Product Description

A Perfect Plan for the Perfect Score

We want you to succeed on your AP* exam. That's why we've created this 5-step plan to help you study more effectively, use your preparation time wisely, and get your best score. This easy-to-follow guide offers you a complete review of your AP course, strategies to give you the edge on test day, and plenty of practice with AP-style test questions. You'll sharpen your subject knowledge, strengthen your thinking skills, and build your test-taking confidence with

• Full-length practice exams modeled on the real test
• All the terms and concepts you need to know to get your best score
• Your choice of three customized study schedules--so you can pick the one that meets your needs

The 5-Step Plan helps you get the most out of your study time:
Step 1: Set Up Your Study Program
Step 2: Determine Your Readiness
Step 3: Develop the Strategies
Step 4: Review the Knowledge
Step 5: Build Your Confidence

Topics include: The Settling of the Western Hemisphere and Colonial America (1450-1650); The British Empire in America: Growth and Conflict (1650-1750); Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution (1750-1775); The American Revolution and the New Nation (1775-1787); The Establishment of the New Political Systems (1787-1800); The Jeffersonian Revolution (1800-1820); The Rise of Manufacturing and the Age of Jackson (1820-1845); The Union Expanded and Challenged (1835-1860); The Union Divided: The Civil War (1861-1865); The Era of Reconstruction (1865-1877); Western Expansion and Its Impact on the American Character (1860-1895); America Transformed into the Industrial Giant of the World (1870-1910); The Rise of American Imperialism (1890-1913); The Progressive Era (1895-1914); The United States and World War I; America in the 1920s: The Beginning of Modern America; The Great Depression and the New Deal; World War II; The Origins of the Cold War; The 1950s: Prosperity and Anxiety; America in an Era of Turmoil (1960-1975); America from 1968-1988: Decline and Rebirth; America from 1988 to 2000: Prosperity and a New World Order; America from 2001 to 2006: The Threat of Terrorism and the Increase of Presidential Power; and Contemporary America: Evaluating the "Big Themes" of American History
Also includes: Practice tests

*AP, Advanced Placement Program, and College Board are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

Customer Reviews (7)

Using it for current 2010 APUS Class, hows it served for the 1st 1-2 weeks?
Not bad not bad. Only thing that ticked me off are the review question multiple choice answers are directly under the questions, making it hard to resist covering the answer and then accidently peeking. if it was one line down it would have been great.
Book itself, kind of more expensive about $2-3 more then the other study guides, i don't see it as anything special though i've never seen the other books.
If you want to save those $3, and spend that towards saving or faster shipping try it.
Otherwise give this book a shot, a less known publisher.

Lives up to its title
This really is a how-to guide to getting a 5 on the AP exam. Whether looking for a quick refresher prior to the exam or a year-long study book, this book provides curt, informative reviews on the entirety of US History, as well as study materials for doing your best on the exam. Arrived quickly and as described.

Great test help
My daughter found this extremely helpful in studying for her first AP test.No results yet but it wasn't due to lack of good material if she doesn't ace it.

5 Steps to a 5 AP US History 2010-2011
Its concise, but I did find some mistakes. On page 69 the author correctly names the colonial governor of the Dominion of New England Edmund Andros, but a few paragraphs later he calls him "John Adros." On page 104 referring to the Marbury v. Madison Case, he states that Marbury's first name is "John" when it is William. Then in the "rapid review guide" on page 145 he mistakenly refers to Andrew Johnson as "Andrew Jackson." Hopefully I won't find anymore problems. Despite these somewhat minor mistakes, the book is good at summarizing American history.

She'll be ready now!
My daughter is taking the tests soon. This is what she needed to prepare.
Delivery was as promised. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very solid, Kindle version is lacking
An excellent book.T.R. knows how to keep your interest.

Well researched, lots of information about the crews, weapons and ships.

I wish he had left out the land portion (seems unnecessary).

Interesting to see how much he was trying to make a point about the condition of the US Navy in 1882.

Some definite issues in formatting with the free Kindle version.The absence of the illustrations is noticeable.

Also, if you are Italian or Indian, T.R. didn't think highly of you as a sailor - so be warned on that one. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in its Fourth Edition, this unrivaled, seminal work continues its long tradition of providing balanced insight and thorough historical background. Under the new authorial leadership of Alston Purvis, this authoritative book offers more than 450 new images, along with expansive coverage of such topics as Italian, Russian, and Dutch design. It reveals a saga of creative innovators, breakthrough technologies, and important design innovations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (60)

GREAT SELLER!
SUPER FAST SHIPPING!! book looks brand new not a single scratch or mark on it!!

Standard Text Delivery, Good Reference Material
This is a good textbook for giving you the bald facts. When reading it I felt much the same as I felt reading all of my textbooks in college: Bored as hell but just interested enough to keep reading. I did learn quite a bit from this textbook, however. I will say one thing, this text book is an explosion of example pictures. I don't think I would have learned nearly as much had these not been an integral part of the layout. It makes sense when discussing the history of graphic design to use photos to back up your descriptions, but I've definitely read some textbooks that rely heavily on text and not enough on reference pictures and other visual material. That's part of what keeps me going when trying to dredge though textbooks like these. Overall I'd say this ranks higher than most textbooks I've been subjected to.

Terrible Resolution
I purchased this for the kindle app on the iPad and was extremely disappointed in the sample images that are included throughout the ebook. They're low resolution, the image where timeline is showed, the text is barely readable.

useful book to know design history
I am using this book for my online classes. It has all the material and references needed for the course.

Graphic Designers; steal this book.
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1FLAD999FRUP4 This book is a must have if you are taking any graphic design courses. If you are already a graphic designer this book is also a must have.My class is long over and I wont sell this book, that says something considering I am a starving student, well maybe not starving.

I bought this for a class and I ended up reading it just because the information presented is both interesting and also very digestible to the average reader. It is a very interesting book that you can keep long after the class is over. One thing is it makes a fantastic coffee table book. It would not be out of place in the lobby of your design firm.

Content (+)
The content of this book covers from our earliest designs all the way to modern design and the impact it has on our lives.The content of this book does not shy away from the controversial to the mundane.

Images (+)
I made the video clip so you could see the great artwork in this book. Many full color images are wonderful references that can be used when you are designing. "Good artists copy, great artists steal", Pablo Picasso

Text (+)
As I was saying this is not just boring text droning on and on. It, in fact is very interesting to those that are into graphic design or art. Any art is graphic design, and all graphic design is art. You really get that feeling after reading this book.

