When the history of the world did really begin? Or to be precise, how did our own story really began? It is actually an epic 70,000-year worth of the history of the human race and the world itself. But before one think they know everything there is to make up the composition of the history of the world itself, the eight-part epic series is divided into eight different themes.First, it is the earliest of human history in Africa and how humans came to find themselves living in various parts and survive against the odds to do so. Second, it is the rise and fall of the empires as the world know it, and the empires whose legacy are actually still with us today. Third, the ways how humans think and behave and the means they use to execute it. Fourth, when the human race began to explore beyond where they live and what they have always know. Fifth, re-examining the beginning of the age of capitalism and colonisation and how the stock market as we knew it came about. Sixth, the age of revolutions when it began to happen around the world where people found the courage to stand up against the hierarchical order of the church and monarchy from the Americas to Europe and back but also the revolutions taking place in the scientific and medical world. Seventh, how the Industrial Revolution in Britain would come to be felt around the world when it made its presence felt even in China. And last but not least, exploring with the major world events which took place in the 20th century of the two world wars, where democracy was being challenged by other ideologies especially communism where Russia and China comes under the microscope, and where science and technology continue to make our lives better in ways we would not have imagined centuries ago and also backfire at the same time.Depending on how much one know about the various eras in history, it can still be eye-opening and what we thought we knew being re-examined. The letters of the alphabet might have been something we take for granted, but it was the Phoenicians whom are no longer in existence who had created the modern alphabetical system. Christopher Columbus has always been acknowledged as the man who founded America, but there was also someone else in the exploration who had spotted the New World as well. If economic bubbles look like a recent phenomenon, it had already happened with the tulip bubble in the Netherlands in the 1600s and has come and go ever since. Not only that, it was the Dutch which gave the world the stock exchange as we knew it.But it is also a documentary series which does force one to re-examine what we have always being told. History has always has a knack of being written by the viewpoint of the winners, but for the conquered, it never got the chance to tell its side of the story. It is the fifth episode on the age of capitalism and colonisation where the uncomfortable truths of how the major European powers expanded their empires was being brought to the fore, and the origins of the Opium War which led to Hong Kong becoming a British colony, where the Chinese viewpoint is being told as well apart from the British perspective.But history has always told us, there are always people who dared to go against the system and won. There are also those who lost, but their vision would be felt in the years and centuries to come. And even the well-known world religions had been challenged before they became established themselves - Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. Not only that, it is being taken for granted and still being fought for these days comes under the spotlight - the origins of democracy as we know it. But even in ancient Greece, it had been challenged in terms of how it would be executed, something which would look familiar to the modern viewer.History might have been filled with wars, revolutions, tragedies, but it has also being filled with triumphs, innovations and inventions which backfire. The medical and scientific triumphs also has their time in the series, like Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press which will forever come to change the way how the human race receives information, Thomas Edison and the light bulb, the accidental discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and Edward Jenner with his work in smallpox vaccine and vaccination. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki might had ended Second World War in the Asia-Pacific, but one of those behind the Manhattan Project would never get over what he did. He is J. Robert Oppenheimer.Human beings always has the ability to invent and reinvent themselves, coming up with various ways to think and behave and never like it when others want to challenge the status quo, but also having the ingenuity to think of ways to make lives better for many. Ultimately, it is the human race which is us who is writing the history of the world and a story that we are still writing, and the world is in the early years of the 21st century. Sometimes history does have the ability to surprise us and challenge what we thought we know as well. The only downside is that the various stories told can look brief at times. But still, that is what make this documentary series constantly fascinating with each episode jam-packing as many as it can into the theme for the episode in question, something to make one think twice of what we know even if we think we know.

I'm a history affectionado and had all but given up on TV programs, but Andrew Marr brought me back to the screen. This is the mostly brilliant, concise presentation of world history and more importantly the history of world culture I have ever come across. Andrew Marrs presents a well balanced collection of pivotal moments in human history, up to date with current historical and archaeological knowledge. And more importantly presents and links those event to the important cultural changes which shape are modern view of the world. Highly recommendable for children and adults alike and even if you know history this might once in while give you a new insight. Effectively a history lecture filmed on location it does, as far as I can see present all historical facts correctly while a global perspective is maintained. The tone is surprisingly intellectual and neutral and Andrew Marr presents Asian, Indian, Arabic and European history in well balanced episodes with only minimal use of drama and suspense owed to the medium. Watch it, buy it, show to your children (I will once mine are old enough), this will be a classic of humanities education. Teachers, use it in school, there is no school book, which can compare with this program to show the central themes of human history.Get a 10/10. Surely not comparable to a Hollywood blockbuster in special effects and acting but it 100% achieves its mission, telling human history and culture in context.

The series opens and closes with the Ayoreo tribe from Paraguay. It conveys an outmoded view of tribal peoples straight out of a colonialist's handbook. We are told they live like our ancestors and that history has passed them by. Neither are true and it's dangerous rubbish because it's exactly the same view which has led to the destruction of tribes throughout the world. We are also told that Africa was 'always dangerous' for early man (but the script thankfully fell short of calling it the 'dark continent'). The 're-enactments' of people passing out of Africa and growing crops for the first time are pure Monty Python. Best viewed as comedy. How this was a co-production with the Open University beats me.

It's craggy, it's rugged and it looks like it was formed from hot volcanic ash around 70,000 years ago. Yes, it's Andrew Marr's face – desperately in need of dental work but as trustworthy and kindly as your favourite teacher at school.The History of the World was always going to be a ridiculously ambitious project. But Andrew Marr is tackling it with great flair – as fearlessly as Genghis Khan or Julius Caesar or any of the charismatic historical figures he's introduced us to so far.Of course, the dramatic reconstructions are a little clunky at times, and some of history's greatest figures do look like they've been cast after a quick flick through the actor's directory Spotlight. But I for one don't care. Because I am loving Andrew Marr's History of the World.Last night I sat down and watched the first four episodes back to back, and when you cram a potted version of world history into such a short time frame quite a lot of things start to make sense. We kicked off with a look at how the earliest humans spread around the world, mainly, it seems, by balancing their way across precarious narrow stone bridges. Then we explored the great empires of Rome and China – two ancient civilisations who, in the absence of long haul air travel, co-existed for thousands of years without ever knowing of each other's existence. How peaceful the world would be today if the United States and the Muslim World were as blissfully unaware of each other.My favourite episode so far looked at how the Vikings became the Russians. Apparently they couldn't decide which of the world's religions would suit them best, so they invited the heads of all the world's religions to come to Russia and pitch to them, saying they would choose the one they liked best. They immediately turned down Islam because they didn't want to give up drinking, and finally plumped for the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, because they liked the style of the paintings and the big pointy gold domes.Television like this make me wish I'd paid more attention in history classes at school, and underlines the fact that a subject is generally only as interesting as the person who teaches it to you. Presenters like Professor Brian Cox, Simon Schama and Andrew Marr are bringing science and history to life for a generation who previously thought these subjects were dull and boring.You can catch up with the whole series of Andrew Marr's History of the World on iPlayer, and I highly recommend that you do.Read more TV reviews at Mouthbox.co.uk