The existential battle between Ya'akov and Eisav that has colored much of our history began in the womb, as the possuk says, ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה - ".. and the children struggled within her [Rivka]". 1
R' S.R. Hirsch says that the word "Torah" comes from the root ho-ra'ah, or teaching. Ostensibly, the Torah is a book of laws. If so, why is so much - the entire Sefer B'reishis - spent on the history of the world?