Storia dell'umanità

The origins of mankind in a nutshell. Considering it was originally published in 1921, Van Loon's voice is still surprisingly accessible. And while the information is not 100% accurate, this has a quick and dirty look at the history of the world as historians kinda-sorta understood it when Van Loon wr Leggi tutto

My journey through the Newbery winners begins here with the Story of Mankind. I’ve never been a great book review writer. It’s hard for me to talk about a book without giving too much away, so for these Newbery winners, I think I will stick to a format. I will answer the following questions. What di Leggi tutto

The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by Dutch-American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. It was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature. Written for Van Loon's children, The Sto Leggi tutto

We found this in my grandma's basement after she died. I picked it up again at my folks' house, when I was looking for bedtime reading, and I went through it in bits and pieces, over the course of several visits. I went in with an open mind: I always try to love the book I'm reading, but then I alway Leggi tutto

This book is exceptionally Eurocentric, which makes sense for the period in which it was written, but does not excuse the racism and the belief that little of "historic importance" ever came out of the non-western world. I also found the tone extremely patronizing and the many strange asides, quips, Leggi tutto

ENGLISH: This is a history of mankind for children, and therefore it has been simplified a lot. However, in some cases I think it has been simplified too much: the crusades, or the ascent of medieval cities, were due to situations much more complex than shown. I think something has been lost by pres Leggi tutto

I have finished The Book. Mr. van Loon's Narcoleptic Affect (thanks for that, Jen) notwithstanding, I enjoyed it. Seriously, I have never in my life fallen asleep reading a book as many times as I did this one. I lost count, but am pretty sure it was upwards of 10. That said, I marked a TON of things Leggi tutto

I did it!!!!