Von den Anfängen bis zum Mittelalter

I’ll admit: I approached this with skepticism. A ‘history of the world’ in five hours? By a mid-20th-century art historian? But Gombrich’s *Von den Anfängen bis zum Mittelalter* defies expectations by being *opinionated*—not a neutral textbook, but a series of sharp, sometimes playful theses. His chapter on the fall of Rome, for instance, dismisses the ‘barbarian hordes’ myth with a single, devastating analogy (comparing them to modern tourists). It’s these moments—where erudition meets cheek—that make the audiobook feel urgent, even 80 years after its first draft. Then there’s Waltz. His narration is a masterclass in restraint: he resists the temptation to *perform* history like a dramatic podcast, instead letting Gombrich’s prose dictate the tone. His German is crisp but conversational, with a rhythmic cadence that makes even tax policies sound engaging. My only critique? The abridgment occasionally feels *too* lean—Gombrich’s section on early Christianity, for example, races past heresies that deserved more airtime. And while the production is flawless, the lack of chapter markers (a pet peeve) makes revisiting specific eras a hassle. Still, these are quibbles. For anyone who’s ever zoned out during a history lecture, this is the antidote: a brisk, brainy, and surprisingly *funny* romp through millennia, elevated by one of the great voices of our time.