The Cartoon History of the Modern World

The trouble with history teaching in schools, especially nowadays, is it is too deep and not wide enough. So you'll learn for example all about the industrial revolution in Shropshire in the 18th century and nothing aboout what was going on in other parts of the world at the same time, or what happened thousands of years previously. What Larry Gonick's series does is provide the width. If your history knowledge is basic, you'll learn a lot, very quickly. If you're history knowledge goes to PhD level, you'll still learn a lot because these books will fill in the gaps for you. If you're in the first category you'll love the humour and how easy these books are to read. If you're in the latter category, you'll be impressed that the back of each book contains a proper bibliography. Hugely impressive. Very readable.

Memorable, humourous, visual, clever, reliable, stimulating, thought-provoking, unmissable for students and for anyone interested in the sweep of history without excess detail or too many words. Excellent annotated select reference list for following up the bits that especially interest readers. Should be required reading, along with all Gonick's History volumes. Can't wait for Part 2 (coming soon!). Thank you Larry Gonick! Keep up the great work.

This is Larry Gonick(LG)'s 4th Volume of Cartoon World History (out of 5 - according to the author himself in this Amazon discussion forum) - the final 5th one is yet to be written and will bring us up to the present. This volume is certainly as enchanting and enlightening as the other 3 volumes. I would place all 4 volumes in my Top 10 all-time favorite books and they are probably the ones I return to more than any other - for reference, illustrations, wonderful stories (with superb historical accuracy) and above all the delight of gaining an insight into a great mind. The comic format works brilliantly with world history as it brings a difficult subject alive, and with LG we have a master of story telling, brevity and wit - his work really stays in the memory as he has the knack of illuminating the most influential historical events that also happen to be the most mind-blowing! As you might gather from what I have already said, these comic books will really help give you a clearer understanding of the world and you will have enormous fun in the process. There is now only one more volume to go until we have the complete 5 volume set of what in my opinion will end up being one of the most innovative and enjoyable histories of the world ever written. In fact I would go as far as to say that LG himself may well go down in world history!! How many modern day traditionally academic historians have been quite so inventive with their approach, and popular with people of all ages and backgrounds?! A little about myself: I enjoy reading a variety of world histories as I find they help me to gain a more balanced perspective on the world we live in, and they help me to interpret news and current events in a more independent and free-thinking way. My other favorite authors/historians who have written some highly enjoyable form of world history are: Hendrik Willem Van Loon (like Larry, he is also an artist of genius and a master of brevity!), EH Gombrich, JM Roberts, Eugen Weber, and the great philosopher Bertrand Russell.

Larry Gonick deserves far more recognition than he gets. This book is as wonderful as all the others...why can't he just do them quicker?

This is an enjoyable book, but I suppose if you are writing about the history of the whole world, then some mistakes are likely to creep in. Here are a couple of examples from the Nelson and Napoleon era: 1) Admiral Lord Nelson was not "pierced by a falling spar" at the battle of Trafalgar, but was fatally wounded by a French sniper. He was hit by a marksman from the French ship Redoutable, firing at a range of 50 feet . The bullet entered his left shoulder, passed through his spine at the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebrae, and lodged two inches (5 cm) below his right shoulder blade in the muscles of his back. (2) The "100 days" were not the length of time Napoleon was interned on the island of Elba, but marked the period between Emperor Napoleon's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815 (actually a period of 111 days). Napoleon arrived on Elba on May 3, 1814 to begin his exile and stayed on Elba for 300 days until his return to France on February 26, 1815. Good fun for all that. D.H.

I have most of the history books. Easy way to cover large volumes of stuff and very funny in places

The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution "To teach and to delight" -- I first read Charles Lamb quote Sir Philip Sydney quote Horace on the role of literature (poetry, specifically), and for me, this graphic history succeeds wonderfully in both teaching and delighting the reader, regardless of that reader's age. I told myself that I was buying this book for my two boys to read in the future, but I truly enjoyed the history lessons presented with irony and a touch of satirical wit to top it off. I'm new to the whole genr'e of graphic novels (AKA cartoons, comics, manga, etc.), but when I read "MAUS" some years ago, I started opening my mind to them--and I'm glad I did. I've ordered more in Larry Gonick's history series and look forward to learning and delighting in them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ALL AGES!!!

Nice book .

The Good: The story redistributes usual takes on the Age of Exploration by focusing on Cortes and Meso-American while taking some undeserved focus off Columbus and Magellan, both of whom are traditionally used as landmarks in the timeline. The Lutheran Reformation and the effects it creates are explained fairly well for the uninitiated as well as the first two modern European attempts at republicanism, namely Cromwell's Commonwealth (although it was almost a veiled monarchy) and the Netherlands. The sections about the intricate politics during Carlos V's reign was an especially nice part of this. The coverage of America's effect on European politics, as well as India's role in all this is a VERY welcome departure from typical accounts, which shows that Mr. Gonick's work isn't revisionist at all- it's accurately world-oriented. But credit is still given to the West's new Enlightenment-era thinkers as well as the more immediate effects of their theorizing, something that many historians seem to trip on. The Bad: It was a shame to see less coverage of Portugal's (and later other European countries) effects on Africa, which sets the stage for almost everything that happens in Africa from this point on. That Mr. Gonick didn't cover the further spread of the Ming, ongoing contact with the West, the beginning of the Manchu people, or the short but very interesting flare-up of Western culture and technology in Japan seems a terrible shame even if these will be topics covered in the next volume. A few more Enlightenment thinkers could have been more closely examined as well as the noticeable absence of Russia and Eastern Europe in all this commotion. Again, while much of this may be included by the author in the next volume, even a few passing mentions would have lent a lot more strength to how Mr. Gonick lives to weave these overlapping threads of history together. The Ugly: Just about anyone reading this book who follows modern politics will find at least a dozen (if not more) veiled references to the state of current foreign policy, especially in Iraq. It is arguable, however, how much of a role relating past history to current events is, but the author could have either been more upfront or otherwise tabled the entire theme. With that said, even the subtle references to how superpowers fall and the contributing factors in their leaderships' foreign policy, are a nice added touch to how relevant the history in this volume is to our modern world.

Always funny and informative.

Good general purpose book for classroom library. This is a great set of books in cartoon form. Easy to understand. Good condition. Arrived quickly.