13, 2019
The fact that it’s taken me over three months to read this not particularly long book should tell you all you need to know about it. Titans of History is kind of boring. The blurb from the Sunday Telegraph on my copy says, “Entertaining and informative. Full off offbeat, fascinating detail.” That blurb is way off. It is not entertaining and there are no offbeat or fascinating details. And for the “titans” you already know a bit about, it isn’t informative either. It reads like a collection of condensed Wikipedia entries.
September 2, 2019
2.5 stars.
This was average to me. I found myself skipping a lot of the people listed in this book as I wasn't really interested in them. This tended to be the more military/political individuals featured. The artists and writers were really enjoyable to read.
The writing at times through me off. Some biographies would be incredibly factual and unbiased and then others would be very opinionated and I would have preferred one or the other. I also felt that the writing itself was not as engaging as I wanted it to be. I felt like it was a task every time I would read it.
I was also disappointed to see that there were only 18 women featured in this book and only 53 POC individuals included as well which was really a vast spectrum of the world. It ended up being just China and the middle east. I understand you can't have everything but considering there were 172 individuals included in this anthology, I thought the numbers would be higher.
This was average to me. I found myself skipping a lot of the people listed in this book as I wasn't really interested in them. This tended to be the more military/political individuals featured. The artists and writers were really enjoyable to read.
The writing at times through me off. Some biographies would be incredibly factual and unbiased and then others would be very opinionated and I would have preferred one or the other. I also felt that the writing itself was not as engaging as I wanted it to be. I felt like it was a task every time I would read it.
I was also disappointed to see that there were only 18 women featured in this book and only 53 POC individuals included as well which was really a vast spectrum of the world. It ended up being just China and the middle east. I understand you can't have everything but considering there were 172 individuals included in this anthology, I thought the numbers would be higher.
October 11, 2019
*Initial impressions 20% in.
I think this would have been better if it was organised by region, rather than by date. Jumping from Greece to China then to Judea then back to Greece does not lend itself to a read through style (compared to a reference book or a dip in resource).
Aside from that preference for more thematic groupings - I don't mind the short biography style for filling historical knowledge gaps, or identifying characters for further reading. Montefiore does a good job of summarising the various characters.
I started this book with the intention of reading one biography a day, but that only lasted about a week (six months ago). Instead I'm just going to run through this to see if there are more indepth biographies I'd like to look for.
Of course, a book like this is going to have debatable omissions, lest it turn into a role call of every monarch/leader/monster that ever was. I imagine while writing this there must have been some difficult people to leave out, or last minute additions.
*Upon completion:
Overall, a solid collection of biographies, succinctly told. A lot of emphasis on the 20th century. Worthwhile read.
I think this would have been better if it was organised by region, rather than by date. Jumping from Greece to China then to Judea then back to Greece does not lend itself to a read through style (compared to a reference book or a dip in resource).
Aside from that preference for more thematic groupings - I don't mind the short biography style for filling historical knowledge gaps, or identifying characters for further reading. Montefiore does a good job of summarising the various characters.
I started this book with the intention of reading one biography a day, but that only lasted about a week (six months ago). Instead I'm just going to run through this to see if there are more indepth biographies I'd like to look for.
Of course, a book like this is going to have debatable omissions, lest it turn into a role call of every monarch/leader/monster that ever was. I imagine while writing this there must have been some difficult people to leave out, or last minute additions.
*Upon completion:
Overall, a solid collection of biographies, succinctly told. A lot of emphasis on the 20th century. Worthwhile read.
February 23, 2024
Book provides brief synopses of historical figures’ lives, and it is appropriate for younger readers who haven’t completed a high school or college history class. Critique: Book focuses *mostly* on white, western historical figures and would have benefitted from a more global list. Each bio simply lists the person’s main life points and offers no interpretation or “so what.” It would have been more helpful if each chapter ended with “here’s why this person was so influential” or “here are the ways our world or cultures are still impacted by this person.” This wasn’t always clear.
November 7, 2023
Now, I have loved other books by this same author, but I ended up skimming through the last half of this one. I have issues:
a) Although there is a list of illustrations, there were none in this edition.
b) I get that there are over 150 people's capsule biographies and 650 pages, but there are no citations, bibliographies, or suggested reading, leading to:
c) There are factual errors and rumours spread as true (Ramses did *not* use Jewish slave labour to build the pyramids. The builders were well-paid Egyptians). If Montefiore isn't to be trusted with things I know about, what other mistakes slipped by? (Austen's life was *not* "uneventful." A metric buttload happened in that family!
d) He did mythical figures as well, like Moses, Buddha, and the Prophet Mohammed. That grinds my gears. There are enough real people in the world that we don't need to dip into legends.
