Five Thousand Years of Controversies:
A Family's Journey Through World History
by: Arthur Garson, Jr.
What if you could witness history's most pivotal controversies as they unfolded, not from a textbook, but from the heated discussions of those who lived them?
From the mysterious drought that dried the Nile in 2200 BC to the AI regulation debates of 2025, humanity has always grappled with questions that define our world. Should Caesar have been crowned or killed? Was Hiroshima justified? Did Oswald act alone? These aren't just historical footnotes—they're the turning points that shaped civilization.
Join fifty family dinners across five millennia. Travel from ancient Egypt to Depression-era New York, from medieval Constantinople to war-torn Europe, from Dallas on that fateful day to our uncertain future in 2054. At each stop, you'll meet the same family: a mother who illuminates their world, a witty 12-year-old daughter seeking the big picture, and a thoughtful 15-year-old son who asks the hard questions. After dinner, two brothers debate the burning controversy of the era—leaving you to wrestle with your own verdict.
Exploring both sides of history's great debates, Five Thousand Years of Controversies explains not just what happened, but why it mattered—then and now. Learn how people confronted impossible choices with the knowledge they had, preparing us to tackle the challenges we face today.
This isn't a textbook—it's the book you'll keep on your nightstand, picking up for a quick chapter or getting lost for hours. Whether you're a student of history or simply someone who loves a good argument, you'll discover that the best way to understand the past is through the controversies that defined it.
History isn't settled. It's still being argued at dinner tables everywhere—including yours.
Reviews
“Garson has created a phenomenally unique volume sure to be a resource for educators and students as they grapple with history and its implications for contemporary life. Set as vignettes in historical contexts, a family discusses a pressing controversy of the day that also has relevance today. These brief narratives are a treasure trove to stimulate projects, arts, and collaborations—all to deepen knowledge and awareness of big ideas in human history and the conditions that shaped them.”
—Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D., Former Dean and Bicentennial Professor, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
“In an era in which the arts of engaged conversation, deep discussion, and reasoned debate has waned—a loss for all of us—Garson has written an absorbing, inventive book that revives exactly these skills. At the same time Garson has produced a compete history of the world with an almost miraculous ability to filter several millennia of human history into the most instructive and pivotal events. The result is eminently readable and downright entertaining at the same time—a must read for almost any imaginable reader.”
—Andrew Davis, Ph.D.,Dean and Professor, Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair McGovern College of the Arts, University of Houston
“Garson helps us understand how history continues to inform our lives today. This is a history book like no others, as it transforms our learning processes with the presentation of key events and through entertaining simulated debates—all who want to understand the history of the world in an enjoyable way, will want to read and have their own discussions.”
—William W. Pinsky, MD, EVP Emeritus, Ochsner Health, New Orleans and Professor (Hon.), University of Queensland, Australia
- ISBN (Paper): 978-1-965766-55-2
- ISBN (Ebook): 978-1-965766-56-9
- List Price: $26.95
- Category: History
- Pages: 750
- Trim size: 6 x 9
- Publication date: May 19, 2026
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