This book takes a dramatically original approach to the history of humanity, using objects which previous civilisations have left behind them, often accidentally, as prisms through which we can explore past worlds and the lives of the men and women who lived in them. The book's range is enormous. It begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, and ends with an object from the 21st century which represents the world we live in today. Neil MacGregor's aim is not simply to describe these remarkable things, but to show us their significance - how a stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people, how Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency or how an early Victorian tea-set tells us about the impact of empire. Each chapter immerses the reader in a past civilization accompanied by an exceptionally well-informed guide. Seen through this lens, history is a kaleidoscope - shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, and shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. An intellectual and visual feast, it is one of the most engrossing and unusual history books published in years.

尼爾•麥格雷戈 // Neil MacGregor

大英博物館館長，倫敦古文物學會成員，英國著名藝術史學者。

1946年齣生於蘇格蘭格拉斯哥，在牛津大學研修德文與法文，後在法國巴黎高等師範學校攻讀哲學，之後在愛丁堡大學修習法律，1972年取得蘇格蘭律師執照。1973年在英國首屈一指的藝術史學院考陶德藝術學院研修藝術史。

1975年至1981年，在英國雷丁大學教授藝術與建築史。1981年至1987年，主編英語世界曆史最悠久的美術及裝飾藝術期刊《伯林頓雜誌》。1987年至2002年，主持英國國傢美術館。2002年至今，任大英博物館館長。2010年，獲英國女王頒贈功績勛章。

主要作品有《目睹拯救：藝術作品中的基督形象》《大師之作的誕生》《莎士比亞的動蕩世界》等。