If you're looking for something light and not too deep (the longest entries are about 5 pages) then this can be a vision board for you to learn more about people you may not have heard of.
a) Although there is a list of illustrations, there were none in this edition.
b) I get that there are over 150 people's capsule biographies and 650 pages, but there are no citations, bibliographies, or suggested reading, leading to:
c) There are factual errors and rumours spread as true (Ramses did *not* use Jewish slave labour to build the pyramids. The builders were well-paid Egyptians). If Montefiore isn't to be trusted with things I know about, what other mistakes slipped by? (Austen's life was *not* "uneventful." A metric buttload happened in that family!
d) He did mythical figures as well, like Moses, Buddha, and the Prophet Mohammed. That grinds my gears. There are enough real people in the world that we don't need to dip into legends.
If you're looking for something light and not too deep (the longest entries are about 5 pages) then this can be a vision board for you to learn more about people you may not have heard of.
February 5, 2023
A literary equivalent of a cruise. The briefest of sketches for all the historical greats, giving a priority of which to follow up on in more detail. Can why historians would dislike it.
A great book for coffee breaks
A great book for coffee breaks
September 3, 2019
History combined with a lot of legends
June 4, 2021
Great survey of important historical figures.
August 19, 2022
L-am cunoscut pe Simon Sebag Montefiore prin “Monștri”, o carte care m-a impresionat prin bogăția informațiilor și a cercetărilor făcute de autor și deci mi-am zis că e musai să trec și la “Titani ai istoriei. Giganții care ne-au modelat lumea”.
Cum este lesne de intuit încă din titlu, cartea de față este una despre titani și despre faptele lor demne de admirație sau de ură. Sunt acei oameni care au schimbat lumea, încercând s-o facă una mai bună pentru noi urmașii lor. Indiferent dacă noi îi percepem la moment ca pe niște eroi sau monștri, în momentul vieții lor aceștia luptau prin diferite mijloace să fac lumea mai bună.
Dacă credeți că aici veți descoperi doar personalități din politică și lideri ai maselor, greșiți. Pe lângă multitudinea conducătorilor din toate timpurilor, veți explora și alte domenii prin personalități din: știință, geografie, filozofie, religie.
Precum în “Monștri” și aici personalitățile apar în ordine cronologică. Ai impresia că răsfoiești o enciclopedie a evoluției omenirii prin personalitățile care s-au evidențiat în diferite domenii. Vezi cum faptele acestor oameni au schimbat cursul istoriei.
Dacă mă așteptam să întâlnesc aici nume precum: Caesar, Attila, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, Churchill, Hitler, etc. Am fost surprinsă să-i descopăr printre personalități pe Buddha, Isus, Muhammad. Deși, are sens includerea lor între personalitățile care au schimbat lumea.
Mi-a plăcut să-i găsesc aici și pe oamenii de știință și filozofii Confucius, Cicero, Herodot, Platon, Aristotel. Dar și exploratorii Columb, Magellan, Galileo, etc. Cine dacă nu ei au schimbat lumea și i-au determinat o nouă traiectorie?!
O altă surpriză pentru mine au fost scriitorii spre exemplu Shakespeare, Balzac, Voltaire, Jane Austen, etc. dar și muzicienii: Mozart, Beethoven; și pictorii: Michelangelo, Picasso.
Recomand cartea celor interesați de a-și lărgi cultura generală, celor care vor să facă un refresh al cunoștințelor căpătate la ora de geografie, istorie, filozofie. Probabil le va fi interesantă în mod deosebit celor care nu citesc prea des cărți istorice. Cei căliți în istorie ar putea găsi micile capitole dedicate fiecărei personalități - insuficiente. Dar, ținem să reamintim că scopul autorului nu a fost să se focuseze doar pe o anumită perioadă istorică sau o dinastie. De-altfel, Simon Sebag Montefiore are și astfel de lucrări.
Scopul autorului a fost să ne inspire prin aceste mici biografii. Să ne facă curioși să căutăm mai multă informație despre personalitățile care au modelat lumea în care trăim.
Istoria trebuie cunoscută pentru a nu repeta greșelile trecutului. Aici ne referim la toate atrocitățile pe care omenirea le-a înfăptuit prin anumite personalități malefice. Dar și faptele frumoase și cele demne de admirație care au propulsat omenirea spre o evoluție calitativă trebuiesc cunoscute și vehiculate pe larg.
Contrat așteptărilor, aici nu veți găsi personalitățile descrise în alb și negru. Marii oameni care s-au evidențiat de-a lungul istoriei au avut de mute ori atât părți pozitive cât si negative. Cititorul este lăsat să-și facă singur concluziile dacă consideră o anumită personalitate erou sau monstru.
Mi-a plăcut foarte mult cartea. Am apreciat capacitățile de cercetător al autorului. Este într-adevăr o mică enciclopedie ce înglobează cele mai renumite personalități pe care le-a dat omenirea de-a lungul anilor.
