Frequent visitors of this blog would know that I have a personal interest in history. Nonetheless, I actually had no formal education in this aspect. (The few years of the so-called history class in secondary school certain do not count. Not only was the material superficial - I did not really pay attention to study any particular subject in those days.) As a result, my knowledge is history is similar to what Sherlock Holmes knew about botany or geology, as commented by Dr. Watson, variable, practical, but limited. (See A Study in Scarlet.)
And it is always advisable to have a bird's eye view of a huge subject.
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The book is a 1200-page volume, and I have to move on to another book after finishing with the history of ancient cultures. To my surprise, very little detail was given on the history in a traditional sense, and Roberts actually put much emphasis on the evolution of culture and the relevance of technology in the development of civilization. (For example, the impact of using iron tools rather than bronze ones, and why Egyptians built pyramids as pyramids.)
Alas, history could be very interesting in that case.
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