Subtitled: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes

It comes as no surprise that different parts of the world view the history of the world in different ways, or that the western view of history that I learned in school is not the only story. The history of the world is too vast and complex to wrap up neatly into a single coherent narrative, especially when different cultures view events through different contexts. This book presents an alternative view of world history: both events that are entirely ignored by the western worldview, and others that intersect and contradict that viewpoint.

The series of events as laid out by Ansary is well-organized and well-presented, though he admits up front that it is a biased tale (just like the western version of history is). I listened to the audio version, read by the author, and enjoyed the narration. Normally, I don’t really read/listen to straight-academic sorts of nonfiction, but this one was really good, and I highly recommend it to those interested in other, non-western views of history.