“Titani ai istoriei. Giganții care ne-au modelat lumea”, Simon Sebag Montefiore
https://booknation.ro/recenzie-titani...
Cum este lesne de intuit încă din titlu, cartea de față este una despre titani și despre faptele lor demne de admirație sau de ură. Sunt acei oameni care au schimbat lumea, încercând s-o facă una mai bună pentru noi urmașii lor. Indiferent dacă noi îi percepem la moment ca pe niște eroi sau monștri, în momentul vieții lor aceștia luptau prin diferite mijloace să fac lumea mai bună.
Dacă credeți că aici veți descoperi doar personalități din politică și lideri ai maselor, greșiți. Pe lângă multitudinea conducătorilor din toate timpurilor, veți explora și alte domenii prin personalități din: știință, geografie, filozofie, religie.
Precum în “Monștri” și aici personalitățile apar în ordine cronologică. Ai impresia că răsfoiești o enciclopedie a evoluției omenirii prin personalitățile care s-au evidențiat în diferite domenii. Vezi cum faptele acestor oameni au schimbat cursul istoriei.
Dacă mă așteptam să întâlnesc aici nume precum: Caesar, Attila, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, Churchill, Hitler, etc. Am fost surprinsă să-i descopăr printre personalități pe Buddha, Isus, Muhammad. Deși, are sens includerea lor între personalitățile care au schimbat lumea.
Mi-a plăcut să-i găsesc aici și pe oamenii de știință și filozofii Confucius, Cicero, Herodot, Platon, Aristotel. Dar și exploratorii Columb, Magellan, Galileo, etc. Cine dacă nu ei au schimbat lumea și i-au determinat o nouă traiectorie?!
O altă surpriză pentru mine au fost scriitorii spre exemplu Shakespeare, Balzac, Voltaire, Jane Austen, etc. dar și muzicienii: Mozart, Beethoven; și pictorii: Michelangelo, Picasso.
Recomand cartea celor interesați de a-și lărgi cultura generală, celor care vor să facă un refresh al cunoștințelor căpătate la ora de geografie, istorie, filozofie. Probabil le va fi interesantă în mod deosebit celor care nu citesc prea des cărți istorice. Cei căliți în istorie ar putea găsi micile capitole dedicate fiecărei personalități - insuficiente. Dar, ținem să reamintim că scopul autorului nu a fost să se focuseze doar pe o anumită perioadă istorică sau o dinastie. De-altfel, Simon Sebag Montefiore are și astfel de lucrări.
Scopul autorului a fost să ne inspire prin aceste mici biografii. Să ne facă curioși să căutăm mai multă informație despre personalitățile care au modelat lumea în care trăim.
Istoria trebuie cunoscută pentru a nu repeta greșelile trecutului. Aici ne referim la toate atrocitățile pe care omenirea le-a înfăptuit prin anumite personalități malefice. Dar și faptele frumoase și cele demne de admirație care au propulsat omenirea spre o evoluție calitativă trebuiesc cunoscute și vehiculate pe larg.
Contrat așteptărilor, aici nu veți găsi personalitățile descrise în alb și negru. Marii oameni care s-au evidențiat de-a lungul istoriei au avut de mute ori atât părți pozitive cât si negative. Cititorul este lăsat să-și facă singur concluziile dacă consideră o anumită personalitate erou sau monstru.
Mi-a plăcut foarte mult cartea. Am apreciat capacitățile de cercetător al autorului. Este într-adevăr o mică enciclopedie ce înglobează cele mai renumite personalități pe care le-a dat omenirea de-a lungul anilor.
“Titani ai istoriei. Giganții care ne-au modelat lumea”, Simon Sebag Montefiore
https://booknation.ro/recenzie-titani...
May 9, 2019
Good quick overview in general but somehow with the emphasis on mass-murderers. Quite spooky stuff therefore. Few stories about certain personalities gave good hints for next full biographies to look for.
December 15, 2018
Read More Book Reviews on my blog
It's Good To Read
Summary:
This book roves the centuries, and chooses characters that have been hugely influential in the world, both in their own time, and some whose lives still have echoes today.
Main Characters:
Throw a dart into the world’s timeline, and you most likely will hit upon a name you recognise, and that is in the book!
Minor Characters:
The millions (billions?) of people throughout the centuries, all now forgotten apart from being a statistic, that helped create the legendary historic figures in the novel, from the mountain of skulls of Tamerlane, to the countless enslaved of Africa, South America, etc.
Plot:
Beginning in 1279BC, with Ramses the Great, and covering the biblical Middle East, the author steps his way through the succeeding centuries up to about the present day, aiming to progress chronologically, with each story “handing over” to the next.