Overall this book is a great value at what I paid for it which is twice what it cost now. Get this BRAND NEW and you will have this book for many years. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: History / Asia / General; History / Ancient / General; History / Ancient / General; History / Asia / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Word of Warning - But there is a Solution
There is no text in this download.You should go to google.com and click on books and then search "Gaston Maspero" or "History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria" and you should find the material there and it is quite extensive.It's free and downloadable in a PDF format where you can convert to your Kindle.

Very Disappointed
This volume and the other 11 in the series contain very little of anything.I mean NO TEXT and only a few images in a couple of the volumes. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Less Philosphy, more Facts!
This book really wasn't what I was hoping it would be. If you're looking for historical facts and events, this isn't the place to find it. If you want some vague philosophical babble, you'll love this. It is well-written and easy to read, but not what I was looking for.

Sharp and Insightful
If you love Chesterton, this work is full of the kind of cutting humor and cultural insight that is his best.The title is a bit misleading in the sense that this is more a "collection of essays on aspects of English History."It should also be seen as a critique of other popular histories of his day.However, he remains the best Christian apologist in the modern era and of the modern era.

Wit and Wisdom of the Apostle of Common Sense
Gilbert Keith Chesterton is certainly one of the most entertaining, and important, authors in the English language.This particular volume covers quickly, yet completely, the history of England from early Roman times to the time of the Great War, World War I.Chesterton is a man, I suspect, who would have been very hard to dislike.Though brilliant, he always approached his many opponents with a keen sense of fun and empathy.But he is certainly a writer who, though sometimes challenging, is always enjoyable.

This wonderful, short, and thoroughly readable book can really be seen as a layman's philosophical representation of the great arc of English history.To grasp Chesterton's wit and wisdom entirely, it is probably important to have at least a nodding familiarity with English history before reading the book.But, so armed, the reader will be delighted with G.K.'s retelling of the great events of England, together with his insightful commentary relative to their import.

Particularly poignant is Chesterton's rendering of the martydom of Saint Joan of Arc.He avers that, at one time or another, perhaps all British soldiers would have traded places with the common British infantryman who broke his spear to make a cross for the dying Saint.This section alone is worth the price of the entire book. ... Read more

Product Description
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part B. - From Henry III. to Richard III. is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by David Hume is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of David Hume then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:fifth century B.c. [the present reformed Jewish calendar dating from the fourth century A.d.], a date a " little more than a century after the grandfathers and great-grandfathers of those whose business is recorded had fled into Egypt with Jeremiah " (Sayce); and (2) that the order of intercalation at that time was not dissimilar to that in use at the present day.Then again, Knobel reminds us of " the most interesting discovery a few years ago by Father Strassmeier of a Babylonian tablet recording a partial lunar eclipse at Babylon in the seventh year of Cambyses, on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month Tammuz." Ptolemy, in the Almagest (Suntaxis), says it occurred in the seventh year of Cambyses, on the night of the seventeenth and eighteenth of the Egyptian month Phamenoth. Pingre and Oppolzer fix the date July 16th, 533 B.c. Thus are the relations of the chronologies of Jews and Egyptians established by these explorations.3. Ancient Greek Astronomy.We have our information about the earliest Greek astronomy from Herodotus (born48oB.C.). He put the traditions into writing. Thales (639-546 B.c.) is said to have predicted an eclipse which caused much alarm, and ended the battle between the Medes and Lydians. Airy fixed thedate May 28th, 585 B.c. But other modern astronomers, give different dates. Thales went to Egypt to study science, and learnt from its priests the length of the year (which was kept a profound secret!), and the signs of the zodiac, and the positions of the solstices. He held that the sun, moon, and stars are not mere spots on the heavenly vault, but solids; that the moon derives her light from the sun, and that this fact explains her phases; that an eclipse of the moon happens when the earth cuts off the sun's light from her. He supposed the earth to... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent book of early astronomy
This starts with the ancient Chinese, then goes through the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Arabs, then Copernicus and others of the Renaissance, and lastly the 18th and 19th centuries. There are chapters about the telescope and other instruments, the sun, moon, planets and the stars.

The author does a good job of showing how astronomers used the findings of earlier astronomers to increase their own knowledge of the subject. It's amazing to read how much was known about astronomy in the past, and how accurate their findings were. It's also funny to read things which were thought to be true at the time when the book was written. Several people reported having seen a planet inside Mercury's orbit. One man thought Mars had artificially made canals with vegetation growing on their banks. There are lots more. Maybe in 100 years astronomers will be laughing at us for thinking that dark matter and dark energy exist.

The table of contents is active, which is unusual for these free books. There are footnotes and an index at the end.

This is a great book loaded with historical information. I recommend that you have at least a basic knowledge of astronomy before reading this book, because it's not written for beginners.
... Read more

Product Description
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E. - From Charles I. to Cromwell is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by David Hume is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of David Hume then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
A Short History of Scotland is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Andrew Lang is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Andrew Lang then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

scotland history
Good book but after the first half, it seems to drift too much into details. I wanted to read this book to get a brief history of Scotland but this book isnt brief at all. ... Read more

Product Description

Winner of the American Book Award and the Oliver C. Cox
Anti-Racism Award of The American Sociological Association

Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (100)

Misleading Title
The title made me think I would find something intellectually stimulating about what I know as historical distortions.There is very little on the history inaccuracies and more of a diatribe on:
1) White people are bad
2) Textbooks are bad
3) White people are bad at writing textbooks

First, the book is beyond redundant.It could be accomplished in 1/3 the space, but then it would not sell at a book price.Next, the constant badgering of textbooks is really stupid.I mean, according to this book every textbook is 100% inaccurate.I understand the author's point on most of it, but really he offers nothing but a constant stream of a political agenda.Finally, the author takes liberty to dive into the minds of textbook editors and state (as fact) why things are inaccurately portrayed in textbooks (mainly they are racist).He is obviously a smart guy, so I don't understand why he doesn't point the finger at state boards of education who dictate what goes in textbooks.The reason so many lies are in our education comes from the board of education.Textbook publishers create the book according to what States will pay for.

A better book would cover the numerous inaccuracies, correct the information and leave the reader better off.There is like 12 facts disputed in the book, not hundreds you would expect.Each of the lies are cherry picked to push the author's personal view and agenda.There really isn't an effort here to correct misleading history; just a desire to call all Europeans murderers and liars.

My final gripe comes in his assertion that correcting textbooks will make students want to study history.Yeah right.That is beyond dumb.Students hate history because it is presented in a boring fashion.Maybe finding better ways to present it rather than memorizing random facts would be a good start.He shouldn't criticize textbooks for inaccuracies; he should be opposed them existing at all.

