This book's aim really is to give an overview over world history through individual objects. All the objects are taken from the British Museum's collections; the book is based on BBC radio series.

The first object is a stone tool from ca. 2.000.000 years ago while object 100 is a solar powered torch which already looks almost as antiquated as the stone tool.
Obviously, this world history is not complete and it does not track developments. The approach to history is a cross-sectional rather than a longituianl one. Almost never do we get to read about a culture more than once, and only very rarely does the author draw connections between cultures or objects. And of course, the objects are more or less randomly chosen. 100 totally different objects would have made for a history just as interesting as the present one.

We do not learn about big events or dates in history, we learn only very little about leaders or heroes - but we get a lot of insights into everyday lives in differentt places at different times.

So, what makes this book interesting are the connections the readers can make on their own. Some things just never change, while others most certainly do. If you want to know what mattered to different peoples of different ages - here is the answer. And if you want to compare or draw conclusions about how people are wired - MacGregor gives you plenty of material to work with.

Another inreresting point is thet the objects are discussed not only within their own cultural context, but always in several contexts: what they meant to their original creators, what they meant to their original, sometimes also to later owners, how they ended up in often astonishingly distant places and how and why they are now in the British museum.
The book is also very suitable for consuming in small helpings: the objects/chapters take no longer than 10 or 15 minutes to read and are self-contained units leaving you with plenty of material for thoughts about the nature of history, societies, mankind. While this would make the book an ideal train companion, the quite considerable size and weight do not.

Still, a good read, recommended for everybody who wants unexpected connections and combinations as input for further thoughts.