At 657 pages, the author gets through quite a lot of names, but of course can only give a soupçon of their lives. He also is quite open about the names he picked, fully realising that there are other people equally deserving of a place in his history book. What the author aims to deliver is a highlight of what the person is famous for, and as the narrative nears our own age, with more abundant source material, the figures are better fleshed-out, and we can hear the actual conversations they had, or are attributed to them.
There is such a wide variety of humanity featured here. From the religious (Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed) to the religiously insane (Savonarola, Torquemada), from the empire builders to those who destroyed, the Titans as paraded in these pages form largely a bleak view of humanity.
There are a lot more murderers and psychopaths on show here than there are humanists or scientists, and the cycle of history (for the most part) seems to revolve around a great empire-builder, who enslaved millions, and ruthlessly slaughtered millions more, only for his (invariably, his) dynasty to fall in another welter of bloodshed. These can be building empires of the spirit as well as of the world, but wars and their consequences are sometimes more bloody when driven by religious sentiment.
The women who do appear (Cleopatra was the first, page 66) are predominantly less violent figures (Florence Nightingale, Sarah Bernhardt), though there are those with different reputations (Empress Cixi, Thatcher, Cleopatra). There is the unfortunate praise of Aung Suu Kyi – what a difference being in charge makes. Some of the women exercise massive power behind the scenes, though this scenario is reversed with Catherine the Great and Potemkin, and Zhao Wu.
The vast majority of the subjects are men, and some are still held up as shining examples to us today (Washington, Lincoln, Gandhi). Oftentimes, as well as prodigiously energetic in their various fields of endeavour, a lot of the men seemingly had a string of mistresses and lovers, and are written as helplessly priapic (“Casanova, Byron, Peter the Great). Churchill, who has as many detractors (Richard Toye’s 2010 biog Churchill’s Empire) as supporters (e.g. Andrew Roberts’s Churchill: Walking with Destiny – published Nov 6th 2018 [last week!]), is an object lesson in how relatively current figures can inspire diametrically opposed views.
The author describes how inventive humans got, in devising new ways of inflicting physical pain on each other. These people were sadists let loose in the world, and had nothing holding them back (e.g. Vlad the Impaler, Jack the Ripper).
What I Liked:
- It is a bold attempt to give the layman a potted history of the world.
- His vignettes will, I think, inspire people to investigate further someone who piques their interest e.g. for me, I want to know more about Toussaint Louverture.
- The author covers a lot of ground e.g. within the cultural sphere, he ranges from Mozart to Elvis, from Hemingway to Anne Frank to Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde to Sarah Bernhardt, Brunelleschi to Picasso). It seems to be a little heavily weighted towards Western tastes.
- I liked how he tried to keep the figures contemporaneous, e.g. relating the stories of Charlemagne and Haroun al-Rashid in sequence.
- I also liked some of the juxtapositions - e.g. Stalin followed by Gandhi.
What I Didn’t Like:
- The author could not give as equal time and space to every race and culture. He chooses the historically dominant ones, and also those for whom he can tell a story. Unfortunately, the result is heavily skewed towards the West, with latter day China featuring heavily, with other regions/peoples having lighter representation.
- Women, by dint of historical fact, are not as in the forefront, but do make a serious contribution when able (Elizabeth 1, Odette Sansom, etc.)
Overall:
It is a show-stopper of a book, that for me executes well on its limited remit. You get a taste of each character, which is exactly what he said he would give you. It is an enjoyable read, though you shake your head at all the bloodshed and pointless deaths over the centuries. You don’t learn anything new about the familiar characters – for me, the real hook is learning more about the more obscure people e.g. Yeshov, Zhao Wu, and re-discovering the ones you’d forgotten (Simon Bolivar).
On his selection of characters, people will have their own views. The top 50 or so are the ones you expect (e.g. Alexander the Great), from and for a Western readership perspective, and after that there is room for a South American edition, an Asian edition etc., where luminaries from those areas could be given greater weight. I liked the ones he chose.
It is a good read, something to dip into over the years, but necessarily limited in what it can give you for each Titan.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for sending me a free copy of the book, in return for an unbiased and objective review.
Summary:
This book roves the centuries, and chooses characters that have been hugely influential in the world, both in their own time, and some whose lives still have echoes today.
Main Characters:
Throw a dart into the world’s timeline, and you most likely will hit upon a name you recognise, and that is in the book!
Minor Characters:
The millions (billions?) of people throughout the centuries, all now forgotten apart from being a statistic, that helped create the legendary historic figures in the novel, from the mountain of skulls of Tamerlane, to the countless enslaved of Africa, South America, etc.
Plot:
Beginning in 1279BC, with Ramses the Great, and covering the biblical Middle East, the author steps his way through the succeeding centuries up to about the present day, aiming to progress chronologically, with each story “handing over” to the next.
