Civilisations - Laurent Binet Kartoniert (TB)

Das Buch bietet ein faszinierendes, wenn auch etwas sehr abstraktes Blickfeld auf die Weltgeschichte, aber die Darstellung ist für manche Leser zu sehr eine Interpretation.

Interessant!

Laurent Binet’s ”Civilisations“ belongs to that kind of inspiring (also, unfortunately, often ridiculed) books that deal with the question of what might have been the consequences if historic events had happened differently.Of course, one might ask: why bother since the historic events dealt with cannot be changed anymore. But then, again, the what if-questions get their particular importance from the fact that they underline the implications of the decisions actually taken and the events that they led to.Binot succeeds brilliantly with his attempt when he has Columbus sail to and discover America, only to die there. Following the unhappy trail of Columbus’s adventures in the new world, the author then has the indigenous population (under the leadership of the Inca Athahualpa) embark on a tour of discovery and eventually conquest of Europe – using as their point of departure the city of Lisbon in Portugal.The events lead us through the following decades of 16th-century European history, addressing all the important political and religious conflicts that characterized that century. Even considering the occasional inconsistencies that a counterfactual history of Europa must almost of necessity contain, Laurent Binet shows us convincingly that things might have happened differently if certain decisions had not been taken.A caveat: Reading the book is a tour de force covering the events of the Europe of that tumultuous century. The reader should be familiar with all major (and a lot of minor) characters and events to fully appreciate the book.Just two examples of what the reader has to deal with: Athahualpa: ”The Empire is worth a Mass.” (ch. 57) – a reference to the Henry IV’s alleged statement “Paris is well worth a mass.”; or the legal principle “cuius regio, eius religio” indirectly referred to in ch. 60 “…to each region, its religion.”.Still, a good read.