Once you've read a couple of those pop-science and "big history" books, every other such book tells you the same story. It always starts with the Big Bang, the

Once you've read a couple of those pop-science and "big history" books, every other such book tells you the same story. It always starts with the Big Bang, the forming of the stars, the Earth, life, agriculture, writing, the Industrial revolution and the modern era. You can certainly do better than spend significant amounts of time on books with that narrative.