At 657 pages, the author gets through quite a lot of names, but of course can only give a soupçon of their lives. He also is quite open about the names he picked, fully realising that there are other people equally deserving of a place in his history book. What the author aims to deliver is a highlight of what the person is famous for, and as the narrative nears our own age, with more abundant source material, the figures are better fleshed-out, and we can hear the actual conversations they had, or are attributed to them.
There is such a wide variety of humanity featured here. From the religious (Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed) to the religiously insane (Savonarola, Torquemada), from the empire builders to those who destroyed, the Titans as paraded in these pages form largely a bleak view of humanity.
There are a lot more murderers and psychopaths on show here than there are humanists or scientists, and the cycle of history (for the most part) seems to revolve around a great empire-builder, who enslaved millions, and ruthlessly slaughtered millions more, only for his (invariably, his) dynasty to fall in another welter of bloodshed. These can be building empires of the spirit as well as of the world, but wars and their consequences are sometimes more bloody when driven by religious sentiment.
The women who do appear (Cleopatra was the first, page 66) are predominantly less violent figures (Florence Nightingale, Sarah Bernhardt), though there are those with different reputations (Empress Cixi, Thatcher, Cleopatra). There is the unfortunate praise of Aung Suu Kyi – what a difference being in charge makes. Some of the women exercise massive power behind the scenes, though this scenario is reversed with Catherine the Great and Potemkin, and Zhao Wu.
The vast majority of the subjects are men, and some are still held up as shining examples to us today (Washington, Lincoln, Gandhi). Oftentimes, as well as prodigiously energetic in their various fields of endeavour, a lot of the men seemingly had a string of mistresses and lovers, and are written as helplessly priapic (“Casanova, Byron, Peter the Great). Churchill, who has as many detractors (Richard Toye’s 2010 biog Churchill’s Empire) as supporters (e.g. Andrew Roberts’s Churchill: Walking with Destiny – published Nov 6th 2018 [last week!]), is an object lesson in how relatively current figures can inspire diametrically opposed views.
The author describes how inventive humans got, in devising new ways of inflicting physical pain on each other. These people were sadists let loose in the world, and had nothing holding them back (e.g. Vlad the Impaler, Jack the Ripper).
What I Liked:
- It is a bold attempt to give the layman a potted history of the world.
- His vignettes will, I think, inspire people to investigate further someone who piques their interest e.g. for me, I want to know more about Toussaint Louverture.
- The author covers a lot of ground e.g. within the cultural sphere, he ranges from Mozart to Elvis, from Hemingway to Anne Frank to Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde to Sarah Bernhardt, Brunelleschi to Picasso). It seems to be a little heavily weighted towards Western tastes.
- I liked how he tried to keep the figures contemporaneous, e.g. relating the stories of Charlemagne and Haroun al-Rashid in sequence.
- I also liked some of the juxtapositions - e.g. Stalin followed by Gandhi.
What I Didn’t Like:
- The author could not give as equal time and space to every race and culture. He chooses the historically dominant ones, and also those for whom he can tell a story. Unfortunately, the result is heavily skewed towards the West, with latter day China featuring heavily, with other regions/peoples having lighter representation.
- Women, by dint of historical fact, are not as in the forefront, but do make a serious contribution when able (Elizabeth 1, Odette Sansom, etc.)
Overall:
It is a show-stopper of a book, that for me executes well on its limited remit. You get a taste of each character, which is exactly what he said he would give you. It is an enjoyable read, though you shake your head at all the bloodshed and pointless deaths over the centuries. You don’t learn anything new about the familiar characters – for me, the real hook is learning more about the more obscure people e.g. Yeshov, Zhao Wu, and re-discovering the ones you’d forgotten (Simon Bolivar).
On his selection of characters, people will have their own views. The top 50 or so are the ones you expect (e.g. Alexander the Great), from and for a Western readership perspective, and after that there is room for a South American edition, an Asian edition etc., where luminaries from those areas could be given greater weight. I liked the ones he chose.
It is a good read, something to dip into over the years, but necessarily limited in what it can give you for each Titan.
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for sending me a free copy of the book, in return for an unbiased and objective review.
February 3, 2020
Not particularly well written; my edition was full of grammatical errors and typos; the same words are used over and over again. I was getting very frustrated with little contradictions between the chapters until I realised there were actually several contributors, hence the chapters didn’t always “talk” to each other. Having said that, if you’re like me and largely clueless about world history, but wanting to know more, this format is an excellent place to start. A hundred or two brief biographies, chronologically arranged, is obviously not an exhaustive or even an extensive history of the world, but really helpful for getting a basic timeline into your head.
July 3, 2015
As both of a lover of & a teacher of history, I look for two things from any book claiming to be a useful, general primer on the subject: (1) is it as informative & accurate as possible in a concise word count, and (2) is it witty and entertaining. Thankfully, Mr. Montefiore's volume succeeds on both counts, and it will now take pride of place as one of my go-to history resources. Then again, I'd expect nothing less from the author of the sublime biography of "Jerusalem".
