The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection
By Tamim Ansary
Read by Tamim Ansary
Unabridged
Format :
Retail CD (In Stock)
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1 Format: Retail CD
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$44.00
ISBN: 9781549155055
| Runtime: | 17.08 Hours |
| Category: | Nonfiction/History |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
Summary
Summary
Through vivid stories studded with insights, award-winning author Tamim Ansary tells the story of how humans invented history, from the Stone Age to the Virtual Age.Fifty thousand years ago, we roamed the world as countless autonomous bands of hunter-gatherers, each one telling itself a story of the world with itself at the center. We used narratives to organize for survival and explain the unfathomable, and these stories evolved into the bases for cultures, empires, and civilizations. When disparate narratives collided, the encounters produced everything from confusion, chaos, and war to cultural efflorescence, religious awakenings, and intellectual breakthroughs.
Traveling across millennia and cultures, The Invention of Yesterday illuminates our propensity to invent a shared symbolic universe, and argues that world history is a narrative we’re constantly inventing.
“A well-written and valuable take on the diverse narratives that have shaped human history.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Chatty, breezy, and capacious.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Terrific.” ―San Francisco Chronicle
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
“Informative and thoroughly engaging.” —Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner
Ansary offers a remarkable big-picture synthesis that draws upon geography but resists determinism, and celebrates diversity while embracing humanity's commonalities. —Booklist
In his terrific new book, Tamim Ansary explores the underappreciated ways that empires, nations and smaller sets of people have responded to their surroundings, influenced one another and developed stories that give their lives meaning. —San Francisco Chronicle
A beautifully written
world history focused on the stories different civilizations have told about
who we are. It ends with a fundamental question: In today's extraordinary
world, can we build new narratives that are inclusive and global enough to encourage
worldwide cooperation in the task of building a better future for humanity? —David Christian, distinguished professor, MacquarieUniversity, Sydney, Australia, and author of Maps of Time: An Introductionto Big History and Origin Story: A Big History of Everything
Tamim Ansary has
done it again, writing an expansive, wonderfully readable account of our
present world. With deft examples drawn from across history, he skewers the
idea that there's anything pure about culture or race. Ideas have blended and
meshed across space and time to make the modern world what it is. Ansary is a
charming guide to this blesh of civilizations, and to the world's permanent-and
hopeful-capacity for change. —Raj Patel, author of Stuffedand Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Brimming with
essential insights and yet always approachable, this is the global history we
need now. —Lynn Hunt, author of WritingHistory in the Global Era
Weaving together
multiple complex strands of the human experience into a single compelling
storyline, Ansary delivers-in his usual down-to-earth yet erudite style-an
engaging global 'narrative of narratives' informed by decades of critical
study, reflection, and personal transcultural experience. A deeply enriching,
highly relevant read from an important, unique voice of our day. —R. Charles Weller,Central Eurasian and Islamic world history, Washington State and KazakhNational University
The Invention of Yesterday is an insightful guide into human civilization packed with information that shows how we have been connected globally since the beginning of history. Tamim Ansary unpacks complicated theories to make sense of how we became who we are today. —Fariba Nawa, authorof Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords and One Woman's Journey throughAfghanistan
"Ansary has written an informative and thoroughly engaging look at the past, present and future of Islam. With his seamless and charming prose, he challenges conventional wisdom and appeals for a fuller understanding of how Islam and the world at large have shaped each other. And that makes this book, in this uneasy, contentious post 9/11 world, a must-read. —Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
In "Games Without Rules," Tamim Ansary has written the most engaging, accessible and insightful history of Afghanistan. With gifted prose and revealing details, Ansary gives us the oft-neglected Afghan perspective of the wars, foreign meddling and palace intrigue that has defined the past few centuries between the Indus and Oxus. This brilliant book should be required reading for anyone involved in the current war there -- and anyone who wants to understand why Afghanistan will not be at peace anytime soon. —Rajiv Chandrasekaran
A beautifully written
world history focused on the stories different civilizations have told about
who we are. It ends with a fundamental question: In today's extraordinary
world, can we build new narratives that are inclusive and global enough to encourage
worldwide cooperation in the task of building a better future for humanity? —David Christian, distinguished professor, MacquarieUniversity, Sydney, Australia, and author of Maps of Time: An Introductionto Big History and Origin Story: A Big History of Everything
Tamim Ansary has
done it again, writing an expansive, wonderfully readable account of our
present world. With deft examples drawn from across history, he skewers the
idea that there's anything pure about culture or race. Ideas have blended and
meshed across space and time to make the modern world what it is. Ansary is a
charming guide to this blesh of civilizations, and to the world's permanent-and
hopeful-capacity for change. —Raj Patel, author of Stuffedand Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Brimming with
essential insights and yet always approachable, this is the global history we
need now. —Lynn Hunt, author of WritingHistory in the Global Era
Weaving together
multiple complex strands of the human experience into a single compelling
storyline, Ansary delivers-in his usual down-to-earth yet erudite style-an
engaging global 'narrative of narratives' informed by decades of critical
study, reflection, and personal transcultural experience. A deeply enriching,
highly relevant read from an important, unique voice of our day. —R. Charles Weller,Central Eurasian and Islamic world history, Washington State and KazakhNational University
Author
Author Bio: Tamim Ansary
Tamim Ansary is the author of Destiny Disrupted and West of Kabul, East of New York, among other books. For ten years he wrote a monthly column for Encarta and has published essays and commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Alternet, Parade, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. Born in Afghanistan in 1948, he moved to the US in 1964. He lives in San Francisco, where he is director of the San Francisco Writers Workshop.
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Details
Details
| Available Formats : | Retail CD |
| Category: | Nonfiction/History |
| Runtime: | 17.08 |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
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