The Other Side of History - Robert Garland

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

The subtitle is "daily life in the ancient world" which really sums it up well. It goes over what you would expect to experience if you were a slave, peasant, woman, child, soldier or other regular person who never made it into a history book. This book was incredibly enlightening and has to be my favorite history book so far this year. Lots of insight and all explained in very accessible terms.

It's an audible exclusive and can only otherwise be accessed through The Great Courses which is not cheap, so I know most people won't be able to read it. But if there is one general history book I would recommend, it might be this one along with Guns, Gems and Steel. My only really complaint is that he really only covers a handful of Western civilizations, with only a fraction of this huge book given to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia. But the West is his specialization and so I get that he doesn't want to write outside of his scope. Still, I can't help but wish there was more accessible literature on the East.