July 12, 2018
The premise is a good one, but the biographies were very short, with not enough information. It may have been better if more information was given and maybe the book was divided into 2. It felt like there is more information via the various search engines available on the internet. The author gave a good effort. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
October 19, 2016
An excellent introduction to the major personages of history. I can't believe how many tyrannical, murderous, corrupt, inept and mostly communist dictators there were in the 20th century with millions of lives lost and countries ruined.
June 23, 2019
Review available at http://bit.ly/2FqHLzq
August 16, 2012
Kinda sucks so far
November 21, 2021
În copilărie, am citit o scurtă prezentare – asemănătoare celor din această carte – despre lumea înfiorătoare a lui Iosif Stalin. M-a provocat îndeajuns cât să mă determine să citesc mai multe despre acest subiect. Mulți ani mai târziu, studiam arhivele rusești și făceam cercetarea necesară pentru redactarea cărții mele despre Stalin. Intenția mea este ca aceste scurte biografii să-i inspire și să-i îndemne pe cititori să afle mai multe despre aceste personalități extraordinare – despre bărbații și femeile care au creat lumea în care trăim astăzi. Dar istoria nu este doar o succesiune spectaculoasă de evenimente formidabile și palpitante din vremuri apuse: ca să înțelegem prezentul și viitorul, trebuie neapărat să înțelegem trecutul. „Cine controlează trecutul controlează viitorul“, a scris George Orwell, autorul romanului 1984, iar „Cine controlează prezentul controlează
trecutul“. Referindu-se la Napoleon și la nepotul său Napoleon al III-lea, Karl Marx a glumit spunând că „toate evenimentele și personajele istorice se repetă – prima dată ca tragedie, a doua oară ca farsă“. Marx s-a înșelat în această privință – așa cum s-a înșelat și în multe altele: istoria nu se repetă, însă este înțesată de numeroase avertismente și lecții. Marile figuri ale istoriei au studiat trecutul, pe bună dreptate, pentru a fi capabili să guverneze prezentul. De pildă, trei dintre cei mai monstruoși criminali ai secolului XX, Hitler, Stalin și Mao – toți prezenți în această carte –, au fost pasionați de istorie și și-au petrecut o mare parte a tinereții lor irosite, dar și din anii în care s-au aflat la putere, citind despre propriii idoli din trecut. Când Hitler a ordonat uciderea în masă a evreilor europeni în timpul Holocaustului, el s-a simțit încurajat de masacrele comise de otomani împotriva armenilor în timpul Primului Război Mondial: „Cine-și mai amintește acum de armeni?“, a cugetat el. Masacrele armenilor apar în această carte. Când Stalin a ordonat Marea Teroare, el a privit în urmă la atrocitățile comise de eroul său, Ivan cel Groaznic:
„Cine-și mai amintește acum de nobilii uciși de Ivan cel Groaznic?“, i-a întrebat el pe acoliții săi. Și Ivan cel Groaznic apare în această carte. Iar Mao Zedong, când a dezlănțuit asupra Chinei valurile de omoruri în masă, a fost inspirat de primul împărat, un alt personaj care poate fi regăsit în paginile acestei cărți. Lucrarea de față este o colecție de biografii ale unor oameni care au schimbat, într-un fel sau altul, cursul istoriei lumii. Lista nu pretinde a fi nici completă, nici pe deplin satisfăcătoare: eu am ales numele; așadar, lista este cu desăvârșire subiectivă. Poate veți crede că unele nume lipsesc, iar că altele nu ar fi trebuit incluse: face parte din frumusețea și din frustrarea inerente întocmirii oricărei liste. Veți găsi aici nume binecunoscute – Elvis Presley, Jack Kennedy, Iisus Hristos, Mozart, Ceaikovski, Byron, Picasso și Churchill, de pildă –, dar și multe pe care poate nu le
cunoașteți.
