Review of Lessons of History - Observed

[Melisa Jane]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lessons of History - Observed" by Jim Giombetti.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Everyone yearns to succeed in life. While success is defined as achieving one's objectives, there are some universally shared objectives such as good health, stable income, and decent living conditions. To be successful in life, there are some lessons one needs to learn to avoid making the mistakes that others have made. History enables us to learn from other people's mistakes and achievements so that we do not have to make the same mistakes, especially when the cost of making a mistake is very high. The Lessons of History–Observed: Change Your Context Change Your Life by Jim Giombetti is a non-fictional self-help book highlighting several lessons we learn from history and how to apply them to life to ensure success.

This book has one hundred and ninety-five pages. It is divided into twelve chapters. Each chapter tackles an independent topic and hence can be read independently. Towards the end of the book, the author includes references that validate his work. Since this book has twelve independent chapters, it's hard to summarize the entire book without tackling the individual chapters. For this reason, and to avoid spoilers, I'll only summarize the introductory chapter and the first two chapters.

The introductory chapter talks about concepts such as Stoicism and Epicureanism. The author explains that Stoicism is a tool used in life to direct actions and thoughts. He also uses a childhood story to expand on this. Epicureanism, however, is based on the absence of fear and pain. The first chapter, "History Is Not a Predictor of the Future," talks about the limitations of history in predicting the future. The author uses his story to show the influence of history on one's future. He also gives examples of how the past has a way of repeating itself. These examples include the shooting of black people, genocide, and mass extinctions. The second chapter, "Post-industrial Age," talks about a knowledge-based economy. The author gives examples of situations where increased knowledge resulted in higher productivity.

I liked several things about this book. First, the author occasionally shares his childhood experiences when explaining some concepts. This provides context to these concepts and makes the book relatable. I enjoyed reading about the author's experiences and the critical lessons he learned. Second, although the book only covers most of the topics superficially, it discusses significant issues. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on different economic structures, such as communism, capitalism, and socialism. Third, the book relates historical events to current events and analyzes their relationship. Some sensitive topics such as racism and police brutality are also tackled. Since I didn't find any grammatical errors while reading, this book was exceptionally well-edited.

Although this is a brilliant book, it has some flaws. First, it was difficult to determine the aim of the book. Since the chapters tackle independent topics, I struggled to understand the book's primary objective. It was only after reading the last chapter, "Conclusion, "that I understood its objectives. Second, the author covers an extensive range of topics in this book. While this is a positive trait, it makes the book shallow since none of the chapters is covered in-depth.

In conclusion, this is a splendid book. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. This is because, although it has some flaws, they didn't affect my reading. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn important lessons from other people's experiences and those interested in American history and how it relates to the present.

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Lessons of History - Observed
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[Akinola John]

This is an interesting book to read. Lesson to learn to avoid mistake other have made. I would love to check it out. Thanks for the review.

[Itz Savaga]

This book sounds educating and interesting. Some mistakes people have made years ago is not supposed to be made by any other person , I think that's what this book is all about. I would love to have a read. Great review

[elena oponda]

Amazing book to read, it teaches us to be mindful in our success no matter what our past is going through.

[Okoye Chinonso+]

This is it, the one book that may supersede the others (to me). I'm a lover of history and nonfiction books, and this book has both.

[Okoye Chinonso+]

From the marvelous review given, I won't be wrong when I say this book can help one avoid mistakes that has already been made by our predecessors and assist the to a greater unknown. A splendid book indeed.

[Ifesi]

This book sounds interesting from what I see. The review was well detailed also. Thanks for a wonderful review.

[Christopherio]

This book uses the mistakes and experiences of the past and history to teach new possible options to create success. thanks for the review.

[Uwe Neufeld]

It's natural for humans to learn from the past. I not, we all would be grownup children. It seems this book has more to say about that.
Great review!