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murphyc1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.75
Read again someday. It was too dense to listen to.
bmadisonw's review against another edition
challenging
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Don’t let the title deceive you; this book covers way more than just the year 1000. Unlike similarly-titled and narrowly-focused tomes like Mark Kurlansky’s 1968 or 1421 by Gavin Menzies (which gets a special shoutout in this book for its unverified and professionally disbelieved central premise that Chinese explorers discovered America in the titular year), The Year 1000 spins a web of world history from circa 800 to the roots of Europe’s Age of Imperialism in 1500.
Hansen explores economic, religious, and ethnic contact during this period, where cultures advanced technologically, supporting larger populations and spreading around the globe. I was particularly intrigued by descriptions of trade routes and patterns of succession in the early Americas, as these civilizations are often only described in isolation. The author also highlights how deliberately and dispassionately rulers of the time chose their religion--and usually that of their nation--in order to consolidate power and maximize benefit to themselves, laying the foundations for the religious blocks that still hold today. To think, the centuries of ongoing religious conflicts our world has suffered are primarily rooted in some power-hungry man’s whims nearly a thousand years ago.
This book doesn’t shy from the horrors of the past, offering a full portrait of a pivotal period of human history. The writing is fairly dry, even for nonfiction, but the information is certainly worth learning.
60degreesn's review against another edition
3.0
Good points: well written, short and global. I learned bit about SE Asia.
Bad points: shallow. I would have appreciated more view of what connections meant for people & life. Presented as true, quite a few minor things that are contested.
How much someone enjoys may depend on how much world history they have read. Book is good for a quick introduction.
Bad points: shallow. I would have appreciated more view of what connections meant for people & life. Presented as true, quite a few minor things that are contested.
How much someone enjoys may depend on how much world history they have read. Book is good for a quick introduction.
bookfever's review against another edition
4.0
So I randomly bought this book when I was browing a bookstore one time because the cover drew me in and the title was also something that jumped out at me. It was kind of a sponaneous buy for me. And I decided to save it for this year's Nonfiction November. I'm very glad I did so because it was a perfect nonfiction to dive into. Sometimes you just connect with a book, whether it's fiction or nonfiction and I really did connect with this one. It was so good!
The author, Valerie Hansen is a professor of History at Yale University so obviously she really knows her stuff and this really shows in the book. It's very well-researched as a book about history should be. There are also some amazing photographs of artifacts included in the book which I always love because you can actually look at some of the things mentioned in the book. I especially enjoyed taking a look at the blond men on the Chichen Itza murals, which may or may not be actual vikings. It gives a lot of food for thought, that's for sure.
I loved all of the chapters and even wished some were a little longer like the chapter about the vikings. I haven't read much about vikings in general but I'm even more interested in them after reading this book. As far as early exploration goes, they were some of the greatest. It was probably my favorite chapter out of them all, even though they were all really great to read. Consider me now a viking fan!
The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World – and Globalization Began was as fascinating as I hoped it would be. It was super engaging and written in an easy-to-read way. In short: it was quite the page-turner. I would love to read more of Valerie Hansen's work.
The author, Valerie Hansen is a professor of History at Yale University so obviously she really knows her stuff and this really shows in the book. It's very well-researched as a book about history should be. There are also some amazing photographs of artifacts included in the book which I always love because you can actually look at some of the things mentioned in the book. I especially enjoyed taking a look at the blond men on the Chichen Itza murals, which may or may not be actual vikings. It gives a lot of food for thought, that's for sure.
I loved all of the chapters and even wished some were a little longer like the chapter about the vikings. I haven't read much about vikings in general but I'm even more interested in them after reading this book. As far as early exploration goes, they were some of the greatest. It was probably my favorite chapter out of them all, even though they were all really great to read. Consider me now a viking fan!
The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World – and Globalization Began was as fascinating as I hoped it would be. It was super engaging and written in an easy-to-read way. In short: it was quite the page-turner. I would love to read more of Valerie Hansen's work.
dim22's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
The author elaborates a very interesting hypothesis, which she explains and argues – successfully in my opinion – in a very concise and accessible format. Although I do not agree with the extent of her conclusions, I was persuaded by her account of multiple cultures in that specific time period of which she is certainly an expert.
I would recommend reading this book – which is scientific in its approach from start to finish – with an open and inquisitive mind.
ptrevs's review against another edition
3.75
Pretty solid general history. Felt some of the allusions to globalization were a little heavy handed, but overall solid read.