A Little History Series
Last updated: February 07, 2025
The A Little History series, published by Yale University Press, is modelled on E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World, first published in German in 1936. The books are aimed at young adults, so make excellent introductions to a subject as they don't presume any knowledge. (In fact, we liked A Little History of Philosophy so much that back in 2013 we invited its author, Nigel Warburton, to be our philosophy editor on Five Books. Since then he's interviewed hundreds of philosophers about the best books on philosophy)
A Little History of the World
by E.H. Gombrich
The first book in the Little History series, published by Yale University Press
A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich is a charming account of the whole of world history in under 300 pages. Gombrich was from Vienna, and the book was first published in German in 1936. It was written with young adults in mind, and the book aims not just to recount key events, but also to infect the reader with excitement about history, and why it's relevant. (The last chapter, about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the 1930s—which Gombrich himself experienced—is quite upsetting to read today, as populist politicians again find scapegoats to blame problems on).
A Little History of Philosophy
by Nigel Warburton
Part of the Little History series, published by Yale University Press
It may be true of all subjects, but it's particularly true of philosophy that it's hard to understand any of it until you know quite a lot about it. Even a book for teenagers, like the 1995 bestseller Sophie's World, is extremely hard to follow if you really are a beginner. What's nice about Nigel Warburton's A Little History of Philosophy is that, as the title suggests, it takes a historical approach. That makes it a lot easier to follow what's going on. It has short chapters on all the big names in Western philosophy—and their basic ideas—over the past two millennia, from Socrates and Plato through to Peter Singer, the Australian utilitarian philosopher who only just retired from Princeton University.
A Little History of Philosophy is also very nice to listen to as an audiobook. By the end you'll know your Kant from your Kierkegaard, your Spinoza from your Schopenhauer and your Aristotle from your Arendt—all in just 7.5 hours of listening!
A Little History of Art
by Charlotte Mullins
Part of the Little History series, published by Yale University Press
“Brief informed surveys of complicated subjects are always helpful so I was pleased to see a new book in the Yale University Press Little Histories series: art critic Charlotte Mullins taking on 100,000 years of art history in A Little History of Art. Theoretically aimed at young adults, these books are great for older adults too.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022
Sophie Roell, Journalist
A Little History of Economics
by Niall Kishtainy
Part of the Little History series, published by Yale University Press
"It doesn’t presume any knowledge. Most adults don’t know anything about economics and find it a daunting field to get into, so they find it a really useful book to read. It’s completely free of jargon and free of any assumption that people will know anything about the topic. That was the idea of the book—and obviously to put it in a historical context. There are a lot of introductory economics books, but most of them don’t take a historical approach."
A Little History of Psychology
by Nicky Hayes
Part of the Little History series, published by Yale University Press
“A Little History of Psychology by British psychologist Nicky Hayes takes psychology from its study under the Greeks to the present.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction Books of Mid-2024
Sophie Roell, Journalist