If you really want to hate white Europeans, grab this title.Otherwise, I would avoid it unless you need sleep.This book rehashes the same tired argument over and over and over......

Very good experience.
I purchased this book because it said it was in "very good" shape. After my purchase, the seller emailed me saying that when they pulled the item out of the box, it had been harmed a very little. The seller apologized for this error and offered a full refund of my purchase, which I declined. Their honesty and courtesy toward their customers is admirable and makes me WANT to share this experience with others. When I got the book, the damages were minor and even if they had not emailed me to clarify the book's status, I would have been satisfied. Great customer service! Highly recommended!

Why critical thinking is dangerous
I read with great interest many of the posts reviewing this book and they appear to fall into three categories:general praise, qualified praise, and derision of the author's "liberal" bias.With the exception of some of the qualified praise comments, I did not find any criticism of the book that I would call responsible or helpful.If careful analysis of the historical record and a critical examination of standard high school textbooks in light of that record leads inexorably to the charge of a "liberal" bias, perhaps it is time for such liberals to accept the label and wear it proudly.Perhaps they should be made to wear an "L" patch on their clothing so that all will be forewarned of their "leftist leanings" before they speak.

Fantastic Book
One of the best books that I have read, well written and very informative - provides great conversation starters.

Good concept but could have been more interesting
This is an interesting concept and an especially good book for someone who likes history. After doing extensive research and reviewing 12 history text books, Loewen sets the record straight about everything from Columbus discovering American to Helen Keller to the First Thanksgiving and who were the real settlers in America. I agree with Loewen's premise that children today view history as boring because the text books leave out the interesting backdrops to give readers mere "sound bites" and that not only is history destroyed but it is dumbed down and boring. Students do not understand causal relationships because of this so the solution should be to write history books that are engaging and exciting. The ONLY negative with this book, in my opinion, is that in doing his research and writing his book, Loewen has corrected the history but his book isn't much less boring. Maybe it's the nature of the beast ie: if you're researching history and trying to prove something is wrong or add more detail, you have to support your position with lots of details and belabor your points. This I think dragged the book down a little. However if you, like myself, like history but would like to know "why they got such and such wrong" or to learn more about Helen Keller than that she was blind and finished college, you'll enjoy this book. ... Read more

Product Description

Smarter than a history teacher, funnier than the Founding Fathers, and more American than Alaska, an almost (but not entirely) comprehensive primer on American history (or at least, the good stuff)

Customer Reviews (16)

Good history refresher
There are plenty of statistics out there that demonstrate just how little most Americans know about their history. This is doubtless a bad thing, and not just for frustrated history teachers: knowing more about the nation's history should make citizens better judges of its current social, political, and economic state. The folks at magazine/website mental_floss have done their bit for the national discourse by producing a quick single-volume history of the United States.

One of the sections of the mental_floss website offers "cocktail party cheat sheets" and this history is very much in that vein: entertaining, with all of the pertinent information provided in bite-sized pieces. Written in an off-beat style, it's definitely not boring. Obviously, this isn't a comprehensive treatment of American history, but it's a good introduction, or reminder of what you've probably forgotten since school.

That said, it's a pretty fun romp through American history. Maybe at time a bit too fun-the constant snarkiness can get a bit grating, particularly when dealing with complex and tragic events in American life.

The tendency for over-glibness aside, this is a pretty good single-volume history of the United States. It will definitely help you brush up on the major trends, or talk your way through a cocktail party. But if it sparks any curiosity in you about the events it describes, you're going to need to follow up with something more substantial. If you don't have a US history text on your shelf, you could do a lot worse than this one.

Should be called a bathroom reader
You won't have your life changed by this book, but it will give you tons of fun stories to tell at parties.I found it to be a perfect bathroom book, with each section short enough to read in just a couple minutes.I've learned lots of fun trivia, but only someone with a pollyanna view of American history will be shocked by the revelations.Lies my teacher told me, maybe, but just look around; are we really all that perfect now?Why should we have been perfect then?

An easy-to-read and mostly entertaining overview of American history
The Mental Floss guide to American history hits the highlights and the lowlifes, giving a broad overview of some of the most important developments, and also clearing up some of the more influential rumors.

They cover politics, culture, economics, and fashion.It's cleverly written, but stays mostly serious.It's never simply silly.I was happy about that, since I wasn't really interested in reading a comic "take" on American history, but rather wanted an actual overview of the history that happened to be fun to read.That's what this is for the most part.You really could learn quite a bit about American history from reading this book, but you might also enjoy it.Much of it was familiar to me from things I've read or studied in high school and college or gleaned from other sources, but I learned several new things.

The "Lies My Teacher Told Me" sections spread throughout the book are quite helpful - focused on popular myths like the idea that Columbus knew what he'd found when he got there (or that he was an admirable guy and a great leader who befriended the natives), or the lie that Al Gore claimed to have singlehandedly invented the internet (he never said that, but only that he'd played an important role in helping to expand the internet beyond the military, which, it turns out, is true).

One nice feature is that it doesn't try to tie everything into one grand narrative.Rather, it covers events and developments and major figures almost like news articles - short and direct accounts that have the benefit of hindsight to get at the essentials.That means the book is easy to pick up and set down for a few minutes at a time - which would make it an excellent coffee table or bedside or bathroom book.There are short articles, little factoids, and mini timelines that help to put events into perspective.

They try to be balanced - which means that they're not giving either a "heroic view" of America, or a "view from below" or a liberal or conservative account, but maybe a little bit of all of these things.There is, of course, a tendency to emphasize the salacious and salty side of history - stories about the importance of rum in the colonies, for example - and that's in keeping with the aim to be entertaining, but it's never crass and usually there's a broader point - like the fact that rum is made from molasses and the tax on molasses imposed by the British was an important grievance among the colonies.Some of it's trivia, but rarely simply tabloid-style fodder.

History buffs can't expect to learn much that's new here, but might want to give it as a gift to loved ones who lack the history bug, because it might just get them intrigued.

History Made Fun!
Some teachers believe that if you teach history through storytelling then a person will both remember and enjoy the subject."History of the United States" takes history telling to another level through its irreverent tone, its easy-to-read style, and its playful, fun approach.And, it really works!

The author's goal is to combine commonly taught (or not) historical events with lessor known, but interesting facts and trivia, in order to make the book appeal to those who hated history class, those who loved history class, those who love trivia, and those who simply love a good read.

The book is divided into 10 chapters with each chapter representing a specified time period (coverage is from 23,000 BCE to 2010). Each chapter starts with an overview entitled "The State of the Union".From there, the author breaks down "events" into attention-holding descriptive paragraphs, charts, maps and sections entitled "Lies Your Teacher Told You" and other little side bars that give "fun facts".

