Customer Reviews (20) 
"My life is a failure."
Theodore Zeldin commences his brilliant, quirky, erudite, tour-de-force of the history of all humanity with the subject quote, made by a 51 year old French domestic servant. But why start a history, any history, by looking at admittedly one of life's very minor characters, and a self-confessed failure at that? But that is precisely one of Zeldin's principal points, and it certainly draws the reader in. Alistair Horne, another superb historian, used exactly the same technique in his equally excellent history, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics) when he quotes British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who referred to the Algerian town of Setif as "A Town of No Great Interest," and proceeds to prove exactly the opposite. So too with Zeldin, who after a brief vignette of the servant, Juliette's life, goes on to say: "My purpose is different. Behind Juliette's misfortunes, I see all those who have lived but thought of themselves as failures, or been treated as such. The worst sense of failure was to realize that one had not really lived at all, not been seen as an independent human being, never been listened to, never been asked for an opinion, regarded as a chattel, the property of another." Zeldin segues into a discussion of slavery, real and de facto, the fate of the vast majority of humanity, be it self-imposed or imposed by others: "And today, all those who prefer to do what they are told rather than think for themselves and shoulder the responsibility..."And to those who have ever suffered through corporate meetings, Zeldin continues his theme loud and clear: "There has been a waste of an opportunity every time a meeting has taken place and nothing has happened...In most meetings, pride or caution still forbids one to say what one feels most deeply." The theme of slavery, in its many forms weaves it throughout Zeldin's account. Consider much latter in the book, from today's headlines a section proclaiming that "people agree to be bullied if they can bully someone else," the author says: "In real life, for the last 5,000 years, the vast majority of humans have been submissive, cringing before authority and, apart from short-lived outbursts of protest, sacrificing themselves so that a small minority could live in luxury." Or again, in another section: "Thus an elite accumulated power, enabling it to live in high luxury, and to stimulate the flowering of the arts, but civilization was for many little more than a protection racket."
The above is just one of the many topics in which Zeldin provokes thought about "the record book," what passes for our tales and accounts of the past, and how we relate to each other today. There is much on male-female relations, so stimulating no Viagra is needed. Consider some sample chapters: "How men and women have slowly learned to have interesting conversations," "How new forms of love have been invented," and "Why there has been more progress in cooking than in sex." In the second of those mentioned chapters, the author says: "Attraction became explosive when ignited by fun. Ibn Hazm, the most famous Arab authority on love, said, `Of love the first part is jesting and the last part right earnestness.'" Zeldin erudition allows him to draw from the world's cultures, so he can address the Chinese fetish on "how deformed feet became sexually arousing," and the culturally transcendent fetish of stilettos.
And on economics, Zeldin traces some of the problems that are bedeviling us today to the 18th Century doctor of nervous diseases, Bernard Mandeville, who wrote The Fable of the Bees: And Other Writings Zeldin says: "The consumer society lost its sense of direction when it adopted two myths to guide it. The first was that private vices are the source of public prosperity. Avarice, pride, envy, and greed, rather than friendliness and kindness, are the necessary bases of a successful economy..." Zeldin has another section on astrology, and the enduring power of totally irrational beliefs on our behavior.
Zeldin is French, of course, so it is only natural that his historical examples are skewed toward the French experience. Being an intellectual there, he comments: "Personal vendettas and power struggles have, of course, been endemic in France's intellectual life..." He quotes Antoinette Fouque, who wrote for the publishing house "Seuil,": `Why did Beauvoir not join the Resistance, instead of cycling around the country, having affairs?' Figure that is a double pay-back. But then in a twinkle, he is in Japan, discussing The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition), written between AD 1002 and 1022, and says: "Those who say Japan can only imitate will be astounded by this extraordinarily readable and intelligent precursor of Proust, Murasaki Shikibu."
If you've read only one history book, and are looking for the second, I'd highly recommend this one, which is our past from a refreshingly different, thought-provoking perspective, and is rich in endless nuggets of "the history you do not know." I must add Zeldin to my small, but growing list of 6-star books.
Interesting read
This book is an excellently written book. It is an insightful look at people on the whole.
Excellent book that inspires you to live more creatively!
A book written by someone who has been reading his whole life. As Zeldin gives the history of the different traits of humans, you question your own traits and it encourages you to think with more awareness of how you live. Moreover, Zeldin refreshingly avoids being too Anglo-centric, and gives sufficient space to the history of humanity in East Asia or the Middle East. Also incredible is the bibliography at the end of every chapter, very broad... Only thing that seemed oddly missing is the history of humour, though as it is, the book is long enough. All in all a great, refreshing and though-provoking book.
interesting, but could have amounted to more
In 'An Intimate History of Humanity', Theodore Zeldin undertakes an ambitious project.He takes a broad look at a side of history often neglected in standard textbooks - the history of people's interior lives and interpersonal relationships.His hope is that people today can improve themselves and the world by gleaning lessons from history - lessons on meaningful communication, open-mindedness, creativity and curiosity.
