13 h 18 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 18 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens to our quarrels when we see them against the whole span of human history?
H. G. Wells begins with a world without people—or life. Earth takes its place in space, then fish, reptiles and mammals enter the story. A Short History of the World follows this long path toward humanity before turning to grain, settled homes and cities. Each change finds its place in a sweeping map of time.
From Greece, India and China, Wells moves through Rome, the rise of Islam, the Mongols and medieval Europe toward machines, revolutions and war. His guide is a bold idea: humanity shares one past, and that shared past should shape how people act. Published in 1922, this is an opinionated account, not an even-handed view of every culture.
What you’ll discover
- A planet before people Feel the scale of time as Wells begins long before the first humans appear.
- The roots of city life Follow the shift toward farming as people sow grain, keep animals and settle.
- Questions about living Explore how Wells places Greek thought, Buddha and Confucius within the wider human story.
- Empires meeting and clashing Trace a path through Rome, Islam and the Mongols as peoples meet and struggle.
- The hope of cooperation Consider Wells's argument that seeing humanity as one family should change our choices.
Who will love it
Readers who like big pictures, curious minds that want one clear path from the first seas to the modern age, and anyone who enjoys a confident storyteller.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Earth is a small, late spark of life
- Life climbs from the sea onto land
- Reptiles rule, then mammals learn to care
- Humans emerge from strange Ice Age cousins
- Farming and priests shape the first cities
- Nomads, seafarers and Aryans stir the ancient world
- The sixth century awakens the human mind
- Rome grows by citizenship and fades by neglect
- Islam, Mongols and a divided church remake the world
- Machines outrun politics in the modern age
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A Short History of the World
by H. G. Wells · 1922
One inch of Earth, nine feet of sun: Wells shrinks space to a toy, then fills it with the story of humanity.
Challenging10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would Earth look like if you shrank it to a ball one inch wide? The sun would be a globe nine feet across, about a fifth of a mile away, and the nearest star would sit forty thousand miles off.
A Short History of the World at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 50 min5 h 25 min fast, 8 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 97,400 words59 chapters
- Pages
- 327 pages493 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1922by H. G. Wells
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Earth is a small, late spark of life
Wells begins with size and time. On his one inch model, Earth floats in emptiness, with Jupiter nearly a mile away and Neptune six miles out. Life clings to a thin skin of the surface.
He clears away an old belief that the world was made in 4004 B.C. Wells says that idea is thoroughly disproven. Earth may have existed for more than two billion years. At first it resembles a blast furnace, with its water held as steam above molten rock. Over millions of years the vapors fall as rain, and the first seas gather.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Wells, H. G. A Short History of the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-short-history-of-the-world.
Wells, H. G. (2026). A short history of the world. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-short-history-of-the-world (Original work published 1922)
Wells, H. G. A Short History of the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-short-history-of-the-world.
@book{wells2026short,
author = {Wells, H. G.},
title = {A Short History of the World},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-short-history-of-the-world},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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What is A Short History of the World about?
It tells the story of the universe, life and humanity in one connected account. It runs from the formation of Earth through early humans, ancient empires, religions, Rome, Islam, the Mongols and the modern machine age to the years after the Great War.
When did H. G. Wells write A Short History of the World?
Wells wrote it in the years just after the Great War, in the early 1920s. That is why its final chapters discuss the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, and the Russian revolution as recent events.
What does Wells mean by the Record of the Rocks?
It is his name for the fossils and markings preserved in layers of rock. By studying these layers, people have pieced together the history of life on Earth, though many soft-bodied creatures left no trace.
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
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