The Story of Mankind (by Hendrik Willem van Loon)

A must-have for the home or classroom library, this updated eighty-year-old Newbery Award winner is a lively, awe-inspiring chronicle of human evolution, from cave dwelling to Net surfing. It's a volume readers of all ages will turn to again and again for the stories of who we are and how we were.

 

Despite its ponderous title, The Story Of Mankind is a lively book, laced with dry humor and wry observations. Although broad in scope, the book is capable of delving beneath the surface, as in its discussion of the Third World's own three "worlds." Nonetheless, some modern-day topics are given short shrift: AIDS is covered in a mere five sentences, and the Internet is discussed in just a half a paragraph; by contrast, in the same chapter, the rise and fall of the Nicaraguan contras is given over a page.

A book this ambitious deserves better illustrations, though. The handwritten words within the illustrations are tiny, and the large-typeface captions are easily confused for chapter subheadings. Black-and-white photos or more detailed drawings would be a major improvement.

Author: Hendrik Willem van Loon
Illustrator: Hendrik Willem van Loon
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
Publication date: December 31, 1969
Number of pages: 674
Paperback price: $14.95