( )Ī while back I was reading some Xkcd and became intrigued by a quote that goes as follows: The updaters (two, in my case) left the book on sour note. I expected a smoother read as it bounced between authors. In one chapter, it’s “The Great War” and in the next, it’s “World War I”. In the copy I read, I also found the “updates” to make the history hit the 1980s very sloppy. A lot of subjects are simplified or glided over. I did find it a mite frustrating when the topics I did want to know more about were only a few pages long. (The author clearly states he's ignoring Asia, and that is important history that requires another book.) There are certainly better, more thorough ways to learn history, but this isn't an awful summary for what it is. There's nothing too heavy, so a child could climb this mountain if they did it in small bits. (It posed as a hard blockade to overcome when I tried to read the Newberies as a child.) Given the subject material, I consider this written decently.

This is a bit of a monster of children's book to delve into, especially as the first Newbery winner. Engagingly written, delightfully informative, and always entertaining, this is the necessary classic of all ages, for all ages. This new version has been brought up to date by best selling historian Robert Sullivan, who continues van Loons personable style, incorporating the most important developments of the early twenty first century, including the war on terrorism, global warming, and the election of Barack Obama. Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to illuminate all of history, van Loons incomparable prose and original illustrations present a lively rendering of the people and events that have shaped the world we live in today. Rather than the dry recitation of events so common in school textbooks, van Loons witty, amiable tone animates the story of human history as a grand and perpetually unfolding adventure. Originally written in 1921 for the authors grandchildren, Hendrik Willem van Loons The Story of Mankind has charmed generations with its warmth, simplicity, and wisdom.

The story of mankind hendrik van loon