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This book is basically an English translation, with additions, of the 1946 Kulturfahrplan (Culture timetables) produced by the German scholar Werner Stein. It became very popular in Europe immediately, but for various reasons resisted translation into English.

Finally, over twenty years later, a man emerged in London who was “eager to tackle the task��, and eminently qualified. From the Publisher’s Note:

Bernard Grun, born in the Czech part of the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy and educated in law and philosophy at the universities of Prague and Vienna, had by then been settled in London for decades. An eminent musicologist, he was almost as well-known as a historian with an encyclopedic talent and turn of mind. Completely bilingual in German and English, he could translate, delete, revise, and add fresh material, so that a new volume would emerge that would be a pertinent one for the English-language reading public.

The task grew, an American scholar (Wallace Brockway) was added to the team �� but before the project was complete both Grun and Brockway died.

Finally, in 1975, the first English edition appeared. I have the 1979 edition published by Simon and Schuster.


so what IS it, reviewer?

Well. Let me first say that the book is still in print, and by now has reached its fourth edition. Again quoting from the publisher’s blurb on Amazon,

A vast and absorbing resource, the fourth edition of The Timetables of ™History spans millennia of human history. Unlike any other reference volume, this book gives a sweeping overview of the making of the contemporary world by mapping out at a glance what was happening simultaneously, from the dawn of history to the present day.

With nearly 100 pages of new material, including:

-Recent breakthroughs in science and technology
-New achievements in the visual arts and music
-Milestones in religion, philosophy, and learning
-The rise and fall of nations and the emergence of historical figures
-Landmarks in the drama of daily life around the world

Yes, I know, that’s really not very revealing.

My book is a very large-format paperback. Exactly the size of a standard sheet of paper (8 ½ x 11), 2 inches think, almost 700 pages. The last 80 pages a very detailed index.


Let’s open it to a random page, say 250.

The book is designed to be perused two pages at a time. That is, the left & right hand pages go together.

Across the top of the left-hand pages are three column headings:

History, Politics
Literature, Theater
Religion, Philosophy, Learning

On the right-hand pages are four headings:

Visual Arts
Music
Science, Technology, Growth
Daily Life

And down the outer edges of both pages 250 & 251 appear these years:

1566
1567
1568
1569

There are lines in between all the rows and columns, forming boxes: 7 columns, 4 years, 28 boxes.

Let’s take the year 1568’s boxes. I won’t quote everything, but try to give an idea, leaving out many details of the entries.

1568 �� History, Politics: mentions a peace between Selim II and Maximilian II; Mary Queen of Scots taking refuge in England; the second War of Religion ends in France; two counts found guilty of treason in Brussels and beheaded; the York Conference into Queen Mary’s conduct opens; Don Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain, d. (born 1545)
1568 - Literature, Theater: “First modern eisteddfod for Welsh music and literature held at Caerwys. First public theater presentation in Madrid.��
1568 �� Religion, Philosophy, Learning: the future Pope Urban VIII born; first translation of the Bible into Czech; the “Bishop’s Bible��; Tommaso Campanella, Italian philosopher, born; English College founded to train Jesuit missionaries for work in England; Jesuit missionaries welcomed in Japan; Pope Pius V issues revised Brevarium Romanum.
1568 �� Visual Arts: Jan Breughel born; Peter Breughel, "The Faithlessness of the World" [the image below is not in the book, nor are any other images]; de Navarrete appointed court painter to Philip II of Spain; Robert Smythson works on Longleat House, Wiltshire; Vignola (1507-1573) begins building the Gesu Church in Rome.

1568 �� Music: William Whytbroke, Eng. cleric and composer, dies (born 1495)
1568 - Science, Tech., Growth �� Gerardus Mercator devises cylindrical projection for charts; Costanzo Varolio studies the anatomy of the human brain.
1568 �� Daily Life: Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul’s, London, invents bottled beer; The Company of London Bricklayers and Tylers incorporated.


I should point out that as one comes forward in time, the information becomes more copious. The year 1975 for example occupies an entire pair of pages, and parts of the page-pairs on either side of it!

And of course, the opposite �� going back in time, much less data. On pages 188-89, there are a dozen years shown (1331-1342), with almost all the 84 boxes blank. And in the very early pages on the book, the years are grouped together. Pages 28,29 have these row headings: 251 to 300; 301 to 350; 351 to 400.


for reference and perusal �� for a rainy day

Of course the book isn’t meant to be read from cover to cover. (Unless you’re a �� (would peculiar be an inoffensive word?) �� reader.)

But how about that “reference�� I’ve used. Surely today, on-line, the use of such a book has been diminished drastically, no?

Here’s a link to the 1568 entry on Wikipedia.

Some may decide, yes the book is not much use any more. Others (myself included) may just find it fun �� not to say useful, if you’re a writer of historic fiction.

Obviously, up to the present, the publisher has found it worthwhile to not only keep the book in print, but to update it.


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