"History of the United States" is simply a fun book to read.There is no dry. I guarantee that you will laugh out loud on many occasions, and that you will actually remember your history after reading the book.I enjoyed this book so much that I ordered The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits.

Keep 'em coming, Mental Floss!

(the Table of Contents section shows that the book will have an index in its final version).

Great Bathroom Reading
The Mental Floss History of the United States does not strike me as being all that eye-opening or revelatory, perhaps because my public education in a small suburb of Michigan was extraordinary. Almost all of the "lies your teacher told you" sited in the book I was never taught and the "truth" that followed is pretty much what I was taught. So, Erik Sass may have meant the book to be really revealing, but it was more of a gentle tug of a reminder than a discovery of truth it portends to be, for me anyway. The format of the book is quick encapsulations of major moments in U.S. history peppered with (supposedly) interesting side bits. This structure makes the book perfect bathroom reading.

Like almost every history book, there are plenty of time-lines and stats, but unlike most history books, these numbers and quick facts place a revealing scale of how rapidly change was happening in North America.For example, in the "By The Numbers" closing section of the Drunk and Illiterate (and not just a little bit) 1815-1850 section of the book, stellar number changes are more eye-opening than the text of the chapter. In 1838 78 bushels of wheat was shipped east by Chicago, in 1848 it was 2,000,000 bushels!New York City had 11,000 prostitutes in 1839 and 50,000 in 1850. How they gathered this information for the book is not identified.

Though I find the tome rather dry, it does succeed in staying lighter than a high school text book. It also has a series of side stories and quotes that are compelling. The real history of Baseball (I knew it, but they did a great job), a very clean explanation of the role the Scots-Irish played in the geographical uncertainty of "north" and "south" in the pre-civil war era, and some wild statements from well-known figures keep the book moving. Who said this about German colonists: "Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant and stupid sort of their own nation... Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them"a paranoia that was proven untrue by time. Substitute Mexico for Germany and this could be a modern statement.Give up?Benjamin Franklin in 1753.Now that I didn't know.

Overall, this text is a great one for history buffs, but not a very revealing one. It may be a wide-eye discovery for those who slacked off or did not receive the best secondary education who now find themselves wishing they had paid more attention. If that's you, this is a very good place to catch up. If you have a fairly good knowledge of U.S. history, this book is a booster at best and not a page-turner. If you can identify what the Monroe Doctrine was and what came of it, know when the Panama Canal was built and why, are aware who declared war on who for WWI and WWII and how the U.S. got into conflict (and most importantly who won), know what happened here in 1929, and why the following is identified as a lie on page 368 of the book (modern times); "Bankers are good with money", then this book might not bring a whole lot of new to you. If you can't, buy the book, place it on the bathroom shelf, and catch up a bit at a time.
... Read more

Product Description

With more than 275,000 copies sold, this is the story of the Church for today's readers.

This third edition improves the most engaging and readable single-volume history of the Church by bringing the story into the twenty-first century. Faced with some astonishing changes in the Islamic world, a global resurgence of Roman Catholicism, the decline of Christianity in the West coupled with the rapid growth of evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the southern and eastern hemispheres, readers need a current explanation with intellectual substance that will providehistorical context and update readers on all these new developments. The new edition of Church History in Plain Language does that in a stimulating manner, and it promises to be the new standard for readable Church History.

Features include:

• Includes contemporary developments, such as the growth of Christianity in China and the rise of global Islam

... Read more

Customer Reviews (84)

Very dissapointed
I received this book as part of school curriculum for my daughter to read as school work. I read the first chapter after my daughter read it and I was very disturbed that the author said "Jesus chose to begin by joining a new movement in the Judean wilderness led by a prophet name John." Jesus was baptized by John and was later lead by the Spirit into the wilderness, he didn't join any movement. Next he said that "John's call to repentance and righteousness drew Jesus to the Jordan.He (Jesus) found in John's message the truth of God, so to "fulfill all righteousness" he (Jesus) submitted to john's baptism and soon afterward began His own mission..." Basically what I found is that this author is saying that Jesus was just another man trying to start up a ministry.

Also it stated that Jesus "feared that His cures would be misinterpreted, and that people would see him as just another magician..."

Next "Jesus knew that he had a unique role in God's plan of redemtion, be he feared the traditional titles for a messianic redeemer."Jesus was God's plan of redemption and Jesus didn't fear anything man could do.

I really felt that this books misses the real diety of Christ and makes him out to be just a man with a plan.

My daughter will not be reading the ramainder of this book.

Church History
Orders were good, but had got 5 ordered instead of 2, that we needed.Try to cancel some of the orders and thought I had, but received 5, sent 2 back. I still have one extra that I don't need. But I will try and sell it, to some one who is taking the class we are in. Wasn't able tonight, but will hold on to it, just in case some one needs one.Thanks for the quick deliveries. God Bless All.

Great overview
This lives up to its "in plain English" title.The book is clear, unbiased and easy to read.In one day, I read a great concise overview in the context of world events.

Review of Church History in Plain Language
I bought this book for a college class. It was actually a very informative book. I learned a lot about the History of Christianity however it did not help me with the class as much as it was supposed to. This is a good book for someone who wants to know how the church has evolved over the centuries, good, bad and indifferent. The read is not too bad but some areas are a little tough. 3 stars for the read and 4 stars overall for this book.

all the facts
This large book provides an unusually complete and minimally biased history of the Christian Church.The well-known issues are well covered, along with topics and insights that are less known.It is a terrific text for self-study or group study, whether in churches or classrooms. ... Read more

Product Description
Sometime about 30,000 years ago, somebody stuck a sharp rock into a split stick—and presto! The axe was born. Our inquisitive species just loves tinkering, testing, and pushing the limits, and this delightfully different book is a freewheeling reference to hundreds of customs, notions, and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history.

From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, An Uncommon History of Common Things features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields—when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous. A lively, incomparably browsable read for history buffs, pop culture lovers, and anyone who relishes the odd and extraordinary details hidden in the everyday, it will inform, amuse, astonish—and alter the way you think about the clever creatures we call humans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

book
This book is a gift for my dad--it sounds interesting, I hope he likes it!

Interesting!
If you are a fan of trivia, you'll enjoy knowing the background behind these everyday things.Makes great dinner party conversation!

good for both 11 year olds and 63 year olds
I gave this as a gift to my goddaughter and my husband.Both are thoroughly enjoying the trivia and tales.It makes for a lot of "Did you know?" conversations that are both fun and engaging.

how things work
this book has a lot of information, easy to understand on common things of daily living, when they were invented, by whom, etc.