The strengths of his book lie with his fundamental optimism in human nature.He doesn't believe that history has come to its end, and that there is no more room for true innovation of spirit and mind.His tone is kindly and curious; he does not write contemptuously of anyone.He believes that true change cannot be imposed by force from a government, that traits such as compassion, generosity and empathy cannot be legislated.
Perhaps the best part of his book are the beginnings of each chapter.He structures his chapters in the following way - first he creates a portrait of someone in the present day (almost 100% of the time, this present-day person is a Frenchwoman).Afterwards, he links the issues and dilemmas of this Frenchwoman to what he sees as similar issues in the past.For example, after spending a few pages discussing a particular Frenchwoman's thoughts about relationships with men, he will sketch out some history on the relationship between men and women and how it has evolved.
His portraits of the contemporary women are engrossing.Just as character studies they are interesting to read.The Frenchwomen he speaks to come from different walks of life, and he succeeds in rendering their complexity.
What weakens his book is the nature of his forays into history.Because he touches upon so many topics, and devotes only several pages to each, it's difficult for him to discuss and develop his points in-depth.The facts he does present are interesting - he writes about various historical figures, texts and old cultural practices, and I enjoyed reading about people as diverse as Galen and Lady Murasaki.But his discussion of historical trends can be simplistic.He'll present, for instance, some evolving attitudes of British or Japanese aristocracy on the topic of love as evidence of how people's ideas of love can change.However he doesn't convincingly argue that these changes can be recreated (or are relevant) across the world, or all classes; I'm not always convinced that he chooses the best examples.He doesn't go deep enough into the roots of those changes, the broader historical and psychological circumstances (I would've loved reading a close comparison of two cultures faced with similar historical dilemmas, and their similarities and differences in how they evolved in respects to something like marriage or romantic love).While I'm certain that there are struggles and questions that human beings share universally, Zeldin's possible solutions to these struggles sometimes seems relevant to only a certain socioeconomic class or culture.Other times he'll raise an interesting point - for example, that India's ancient civilizations were often open-minded about foreign ideas, but that the society closed off different castes from each other...and then he just leaves it at that.Why not discuss the possible reasons for this further? Wouldn't that enrich our understanding of human nature and history?
His definitions of various character traits and abstract ideas can suffer from fuzzy, superficial definitions.For instance, in his brief historical foray into 'compassion', he focuses a lot on medical care and then includes, disjointedly, some other arguments about the nature of present-day romantic relationships and interpersonal communication (he doesn't quite justify why he focuses on these facets of compassion in particular).At one point he writes about the length of time patients stay in hospitals and mentions that in Japan hospital stays are treated as "as a holiday from conformity and the rigours of ordinary life" - patients are seen as individuals, not as cases, they wear their own clothes, they have individually tailored treatments, and they love discussing all of their symptoms ("eighty-eight percent of the Japanese claim to be suffering from some kind of illness").But there's a lot more going on here, psychologically and culturally, than evidence of compassion.He then talks about Sweden democratising compassion by providing everyone with care...while in another chapter he speaks of the limitations of care provided by the government, how it is often impersonal and mechanical rather than truly caring.This is just one example of the sorts of inconsistencies and superficialties that crop up in his book.
The different sections of each chapter seem disjointed as well.It can be awkward, how he links the issues of a contemporary Frenchwomen to various cultural upheavals in the past (and why only Frenchwomen? I guess he's trying to show that even in modern societies you still find ancient dilemmas; although it would've been interesting if he had also interviewed women from cultures where the struggle between modern trends and older practices and beliefs is much more obvious).His transition from one chapter to the next (particularly towards the end of the book) is pretty stilted and forced.When he reflects on traits such as generosity, his argument oftentimes boils down to very obvious ideas, such as how generosity benefits from empathy and putting yourself into another person's shoes (and he simply says this straightout without necessarily bringing in compelling examples from history).His 'solutions' for the world's ills are often a repetition of 'be open-minded, curious, creative...' and while those are very positive and helpful traits, and while he does discuss some obstacles to the development of such traits, his arguments tend to smack of superficiality.He throws a lot of facts at you, but they don't always amount to an actual argument.
Again, Zeldin's book is ambitious and it can be delightful.I like how he tries to search for the common dilemmas and hopes that humans share everywhere, and to be fair, there are times where he does make an interesting connection between modern and past problems.However, when he is not writing his absorbing portraits of modern women, his approach often lacks depth and merely seems to drift across various historical tidbits.
Printed on theback cover of paperback:
"This is at once a kind and brilliant book, at a time when our culture tends to favour a split between the two....Zeldin is gloriously rash in the sheer range of human concerns he takes on, and his language is a model of clarity and narrative impetus....Anyone who is willing to read this extraordinary and beautiful work andlisten to the vast range of human voices it contains will carry away a treasury of new ideas, but as something more valuable- hope." -Maggie Gee, DAILY TELEGRAPH(London)
"[This book]is a narrative of private lives, but it extends much further; it is universal history, but it has an extraordinary intimacy of tone....His is a study in which time is broken open to reveal the real world which lies beneath it, that real world of memory and inheritance which is all the more powerful for being obscured from sight."
-Peter Ackroyd, THE TIMES (London)
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