speech 1

(837 words, about six minutes)

Thank you.
Good evening Mister toastmaster, members and guests.
As you heard in the introduction, tonight I will be doing a review.
I've decided to do a book.
The subject of my review is A Short History of the World, written by Melbourne Academic Geoffrey Blainey and published by Viking Press in 2000.
It is as the title suggests a history book. It takes a look at the history of human kind from our very earliest ancestors up until the era of space travel and the internet.
In doing so the author condenses four million years of history into about 650 pages which I think is a pretty mean feat.
I'll going to try to go one better and tell you about those four million years and his book five minutes.
I've chosen this work for two reasons.
First of all, this is my first formal speech here and I wanted to focus on a work I was very familiar with.
I like this book so much I've read it twice, the second time just last week.
Second of all, I think it's a really valuable book.
I'm always interested in books that help us understand better who we are as human beings.
I like it when authors address issues like why we're on the planet, why our society works the way it does and why we behave the way we do as individuals.
I find it really inspiring how far we've come as a species.
The book's opening chapter is set on the plains of Africa about two million years ago.
Blainey says basic human beings have already been around for about two million years.
The people on the savannah are smaller than us, their brains aren't as big and they look a little bit more like monkeys.
But they stand upright, they use basic tools and they can adapt to their environment.
A change in weather is forcing them to explore other locations to live.
The book follows the species over the next two million years.
By about a million years ago they have made their way as far afield as Indonesia.
Sometime about 500,000 years ago their brains began to grow markedly in size and complexity, perhaps because they started eating more meat.
By 200,000 years ago their language skills had began to fully blossomed as had their ability to use tools and hunt.
Then about 60,000 years ago, early man had an extraordinary awakening. He began experimenting with arts and craft and produced cave paintings and human figurines.
He developed a belief in the afterlife and began to have exceptional tool making and hunting skills.
About 15,000 years ago the climate began to warm up as an ice age ended and early humans turned their hands to agriculture for the first time, harvesting crops such as wheat and barley and domesticating animals such as sheep and goats.
By 4000 years ago humans were making metal by smelting rocks and by 3000 years ago they were growing grapes to make wine. That's one break through I personally am pretty grateful for.
Blainey then takes us through more recent human history - the birth of writing in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations and the rise of democracy in Greece about four thousand years ago.
He looks at the rise of Judaism, Christianity of Buddhism and Islam.
Then its the rise of the mighty Roman empire and its fall to mongols and the arrival of the dark ages.
Then it's on to the renaissance and the reformation and the exploration of the world by countries like spain and portugal and the discovery of America.
Next it's the invention of the steam engine and the industrial revolution, the rise of cities and incredible inventions like the telegraph, the motor car and electric lighting.
Blainey takes us into the 20th century with the carnage of the two world wars, the arrival of television and the moon landing.
He finally takes a look at life today with our massive super-cities, lives interwoven with technology and the not too distant possibility of colonising other planets.
It's quite a story.
What I like about the book is the sense of perspective it gives to our lives. I think it shows so much has gone on in the past to allow us to enjoy the lives we do today.
I also like the author's easy-to-read style.
I do have one small qualm about recommending the book.
I found out while I was researching this speech that Geoffrey Blayney had made some controversial comments on immigration in the 1980s, which I thought was disappointing.
He has a great writing style and really fascinating way of bringing togother facts and I thought it a bit sad he had dabbled in politics.
However, I don't feel any sentiment like that comes through in the writing of this book.
Overall I think it's a compelling history of the progress of mankind and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the world around us.
Thank you.