Uncommon History of Common Things
Great book!Alot of fun to read!Bought for husband as Christmas present.Lots of interesting and facts and antedotes in this book, worth the money.Will read myself when he gets done! ... Read more

Product Description
This authoritative reference book brings world history to life, from early humans to the current war on terror. Along the way, it reveals riveting facts on the founding of the great Roman Empire, the revolution that changed France forever, the war between the North and South that unified America, the start of World War I and the Great Depression that followed, the first moon landing, and the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The encyclopedia is organized chronologically and then thematically within each time period. A timeline runs across the top of each page. Each section includes biographies of important people and features on art, architecture, and technology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

great history overview
We use this book as our homeschool history textbook.We read two pages a week and then find an interesting subject from those pages for additional study.

Excellent as a spine for a homeschool program, especially classical
We are using the excellent, chronologically arranged Kingfisher Encyclopedia for my 12 yo for 7th through 9th grade as the key text, or spine. This child loves history and expressed a desire to study from the beginning of history to right now, including all the cultures. Another homeschooling mother whom I respect has raised 5 children who are successful in college on this text (including earlier editions).

The book is excellent, well thought out, fairly comprehensive, and uses the layout popularized by the DK Eyewitness books. What is meant by spine is that we read the text and then supplement with other texts and activities for more depth. For example, our first units we call Ancient Civilisations; we will also use the DK Eyewitness Mesapotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, as well as the Memoria Press' Famous Men of Greece, and ... of Rome (which have student workbooks and answer keys as well as myths.) And the appropriate Horrible Histories. And the DK Bible. Henty and Sutcliff historical novels, The Children's Homer, and good translations of Gilgamesh and the Aeneid. And a good visual dictionary of the ancient world.

What this book is not is comprehensive. Were it so, it would be in multiple volumes and cost a fortune! Much more than the cost of this single volume and supplementary texts, many of which may be bought used or borrowed from the library. I also would not use this book as a sole source for the early grades, except as a reference for the teacher and a source of illustrations.

Kingfisher History Enclyclopedia
A good buy for us!We bought this to supplement the series: The Story of the World by Susan Bauer. It is easy to ready, plenty of pictures and TONs of information.

Disappointing text, good pictures
This book is a world history organized by time.So, the page after ancient greek history is the Shang Dynasty in China.THis could have been a very powerful approach, if the selections had been better organized and had better lead-ins to subsequent pages.But instead it is almost confusing and definitely hard to use as a page-turner for an interested kid.It is easier to progress from ancient greek history to classical greek history than from ancient greek history to chinese history.
Having said that, the pictures are satisfactory and generate interest in my 6 yr old.So, if you receive this as a gift, don't toss it out.But don't purchase it either.

Wonderful History Reference!
I purchased the Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World for our home school program this year.It is a wonderful reference book, and we use it not only for school subjects, but also in everyday conversations, when something comes up about history that we're not sure of.We run to the shelf to see what the IHW has to say.I decided to look for this older edition as opposed to purchasing the newer edition (Kingfisher History Encyclopedia) after reading reviews and noticing the differences between the two.As an additional note for those who teach from a biblical worldview, this volume does not support a Creation/Flood model, but includes the first chapter as being 40,000-500 B.C., The Ancient World. This does not, in my opinion, necessitate throwing out the rest of the book, but maybe opens up a discussion with older students of differing opinions of early history that arise without knowledge of the truth of God's Word. I appreciate the broad global scope of the historical events included in the book, since I find most American history texts very Western-centric.Definitely a worthwhile investment in any household! ... Read more

Product Description

Now revised — the easy-to-understand guide to the story of America

Want to better understand U.S. History? This friendly book serves as your tour guide through the important events of America's past and present, introducing you to the people who helped to shape history. From pre-Columbus to the American Revolution, from Watergate to Iraq to Barack Obama, you'll discover fascinating details that you won't find in dry history texts!

• They're coming to America — explore early civilizations, meet Native Americans, and see how the development of the English colonies led to slavery and the American Revolution

• From Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln — examine the contributions of great Americans as well as the discovery of gold, the birth of California, the Civil War, and Manifest Destiny

• America grows up — be there during the conquering of the West, industrial development, and the invention of the light bulb and the telephone

• The impact of the World Wars — understand the sweeping changes these epochal events brought to America and the rest of the world

• The Cold War, Camelot, and Clinton — take a closer look at the Korean War and communism, the fabulous '50s, JFK, Vietnam, Nixon and Watergate, Reaganomics, and the Clinton years

• From the '90s to now — witness the birth of the microchip, the impact of hanging chads in a presidential election, the largest terrorist attack on American soil, and the growing economic crisis

Open the book and find:

• Ten important events that defined American culture

• Interesting Americans, from presidents to gangsters to sports heroes

• How America fought to win independence from England

• Details about all the major wars and their long-term effects

• Insight into the roots of slavery

• Inventions that changed life for Americans

• The impact of the atomic bomb

• The Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence

Customer Reviews (24)

Just what I needed
As am immigrant my knowledge of American history was rather patchy and incomplete. With my citizenship process nearly done, I decided it was high time to shore up my deficiencies. I began to listen to the "Great Courses" tapes on American History but I also wanted a book that I could quickly follow along with and flip back the pages when needed.

This one fit the bill perfectly. And the strategy has worked magnificently. Having two sources helps memory with cross-association and more importantly contrasts errors and discrepancies right away.

I am usually somewhat wary of the "Dummies" moniker - the books are sometimes too dumbed-down and contain corny jokes. But this one is very well-written and very readable. You can breeze through it with little strain. It ispeppered with interesting facts in boxes on nearly every page. The material in these boxes is not random but carefully chosen to highlight and flesh-out points made in the accompanying text. It is well-organized. Although not comprehensive, it is not superficial either. It explains not just events but the underlying causes - for example "What caused the Great Depression?".

The jokes are of a high quality and make the reading particularly enjoyable. I loved the fact that the Nixon re-election committee responsible for the Watergate fiasco was abbreviated CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the President).

I was impressed by the high degree of concordance between the tapes and the book. To me that is reassurance that the facts and analyses in the book are accurate. The lecture series at 42 hours is certainly more detailed and nuanced, but nearly every major fact mentioned there was contained in the book and most of even the minor events and "catch phrases" were at least alluded to in a brief sentence or paragraph. For example, it deals with each of the 44 presidents except Franklin Pierce.

