[1] The short history chronicles human development from the inventions of cavemen to the results of the First World War.

Additionally, the book describes the beliefs of many major world religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, and incorporates these ideas into its narrative presentation of historical people and events.

It was a great pleasure for Gombrich to explain his doctoral work to the girl, using only words and concepts that children could understand.

Excited about the text, but somewhat pressed for time, Neurath asked Gombrich to produce a complete script in six weeks, so that the book could be printed.

He set himself to the task of writing a chapter a day (with the exception of Sundays, when he would read his work to Ilse Heller, later his wife).