I've enjoyed several of these 'big scoope' popularized history-books, but some of them also leave me with a feeling of.. one persons attempt to become an icon by trying to explain way to much, ending up not really explaining anything.. I haven't read any of Neil's previous books, but both the title, cover (uk), and the fact that his picture is on the back of the book (with a very civilization-like look) really sends me all the wrong signals. would anyone who's read it care to comment?
We don't take kindly to his type around these here parts.
If you would like a good "big" history book that does a good job of explaining how we got from there to here, try Ian Morris' Why the West Rules, For Now. He is a very well respected classical archaeologist and is able to apply that skill set to a surprisingly wide range of questions.