One of my pet peeves is a history book lacking maps. But this one is quite satisfactory. It has clear maps covering several key events in American history such as the early sea explorations, the major battles of the American Revolution and the Civil War, the Louisiana Purchase and the Missouri compromise. (I also used a separate kids' "placemat" map with the states in bright solid colors to enhance my understanding and I found that very helpful). There are in addition a few scattered illustrations and photographs, some quite interesting, and the expected Dummies cartoons at the beginning of each section.

The only "bias" that I could detect was toward humor and good cheer. The author obviously had fun writing this book, and it shows.

It is easy to fault any beginner's book for what it doesn't include, and I'm sure the author faced some hard choices in deciding what to leave out. But what it does discuss it does very well.

This should be a great help and a fun trip for any beginner like me. For hard-core history buffs, this is not the right book, though that should have been clear from the "Dummies" title.

Trivial Pursuit, here I come!
Although I have spent more time in school than a sane person should, I still find myself at a bit of a loss when it comes to the subject of history.So, when someone suggested I give this book a read, I overcame my pride (I mean, who really wants to be referred to as a "dummy"?) and got myself a copy.While I braced myself for a boring list of facts and dates, I was pleasantly surprised to find something very, very different!The author covers the entire span of U.S. history not only accurately, but with a sense of humor.I actually found myself WANTING to keep reading.The book is very well organized so it is easy to focus in on a particular event or person if you don't want to read the whole thing.I did read it cover to cover, but decided to not pass my copy on and have used it several times as a handy reference to look something up.In addition to basic facts, the author has included many historical anecdotes that make the events come alive.As noted in some of the other reviews, the humor in this book occasionally assumes a more liberal perspective, but this doesn't mean the facts aren't accurate!Besides, the way ALL historical accounts are presented is subjective because the author has to make choices about what to present and how.I prefer to know where an author is coming from than to guess at his or her intentions!I highly recommend this book to anyone like me who wants to be able to pretend that you didn't forget everything about U.S. History the moment you graduated.

I'm pleased
It arrived in a timely fashion and I am pleased with the product.A single volume has to be somewhat superficial, and a survey of the topic, and that is exactly what I wanted.I am pleased.

rick/

A Wonderful Book for All Ages
Loved reading this wonderfully funny look at the History of our great country! I had purchased the First Edition of U.S. History for Dummies- as a gift for my best friend who teaches 4th grade. She was able to use portions of the first edition to keep her kids interested in learning about the history of the United States.

Also read his book- Lessons from the Great Depression!Highly recommend it also!

Mr. Wiegand's Second edition again is full of his terrific wit. So many little details of what has gone on for the past years that many know little about.I have enjoyed reading his columns in the Sacramento Bee for many, many years! We were so sad when he retired.He always brought his wonderful wit to history as it unraveled in California!.

I highly recommend this book for all parents with school age children- to help them thru those dreary textbook lessons!

I would love to read more books by Mr. Wiegand!

Funny and enlightening
It was a fun read, full of humor. It treats history as a living subject, an opportunity to tell stories that help us understand how we got to where we are today. It manages to entertain as it enlightens, without dumbing anything down, despite the title. I had not expected a history book to be such a page turner. ... Read more

Product Description
Combining text with photographs and illustrations, this book provides children with a global view of history, from the creation of the Earth to the beginning of the 21st century. It also includes hundreds of web site addresses for further research. It features easy access to Web sites and free downloadable pictures and maps with test covering events from the Big Bang to the dawn of the 21st century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

awesome pics but...
This book covers a huge range of time, so I understand some lack of detail.The sheer vagueness is hard to believe.The amount and quality of the pictures is amazing.But...
Each section is so unbelievably short, you can't even use this book to teach an overview of history.Some famous figures get a sentence or two.Anything at all in the last 1000 years is so brief you might as well not bother.Many important historical figures aren't even mentioned.
The sectons are so short, there is no way kids bother retaining any information.Even if a child started to show interest, the chapter ends before it could form enough to want another book on it.

The chapters that are three pages long are enough for very young kids.Any older and it is sort of a waste.

The book is good
1. as a breakdown to keep track of what part of history you are actually studying, whether from stories or other history books.It keeps you from missing important pieces.
2.For the maps.They are very clear about where exactly you are studying, unlike other books that have such close up maps, you can't really tell where you are in the big picture.
3.The pictures.Such good pics they almost make up for the lack of information
4.It really does cover everything.It goes over so much history, I can't believe it all fits.

Very pleased with this book
My daughter is a rising 4th grader at a Montessori school and her teacher requires this book.This is a secular book of World History, not Human History.As a result it devotes a large section to events that occurred before people entered the story, and does so in a manner consistent with prevailing, mainstream, scientific thought, presented at an age appropriate level.

The first section is the Prehistoric World section and there are 2 pages devoted to Evolution, 2 pages devoted to the formation of the Universe and Earth, and 2 pages devoted to Biogenesis.The remainder of the Prehistoric World section is a secular presentation of various prehistoric life forms, extinct animals, and a few pages on the great apes including Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens.If this treatment of the prehistoric world offends your religious beliefs then you may want to steer clear of this book.

The remainder of the book addresses the Ancient World through Modern times in a fairly linear presentation.Every couple of pages is devoted to a topic of interest that tends to define the region or time frame of interest.There is sufficient information to provide the student a high level overview of each topic.I expect my child will take an interest in certain topics and then dive deeper on her own, probably reading a topic specific book, writing a short paper, or creating a diorama.

In my opinion this is an excellent book, and I'm glad my child's teacher has selected it.I don't have a problem with the earlier sections in the book, but I am really looking forward to some of the latter sections where I plan to combine the book with History Channel and PBS documentaries.I am very pleased with the secular treatment of the topics. There are, though, 2 pages devoted to the rise of Christianity, as well as 2 pages devoted to the rise of Islam.And of course, it is hard to omit discussion of the historic influence of the Catholic Church.Again, these topics are presented without emotional overtures or bias, which I appreciate and do not find inappropriate.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a rational and mainstream treatment of world history that is appropriate for 4th through 6th grades.

Okay (the best I have been able to find for the age group)
I wish I had been able to preview the book before purchasing.I went ahead and purchased due to the rave reviews and due to the recommendation found in the Well-Trained Mind forums.

Pros:The pictures are bright and interesting.It is written at a level that my five-year-old can understand the information being read aloud. The pictures are adequate to capture and keep her interest.

