Review: The Story of the World in 100 Moments by Neil Oliver #NonfictionNovember

Posted November 24, 2022 by Stephanie in 4 Stars, History, Nonfiction, nonfiction november, Review / 4 Comments

Title: The Story of the World in 100 Moments
Author: Neil Oliver
Publication: September 16, 2021 by Bantam Press
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Find it on: Amazon | Book Depository | Google Play
Rating: 4/5★

‘Oliver is an evocative storyteller, vividly bringing his tales to life’ BBC History

From Genghis Khan’s domination on earth to Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, discover the 100 moments that defined humanity and shaped our world forever.

Neil Oliver takes us on a whistle-stop tour around the world and through a million years to give us this unique and invaluable grasp of how human history pieces together.

From the east to the west, north to south, these 100 moments act like stepping stones allowing us to make sense of how these pivotal events have shaped the world we know today.

Including many moments readers will expect – from the advent of the printing press to the birth of the internet – there are also surprises, and with them, some remarkable, unforgettable stories that give a whole new insight on our past.

From the bestselling author of The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places, this is outstanding new history of how our world was made from 5000 BC to the present.

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Praise for Neil Oliver

‘Neil Oliver writes beautifully – bringing the past to life and letting us see ourselves in a new light.’ – Professor Alice Roberts
‘Brilliantly demonstrates Neil’s mastery of the broad sweep of British history and landscape.’ – Dan Snow
‘Highly-crafted…a vivid, pungent history.’ – TLS
‘Compelling’ – Daily Mail

I knew that The Story of the World in 100 Moments would be a great read and I was not disappointed. I’ve been wanting to read a Neil Oliver book for ages since I’ve only seen some of his documentaries but not read any of his books before and I’m glad my first one could be this epic.

First of all, I can’t imagine how difficult it had to be to pick 100 moments from history from all around to world for this book. Neil Oliver points out that the moments he picked are definitely his personal choices and other people, whether they’re historians or not, might very well pick other things. And this is true. I probably would’ve switches some moments with others that I think mattered more but even so this was a fantastic book to read.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the beautiful writing. I had no idea the author had such a lovely prose. It was just a joy to read, really. Reading these chapters one after the other also made me realize just how connected our moments in history really were, from the beginning of civilization to our current modern times. It’s pretty extraordinary when you think about it. The chapters were fairly short (just as I like em!) so I flew through this book in no-time. It was an unputdownable read!

About the author:

Neil Oliver is a Scottish archaeologist, historian, broadcaster and writer who has become widely known as the presenter of BBC television’s series A History of Scotland and Coast.

His first fiction novel, Master of Shadows, is published by Orion in September 2015.

He lives in Stirling with his wife and three children.

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