trecutul“. Referindu-se la Napoleon și la nepotul său Napoleon al III-lea, Karl Marx a glumit spunând că „toate evenimentele și personajele istorice se repetă – prima dată ca tragedie, a doua oară ca farsă“. Marx s-a înșelat în această privință – așa cum s-a înșelat și în multe altele: istoria nu se repetă, însă este înțesată de numeroase avertismente și lecții. Marile figuri ale istoriei au studiat trecutul, pe bună dreptate, pentru a fi capabili să guverneze prezentul. De pildă, trei dintre cei mai monstruoși criminali ai secolului XX, Hitler, Stalin și Mao – toți prezenți în această carte –, au fost pasionați de istorie și și-au petrecut o mare parte a tinereții lor irosite, dar și din anii în care s-au aflat la putere, citind despre propriii idoli din trecut. Când Hitler a ordonat uciderea în masă a evreilor europeni în timpul Holocaustului, el s-a simțit încurajat de masacrele comise de otomani împotriva armenilor în timpul Primului Război Mondial: „Cine-și mai amintește acum de armeni?“, a cugetat el. Masacrele armenilor apar în această carte. Când Stalin a ordonat Marea Teroare, el a privit în urmă la atrocitățile comise de eroul său, Ivan cel Groaznic:
„Cine-și mai amintește acum de nobilii uciși de Ivan cel Groaznic?“, i-a întrebat el pe acoliții săi. Și Ivan cel Groaznic apare în această carte. Iar Mao Zedong, când a dezlănțuit asupra Chinei valurile de omoruri în masă, a fost inspirat de primul împărat, un alt personaj care poate fi regăsit în paginile acestei cărți. Lucrarea de față este o colecție de biografii ale unor oameni care au schimbat, într-un fel sau altul, cursul istoriei lumii. Lista nu pretinde a fi nici completă, nici pe deplin satisfăcătoare: eu am ales numele; așadar, lista este cu desăvârșire subiectivă. Poate veți crede că unele nume lipsesc, iar că altele nu ar fi trebuit incluse: face parte din frumusețea și din frustrarea inerente întocmirii oricărei liste. Veți găsi aici nume binecunoscute – Elvis Presley, Jack Kennedy, Iisus Hristos, Mozart, Ceaikovski, Byron, Picasso și Churchill, de pildă –, dar și multe pe care poate nu le
cunoașteți.
January 17, 2024
Easy and entertaining, but no bestseller.
“Titans of History” by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a collection of pen portraits of people who left their mark on history. In a few pages the writer tells the life story of the person, including some background, personal details, and impact on history. The chapters are high level, with little context and no analysis at all. Finally, Montefiore seems to have been focused on (mainly) men of action with an appetite for power, rather than people of thought, ideas, or inventions. The result is an easy-to-read, entertaining but lacking in depth parade of empire builders, shrewd politicians, merciless tyrants, bloodthirsty monsters, canny diplomats, and deeply flawed characters with limitless ambitions. These are the good, the bad and the ugly.
As with any list, you can question its completeness and accuracy. No doubt Alexander the Great, Eleanore of Aquitaine, and Churchill are amongst the true titans of history and have a deserved place in the book. I would question the greatness of and therefore a chapter for Caligula, Francisco Lopez, or Hoxha. Instead, chapters for Pericles, Erasmus, or Bach would be more appropriate. However, the most enjoyable chapters were for me the entries of people that I knew very little of and made an impression on me, ranging from Jefferson, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Odette Sansom.
So, all in all, “Titans of history” is an easy read that can be an introduction to famous historical figures, an invitation for further reading or a reference for future reading. A best seller it is not.
“Titans of History” by Simon Sebag Montefiore is a collection of pen portraits of people who left their mark on history. In a few pages the writer tells the life story of the person, including some background, personal details, and impact on history. The chapters are high level, with little context and no analysis at all. Finally, Montefiore seems to have been focused on (mainly) men of action with an appetite for power, rather than people of thought, ideas, or inventions. The result is an easy-to-read, entertaining but lacking in depth parade of empire builders, shrewd politicians, merciless tyrants, bloodthirsty monsters, canny diplomats, and deeply flawed characters with limitless ambitions. These are the good, the bad and the ugly.
As with any list, you can question its completeness and accuracy. No doubt Alexander the Great, Eleanore of Aquitaine, and Churchill are amongst the true titans of history and have a deserved place in the book. I would question the greatness of and therefore a chapter for Caligula, Francisco Lopez, or Hoxha. Instead, chapters for Pericles, Erasmus, or Bach would be more appropriate. However, the most enjoyable chapters were for me the entries of people that I knew very little of and made an impression on me, ranging from Jefferson, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Odette Sansom.
So, all in all, “Titans of history” is an easy read that can be an introduction to famous historical figures, an invitation for further reading or a reference for future reading. A best seller it is not.
November 12, 2018
What historian Simon Sebag Montefiore has done with TITANS OF HISTORY: THE GIANTS WHO MADE OUR WORLD is remarkable, to say the least. He has managed to provide what seems to be a trove of biographical information in vignette-ish form, compiling about 200 biographical profiles of famous royals, heroes, politicians, artists, cretins, jerks and geniuses in a compact, encyclopedic volume. “My aim is that these short accessible and vivid biographies will encourage and inspire readers to find out more about these extraordinary individuals,” Montefiore says in the book’s introduction. And this is precisely what he achieves. Only the incorrigibly incurious could resist thirst for further learning about most, if not all, of the selected persons...