Cons:I am disappointed in how little history is actually presented in some areas where evolution receives around 100 pages worth of attention.I don't have a problem with evolution but perhaps it could have received a little less attention and more attention could have been paid in updating at least a little history from the year 2000.I wish the events of September 11th were included but apparently no updates have been made since 2001.My copy has a copyright of 2006, so I find the omission of the events such as September 11th, the wars In Iraq and Afghanistan, etc., to leave a huge gap in our world's history.I am also not crazy about the mention of global warming as being a serious issue (at least global warming has finally been proven to be a hoax), so I will I be skipping over that section.I am also not crazy about how Christians (especially Catholics) are painted to be violent and intolerant of anyone who happened to disagree with them, so I will make sure to point my daughter to different viewpoints on these and other subjects, as well. I understand that this an encyclopedia of world history, but I really wish there had been a bit more attention given to the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, not just a scant paragraph that barely even mentions it.

Overall:I am not in love with this text but, in the absence of finding anything better at this point, I am trying to live with it.

Religion aside, this is a useful tool and a great resource
To touch on other comments: there is some religion. There are a few links that don't work anymore. Yes, you can find some of the links yourself.The type is NOT too small.

We used this book AND the kingfisher book for 6 months within our studies of ancient history at a 3rd grade level.Our family of 5 unanimously agreed that this usborn book is far superior to the kingfisher book.

There is a timeline on the bottom of every page for the spatial learner to see where they are within the context of time.The pages are illustrated nicely and appropriately. Items are labeled for the compulsive reader. The index is comprehensive. The breadth of information is appropriate for kids, under the heading of "put it before them and let them feast."If there is something your child wants to know more about it, for all means, look it up online or in other resource books.Many of the links provided will yield endless hours of additional information (and while you can look them up yourself with a search engine, I have three kids and am not interested in searching through pages of links, and I found it very helpful to have a ready-to-go link handy).

The comments about religion vs evolution are interesting... I personally don't think it is possible to provide a comprehensive overview of history without some sort of slant.We are a Christian family who also believes in science and evolution, and I am competent and smart enough to use the information in these books as a tool with my kids to teach them about what OUR beliefs are.People who are blaming the information in this book are perhaps expecting this book to parent their kids for them.

After six months of side-by-side weekly usage between this usborn book and the kingfisher book, this is - in the opinion of our household - a better book, with more interesting illustrations, better written text for kids, and providing in general a better single resource.If you are comparing the two books, this review was for you.

Wow!!!From the very beginning to 2000 AD!!!
What an AMAZING book!While it was a required portion of our history program for our son, I will never hesitate to purchase a Usborne IL Encyclopedia again!The information is accurate and descriptive and the book in your hand is worth it's weight in gold (and it's heavy!)But when you add the internet extensions, it becomes a priceless connection to history through the ages for children to explore and enjoy.I can see this book being a favorite in our home for many years to come. ... Read more

Product Description

Since its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject -- unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, co-author with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (102)

Beautifully Written, With Occassional Misgivings
Russell's education, intelligence, style and wit are in abundant evidence. Although he does cover W. philosophy, it is in great bounds. And as much as I love Russell's piercing insights and dry wit, I occasionally cringed at the obvious British, 20th century perspective from which philosophies and philosophers were reviewed. This all works out just fine, if one knows better than to take some of his criticism as solid arguments. This book is a joy to read, even with occasional flaws.

Bertrand Russell's humorous take on western philosophy
This is the one of the most entertaining books that I have ever read!Bertrand Russell breaths life into a subject that is often depicted as somewhat dry.Russell pokes gentle fun at various philosophers and their ideas.I was especially amused by his description of Leibnitz view where the universe was something like a fancy mechanical clock where various figures (i.e. automatons) moved about in a synchronized dance when the hour was about to be struck.Indeed, Leibnitz seemed to believe that events occurred not because of cause and effect, but because of some preordained plan that was followed to the letter.Perhaps it is analogous to the present day when people often imagine that living beings are analogous to computers complete with hardware and software.It should be noted that in Leibnitz day this sort of elaborate mechanical clock was novel and state of the art, and so one might model the universe in a was that reflected the advanced technology of the day.

Best single volume on philosophy
Best book on philosophy that I know of. But don't get the idea that it's simple: Russell's style is clear, and he is witty, and this can lead readers to think his material is simple; but Russell now and then puts in very sharp and complicated theory-of-types analysis. Its divided mostly into names, which is handy for anyone dipping into the views of Parmenides, Plato, Bacon, Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza, John Stuart Mill, Marx, Nietzsche... there's a long list. Russell is happy to admit that academic philosophers have usually been cowardly types, and admits many names (e.g. Byron) not normally considered philosophers.

Russell's style is so convincing he was often plagiarised - unconscious imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. Joad (who copied Russell on Marx), and Aldous Huxley (who based Brave New World on a Russell work) are just two examples.

There are innumerable asides, which I presume (he wrote and assembled this book aged about 70) were the fruit of discussions in his youth and middle age; on psychology, groups, sex, emotions, animals, ethics, totalitarianism, adventures, trade - a vast range of topics.

I recommend this to everyone willing to take some trouble. I've met many people who would have benefitted from its intellectual stiffening - for example a gifted physics man who couldn't seem to grasp that atoms are mostly holes, even though they don't look that way. And who had never understood that the square root of two is 'irrational'. Hoary problems - 'universals', 'analytical' and 'synthetic', 'induction', 'teleology', 'determinism' - appear here and there, and it can do no harm to know about them. Russell also is good at picking out the odd practical effects of beliefs: just one example: Stoics and Christians both believed (supposedly) in personal virtue: if external circumstances cannot prevent a man from being virtuous, there is no need to seek a 'just' social system.

There are omissions, all I think to do with demarcation problems - the boundaries of philosophy, apart from politics, history, science, economics, and psychology. Darwin isn't here (much). Freud isn't here - but then Russell regarded the idea of unconscious motivation as the only significant part of Freud. Adam Smith isn't in. Marx is only treated as a philosopher: his economics is looked at by Russell in another book. Note that Russell seemed to regard Marx as 'socialistic'. All Russell's history in a sense is official: there must be innumerable people who were censored or killed or otherwise silenced; but Russell doesn't really bother with them. His book is a bit like commentary on a tidy, ordered library.

Russell's history is typical 20th century western: prehistory, with Egypt, Babylon and the rest regarded as 'oriental despotisms'. Rather inconsistently, the Bible is admitted. There's a conspiracy of silence about Jewish beliefs. Then Greece, then Rome; then the dark ages, and 'middle ages'; Russell accepts that Islam was a transmitter, though I'm not sure he makes a good case. Finally, modern enlightenment and science. Not much was known about many chunks of history, so this schema appeared satisfactory. Some of his historical comments are typically Victorian: the dislike of Rousseau from hatred of the French revolution, and of Rousseau as the supposed origin of romanticism and silliness. Rousseau and Nietzsche and Carlyle were supposed to have led to extremism and Auschwitz; Plato and Sparta to Stalin.

