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