2000 Years of World History: The history of human civilization told in one breath, unrestricted by national boundaries. Written for the general ... A must read for even professional historians.

Very informative from a unique perspective. It seemed like English was not his first language but very readable. Very educational. I would highly recommend this book.

What a fantastic, refreshing book this is! Despite being slightly intimidated by the title, I dove right into this book and found it to be enjoyably readable, and a ripping good yarn at that. Truly a monumental amount of important historical events that have shaped the world as we know it now, delivered in a smooth easy narrative style, which makes the book hard to put down until you've completed it.The practical scholarship that seems to have gone into the writing of this volume, as well as the incumbent research, are quite impressive. The author seems to have drawn from what appears to be a lifelong interest in the subject. I think it will be appealing to readers of all ages.I especially enjoyed the chapters on the Barbarians and the rise of the Germanic people; the Renaissance; the Reformation; and the French Revolution, which is succinctly summed up in one very readable chapter which tells me more than other entire books that I have read on the subject. I highly recommend this book, and I intend to use it as a reference to show off to others my knowledge of world history.

Would be 5/5 but there was misinformation about Polish history. He got the name of a town wrong. This sloppiness makes me question his fact checking capabilities in other areas of the book … despite this error I still recommend this book because there are no other books like it on the market.

This book was a very learning book. Taught me I could have come from anywhere on this planet. I’m always fascinated with migrations, the good and the bad of it. Very easy read and easy to understand. Have a map available to follow the people. Thanks!

The book has misprints/errors, guess its publishing issues. Very general and fact oriented (lacks explanations and brief analysis), but for some its a plus. Interesting author chosen accents and content presentation, which I enjoyed, but more for novice/unprepared audience, than scholars.

A most comprehensive and objective history book I have ever read.

Browsing through the history racks of a Las Vegas library, talking to one of the librarians, a New Zealander stranded in the U.S., I accidentally came across: “2000 Years of World History,” according to its promotional blurb: “The history of human civilization told in one breath, unrestricted by national boundaries.” I was intrigued by the title, but also by the author of this history tome, the Hong Kong-born Chinese-American scholar Chao C. Chien; no, not a historian by training! Mr. Chien’s academic training is that of an engineer and mathematician, moreover, a highly qualified one. Mr. Chien held a number of top engineering positions, among which at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he participated in the Voyagers and Galileo Spacecraft Programs.Reading “2000 Years of World History”, the reader cannot help but wondering why non-historians sometimes manage to write some of the more engaging history books? Many ran into this experience. Personally, some of the most fascinating Roman history I can recall was that written by the Australian author, the late Colleen McCullough (1937-2015). Before taking to Roman history, Ms. McCullough earned a living as a teacher, librarian and journalist. She did her academic training in medical studies, later switching to neuroscience and working in the field in Australia, in the United Kingdom and the United States, where she spent 10 years researching and teaching in the Department of Neurology at the Yale Medical School. Still, the same lady made a name for herself especially as a prolific author in non-medical fields, including in history. Her “Masters of Rome”, historical novels set in ancient Rome, chronicling the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompeius Magnus, Gaius Julius Caesar, and the early career of Caesar Augustus captured the interest of many of those who understand the importance of knowing about history, the history of ancient Rome. Intriguingly, our advancement of historical understanding has often been brought about by non-historians. There is the famous case of Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890), the German businessman who became a pioneer in the fields of archaeology and history, but hardly because of any formal training in such fields. Instead, his background was that of a passionate interest in the history of Ancient Greece and which eventually led him to advocate the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer, the author of the Iliad, an epic poem – the central work of ancient Greek literature. In turn, Schliemann lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid probably also reflect real historical events. Mr. Chien (1947-), with his “2000 Years of World History”, with his multiple other historical studies: “In Search of Troy: An Unusual History Detective Story”, “The Hunt for the Dragon”, “The Chinese Origin of the Age of Discovery”, “Barbarians in the Gate”, all from the pen of an engineer and mathematician, somewhat falls in that same McCullough and Schliemann category. From his particular Asian perspective, this brilliant outsider has managed to shed new light on how our current world came to be. And if we are to improve our understanding of our world we certainly should sometimes avoid the strictly scholarly stodgy, the often narrow focus treatises, typically promoted by schools and librarians. The study of history in all its drama should surely also include those tomes of easy flow narratives by master raconteurs. Whatever their precise academic training, these are the people who often manage to bring history alive for the general reader, historical work showing erudition, but in its vivid prose, suggestive nuances not only informing, educating, entertaining but also setting the reader’s mind to work, to speculate – a mission of historians for too long ignored or underemphasized in the historic regimen shaping young and older minds everywhere...

The author summarized a massive amount of historical information, and the writing is professional. I learned a great deal, particularly about the history of Asia. Readers should know, however, that this self-published book lacks an index, bibliography, or author biography. The "maps" are small black and white photographs with hard-to-read labels. If you're looking for a broad survey of 2000 years of history and don't care about the "finishing touches" of a professionally published book, this one's for you.

Astonishing . History must be rewritten along with the correction of Egyptian chronology. The people of this world might have a better understanding of what goes on around them.