...Montefiore’s picks would be difficult to dispute: there’s a good mix of household names and less sung individuals, and his cool style and knack for encapsulating relevant knowledge make every one of them quite interesting. Expected top-tier names such as Alexander the Great, Caesar, Jesus, Saladin, Marcus Aurelius, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great mingle with the lesser taught likes of, say, Ben-Gurion and Tokugawa Ieyasu. And international/sociopolitical titans don’t steal all of Montefiore’s stage. The book also features Oscar Wilde, Maupassant, Sappho, Jane Austen, Beethoven, Casanova, Sarah Bernhardt, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Al Capone – even Jack the Ripper.
...Montefiore’s picks would be difficult to dispute: there’s a good mix of household names and less sung individuals, and his cool style and knack for encapsulating relevant knowledge make every one of them quite interesting. Expected top-tier names such as Alexander the Great, Caesar, Jesus, Saladin, Marcus Aurelius, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great mingle with the lesser taught likes of, say, Ben-Gurion and Tokugawa Ieyasu. And international/sociopolitical titans don’t steal all of Montefiore’s stage. The book also features Oscar Wilde, Maupassant, Sappho, Jane Austen, Beethoven, Casanova, Sarah Bernhardt, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Al Capone – even Jack the Ripper.
January 5, 2019
this was a free book from NetGalley
Review of "Titans of History" by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Sebag Montefiore is an historian that I consider a writer for non-academics. That doesn’t mean that he writes simplistically, it means that he doesn’t write pedantically. His books on Catherine the Great, the Romanovs and Stalin, are detailed but not overburdened by statistics and grandiosity, but still in-depth studies.
This book is a compilation of short biographies of people that Sebag Montefiore contends, created or altered the history of the human race. Whether you agree with his choices, or omissions, there are a lot of Asians and Africans whose contributions were not known to me and were therefore helpful. It wasn’t written to be a great work, but more of a reference tomb for those who don’t use the internet.
All that said, I did find the book disappointing. Maybe I’m just a snob, but I’m not sure of what use this book is, except for use by Middle School children to get a cursory view of how the world has changed since the beginning of recorded time. Make your own judgement.
Zeb Kantrowitz zebsblog@gmail.com zworstblog@blogspot.com
Review of "Titans of History" by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Sebag Montefiore is an historian that I consider a writer for non-academics. That doesn’t mean that he writes simplistically, it means that he doesn’t write pedantically. His books on Catherine the Great, the Romanovs and Stalin, are detailed but not overburdened by statistics and grandiosity, but still in-depth studies.
This book is a compilation of short biographies of people that Sebag Montefiore contends, created or altered the history of the human race. Whether you agree with his choices, or omissions, there are a lot of Asians and Africans whose contributions were not known to me and were therefore helpful. It wasn’t written to be a great work, but more of a reference tomb for those who don’t use the internet.
All that said, I did find the book disappointing. Maybe I’m just a snob, but I’m not sure of what use this book is, except for use by Middle School children to get a cursory view of how the world has changed since the beginning of recorded time. Make your own judgement.
Zeb Kantrowitz zebsblog@gmail.com zworstblog@blogspot.com
February 15, 2019
Simon Sebag Montefiore has been one of my favorite historical nonfiction writers for some time now. I have always enjoyed his previous work and so I was sad to be a little disappointed in Titans of History.
This book gives fairly abridged biographies of some of the great names in history but I found there to be a disparity. Most of the book focuses on men; few women or POC get a mention here (though perhaps, that is not surprising given the lack of attention paid them throughout history). Also, while I appreciated the idea of getting a quick run-down of a person, their family, and achievements, it was very short for most of the names. Three pages seemed to be the average any figure got and in some cases, three pages were dedicated to an entire family. The Borgias, for instance, were all grouped together so that there was no depth to the description of any of them individually.
I think the strength that the book had though was that it was able to introduce historical figures that a reader may have heard about only in passing (or not at all) and cause them to research them further. A good book to set by your nightstand and pick up before bed to read about someone else.
I was given this ARC by NetGalley and the publisher so my thanks to them.
This book gives fairly abridged biographies of some of the great names in history but I found there to be a disparity. Most of the book focuses on men; few women or POC get a mention here (though perhaps, that is not surprising given the lack of attention paid them throughout history). Also, while I appreciated the idea of getting a quick run-down of a person, their family, and achievements, it was very short for most of the names. Three pages seemed to be the average any figure got and in some cases, three pages were dedicated to an entire family. The Borgias, for instance, were all grouped together so that there was no depth to the description of any of them individually.
I think the strength that the book had though was that it was able to introduce historical figures that a reader may have heard about only in passing (or not at all) and cause them to research them further. A good book to set by your nightstand and pick up before bed to read about someone else.
I was given this ARC by NetGalley and the publisher so my thanks to them.
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