Product Description

The purpose of this book is to provide a thought-provoking look at the various people whose lives have illuminated the world in one way or another. It highlights extraordinary individuals and the impact they made on society and the world in which we live.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #957104 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

About the Author
Commended for his meticulous research and fluency of expression, Rodney Castleden's work has been published for 30 years. A teacher of history, he lives and works in Brighton.

Customer Reviews

not as expected
this book is not as i whould have guessed. i originally thought that the book was predominantly about people and the relationship and connections between them and the changes in the world, in many more lose mannors which whould have been interesting, however it is more about biographicaly accounting the greatest minds and leaders in the world in a very bref recalling of there lives and greatest acomplisments. this book is great for people (such as myself) seeking to discover about legondary people throughout the ages (such as: plato, imhotep, homer and others(some of which i regret to say i had not even herd of) . this book is well written and easy to understand.

A Few Faults in a Book of Great Ambition
The sheer scale and breadth of this work is remarkably ambitious.

The author is clearly a Rennaissance man whose areas of expertise apparently encompass ALL of the Arts, ALL of the sciences as well as Politics, military history etc etc etc.

He does have an editorial bias and certainly does not take a neutral standpoint. To me he seems basically right of centre but in the main he does not let this get in the way of the narrative too much. There is one particularly hysterical suggestion that the European Union is in fact the culmination of Hitler's vision. Whilst I may have my differences with Eurocrats from time to time I think that to compare them with the Nazis, even in a very tenuous way, is frankly ludicrous. Another example of the bias is the hagiography of Bill Gates who is portrayed as simply a great benefactor to the human race without any mention of the monoploy and restraint of trade, and hence of development, issues.

Inevitably with such a book there are omissions. Given the scope it seems a bit picky to point these out, but some are quite unexpected.

There is no mention of Clement Atlee or Nye Bevan for example. For those who think I am merely demonstrating my own bias I can only say that I was equally shocked by there being no mention of Thatcher or Reagan. Also certain subjects seem under represented. The Twentieth Century section has no economists; yes no Keynes or Friedman. There are few REAL psychologists (Freud and Jung don't count). No Alexander Fleming (a world without anti-biotics would be very different). As a Scot I'm surprised by the omission of Burns.

The one that really got to me though is that whilst Kennedy gets a mention apparently FDR and Nixon just did not make the grade. They were undoubtedly the two most influential US Presidents of the 20th Century and I just cannot understand them not being in this book.

Despite this, the book is an enjoyable (certainly better the the Dictionary of National Biography) and educational read. It makes an excellent car book for dipping into.