A History of Civilizations

These are my thoughts after reading this hefty volume. A review? No, just some thoughts. This is a rather dated (Braudel died in 1985) , though for its day, unique history of civilisations. The history offers the following:

• The history of world civilisations through a Gallic rather than the predominant Anglo-Saxon perspective. That is in itself worthy of a read.
• The history is examined through a civilisational point of view rather than the usual chronological approach as found in conventional histories. Thus, this is not a world history.

The history includes a study of societies in each civilisation over a period of time. For instance, it examined the British origins of the United States and noted that "the Anglo-Saxon side has absorbed everything". It also noted the Protestantism of the nation despite the inflex of Catholics over a period of time and most importantly, the society being religious.

Other points of note includes dated information or inaccuracies such as the stated 'solidarity' shown by the Indians or Mexicans against the Hernan Cortes and his Conquistadors. The fact is that the surrounding Indian states were only too glad to throw off the yoke of Aztec domination (which included periodic human sacrifices in significant numbers) and they were allied with the Conquistadors. There is also a strong anti-British favour throughout about British exploitation For instance, Braudel curiously omitted to mention the French exploitation and colonisation of Indo-China and Algiers in the same context. In another example, Braudel wondered wistfully what might have happened if French people had dominated the North American continent after the French and Indian War rather than the Thirteen Colonies. A Gallic perspective doubtless. Not wrong but interesting. "One of American's more important reasons for intervention in the war in 1917 had no doubt been to safeguard Briain's world position, which suited the United States, if only because it helped guarantee the future of the Anglo-Saxon civilisation - their civilisation." Other omissions would include the many Italian, English, Spanish, German achievements in the fields of humanism, scientiful inquiry and more. Of course, many Anglo-Saxon histories are often if not just as myopic.

There are certain presumptions that Braudel has made. "Even a visitor from France realises, once in the United States, how valuable the French social security system is. For all America's wealth, it has nothing equivalent to offer."

At the same times, there are certain valuable insights. "Its own conquests by land simply enlarged its territory; others' conquests by sea were appalling colonial adventures." Again, a reference to the United States.

There are numerous other points of course.

As a textbook, I think this book would have serious shortcomings in the assumption that students would already have some knowledge of history. As a commentary, it is somewhat lengthy despite not being comprehensive. Lastly, it assumes much prior grounding in history.

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