Objective thoughts

Timothy Clifford enjoys the British Museum director’s tour of human history – but misses the beauty of Kenneth Clark’s ‘Civilisation’

‘Mission Impossible’ is how Neil MacGregor, in the preface to this book, describes the task set for him by Mark Damazer, controller of BBC Radio 4. MacGregor was to introduce and interpret 100 objects chosen by colleagues from the British Museum and the BBC. They had to range in date from the beginning of human history, around two million years ago, right up to the present day.

The objects were intended to cover the whole world equally, as far as it is possible. They would necessarily include the humble things of everyday life as well as great works of art. As five programmes were to be broadcast each week, objects would be grouped in clusters of five, ‘spanning the globe at various points in time and looking at five snapshots of the world through objects of that particular date’.

Because the BM collection encompasses the whole world — and the BBC broadcasts to every part of it — experts and commentators from all over the world would be invited to join in. The massive Radio 4 series has now run its course, to considerable acclaim, and now we have the accompanying book, neatly timed for the Christmas market.

The rollercoaster sweep of history starts with a stone chopping tool discovered by Louis Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, which dates from 1.8 to 2 million years ago, and culminates, today, with a plastic torch made in China operated by solar power.

These are demonstrably highly significant objects in the development of mankind anthropologically, but they are a far cry from the visual delights encompassed in Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation series conceived for BBC television and also accompanied by a popular book.