When eras change, Russell usually finds transitional people or ideas as exemplars: the Greeks treated in the then-usual awed way as a mix of peoples; Christianity as taking in Platonic and Judaic elements; Europe as church vs monarchs and feudal nobility and knights; Machiavelli, Erasmus and More at about the Renaissance. ...

Russell himself doubted his success in describing the relation of philosophy to social events when science became important. Russell mostly knew maths, but was notoriously hopeless in practical activities; he literally couldn't make a cup of tea. Such things as the rise and fall of the idea of phlogiston, the growth of chemistry, changes in transport, and such things as anaesthesia, aren't really covered but taken for granted, in rather the way unreflective people seem to think motor cars and piped water and printing have always existed.

Some accuse Russell of bias; typically these are:-

[1] Catholics often can't face the rationalistic side of Russell. (They don't seem to know that Russell wrote a lot on mysticism).

[2] People who like Kant and Hegel, and Nietzsche. Russell was not keen on German philosophy - when he was young, all official philosophers were Hegelians. He followed G E Moore in 'climbing down'.

[3] Supporters of Wittgenstein. Russell was a friend of his, and liked his work when it was new, but decided later it was rather trivial

[4] Supporters of Sartre and other existentialists. Russell dismissed it in a sentence: based emotionally on exasperation, and intellectually on errors of syntax.

[5] 'Linguistic' philosophers of the Gilbert Ryle type - 'just another clever man' according to Russell.

Note that, near the end of his life, Russell spent years on the problem of nuclear weapons, Kennedy's assassination, and, later, the Americans and the Vietnam War. For this reason he's partly censored, still.

It's a pity there is no equivalent book on eastern philosophies... that would be something.Incidentally 'Sophie's World' is based on Russell.

Too detailed for Introductory book
My goal with this book is to get better understanding of what philosophy is. I found this book going into too many details and it was a hard read for me. If you what to understand the development of philosophy that could be a good book, but not as introduction.

A shame it is so popular
This book is horribly biased and even downright wrong in many places. Recommended only for people very experienced in WEstern philosophy who are able to recognize and see past Russell's biases. This is a good book for a quick reference for writing papers, but DO NOT read this book to get a general understanding of philosophy. ... Read more

Product Description
A lively and engaging narrative history showing the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own.This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history.

Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs the methods of “history from beneath”—literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts—to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them. 13 illustrations, 80 maps ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

Enlighten myself
I'm hoping by reading this book will give me some insights into the city of Rome, which was once a great empire.

Most of the Old World
Susan Wise Bauer tells the story of the ancient world in a straight forward style, yet filled with the myriad of small shifts that other popular histories might gloss over. This is the story of wars and politics, and the religions that drive both. She doesn't delve into cultural or scientific history.

But the book's great strength is that it embraces all of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Sometimes it can get a bit disconcerting to be deeply engrossed in the fate of Greece or Egypt, then turn the page and be immersed in China or India of the same period. But the technique underlines the message of the book, that events in one part of the Old World affected events, or at least had their parallels, in other parts. It might have been interesting to follow Africa south of the Sahara, which at least had contacts with Egypt.

Best book on this topic ever read!
As the title says, this is by far the best book I have ever read on this topic.It is not only well written, but the author has done it in a way that makes it a very entertaining read.I was actually sorry that it had to end!I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about this time period.

The Broad, Page-Turning Sweep
Sumer, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Israel, The Hittites, Harappans, Perians, Medes, Greeks, Qin, Han, Romans, it's all here...

I like the authors' premise (though some will take exception to it); tell history from written records - it is easier to paint pictures of people from ancient writings, as opposed to divining motivations from the carbon-dated pottery shards of archaeologists.

I think if you are willing to go along with this starting point, you will really enjoy what you read. Ms. Bauer's narrative is concise and uncluttered, not needlessly verbose. Written in a fairly colloquial style, it will particularly interest you if you don't know much about history, but you want to start somewhere. I imagine this book could be the springboard for a newcomer to decide what they want to know more about. Maps and timelines abound to help you keep your wits about you.

Although a history of the world, it is still fairly Euro-centric. While I understand written records for Indian history are somewhat scarce, China probably gets a shorter shrift in it's chapters than it deserves - considering there is no dearth of documentation (thanks, Sima Qian).

That's my only minor complaint. (I do have a Kindle-specific complaint - the many excellent maps Ms. Bauer includes look shocking on the Kindle [even on my larger DX], and there are some odd minor formatting errors in the text itself.)

Buy it if you always wanted to know about the ancient world, but didn't know where to start!

It's the Footnotes
While this is a very readable and fascinating history of the early ancient world, it is the footnotes
that make this so enjoyable.Ms. Bauer lets her personality and wit shine, unlike most historians who cloak their
humanness in dry academic language. To give a taste of what I mean:

Page 269:We learn the entomology of the word "Nimrod" from a king's name in Gen. 10:10 to a term for a failed and ineffectual
person via Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

Page 308:Describing the seduction of an ancient Indian Queen Mother..."When she was a young girl another wise man cornered her
on a boat....and "prevailed over" her, after promising her that she would still be a virgin afterwards, a useful pick-up line unfortunately
available only to magicians.(The queen mother also adds, apropos of nothing, "Till then my body had emitted a revolting odor of fish, but the sage dispelled it and endowed me with a fragrance that I now have- a detail which we should perhaps leave unexplored.)"

Page 246: A long footnote begins "You might wonder why" and then gives a very complicated genealogy of King Tut's family. It then adds."Or you
may not have wondered at all."

I hope this gives a flavor of this unique and comprehensive history. I love overviews which I can then follow up in depth with the events that
interest me the most.



... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (18)

Good hands on assessment reference
Haven't needed to use it, but was told to buy by instructor. From flipping through the pages, it appears to be a great hands on assessment reference. I just haven't needed to use it.

OK not the best
was ok except could not locate some items, would have been better to get handheld software since I use that a lot.This was a required text for class - but we really did not use much. Should have gotten software instead.

excellent condition
I am very pleased with the delivery and the condition of this book. Good job.
Thanks

Best
A premiun physical diagnosis hand book that I bought at Amazon in supreme condition.
Thanks
Bates' Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, North American Edition

Good as quick reference with adequate level of detail
My medical school clinical course wanted us to get the full version of Bates but I've found that this is more than sufficient for the course and it will be particularly handy when I start rotations next year. ... Read more