What book is best to read for a layman on the general evolution and history of man?

Question

and especially the last 1000 years or so. Using scientific facts...

i came across one by L ron hubbord but apparently its full of pseudo-science.

Answer 1

Well, there are three books that I thought were absolutely awesome for covering that subject.

1. "Guns Germs and Steel", by Jarred Diamond, gives an EXCELLENT overview of the advent of basic civilization and major questions that commonly come up regarding how come Europeans/Eurasians conquered the Americas vs. other civilizations such as Melanesians or Native Americans. Other good books by the author include "The Third Chimpanzee" and "Collapse", although 3rd Chimpanzee might be a little closer to what you are looking for.

2. In the last 1000 years or so, I found the book "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", by Paul Kennedy, this book doesn't cover evolution but does an awesome job of covering the history of European/Eurasian powers from about 1200AD forward to the late 1980's (when the book was written). It's so totally awesome because it really shows - in cold hard numbers how overmilitarization and failure to keep spending under control and education as a national priority tends to s***w a world power, whether it's Imperial Austria/Hungary, Imperial Spain, England or the United States.

3. As far as genetics - straight up are concerned, you probably want to read a book along the lines of Bryan Sykes "The Seven Daughters of Eve" which covers the history of mankind through our maternal genetics , which really puts was hugely informative.

With these three books under your belt, you get a pretty good understanding that our civilization (humanity) is just really coming to terms with our infancy and really and truly is still firmly for the most part, in our adolescence.

Answer 2

L ron hubbord be careful you might get sued for copyright infringement but I'm sure you will get some crazy answer for this question.  I don't you find anything on the last thousand years but here are some links to get you started.