The History Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Kindle Edition

After beginning to read this book, I quickly realized that the author believes Christians and anyone else who believes in a “higher being or creator” are ridiculous. I paged through just a few more pages and promptly removed this book from my library. I don’t read material like this as I believe it’s a waste of time.

I was so looking forward to this book… and I got such a good price… that it made it twice as disappointing to discover not history, but something else altogether.The book is attractive to look at, but… The section on Bay of Pigs is almost word-for-word what you’d expect from the anti-Castro camp, which set the standard, until recently, for straight-out lying.I don’t know if this approach is applied to all topics, but I don’t want to take the chance. At a time when honesty and simplicity could help us understand the world of today so we can rise to the future, this book does the opposite.I will avoid this series, sadly. There’s enough BS in the world.

I'm not a history major, nor am i someone who wants to dive deep in history of a particular period. But i've had so many questions, and lots of dots that I didn't know how to connects. This book was the answer. Concise and on point, this book helped me pretty much connect all the dots. Absolutely the best history books for those who are mostly interested in the big picture. I've purchased 4 more books in the series (Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, and religions book). They're all awesome books and are helping me fill all my knowledge gaps.

When you are ambitious enough to write a history book encompassing everything from 200,000 years ago until the present day, you must determine what to include and what to leave out. The author of "The History Book" concentrated on events that had the most impact on the development (or demise) of different civilizations throughout the world.I can't say enough about how the book was composed. Each section of the book lays out a timeline of dates and events covered during that period. Each event is then covered in a sub-section, which bullet points things that happened in history before and after the event being discussed. To achieve greater understanding with a minimum of words, diagrams are provided which detail how the event came to pass (using early humans as an example: "Foraging lifestyles rely on hunting/gathering" led to "Humans develop an intimate knowledge of animal and plant species" led to "Beliefs and practices emphasizing connectedness and communication start to develop" resulting in "The first examples of art, such as the cave paintings of Altamira, appear").The book is an easy read, giving just enough information to understand without overloading you with every little fact. Sub-sections are usually no more than a few pages, enabling the reader to be able to set the book down and easily pick it back up at a later time. The author also does a good job staying in the middle and not choosing sides during discussions on religion and political systems.I alternate between my Kindle Fire and Paperwhite. It was impossible to read the timelines on the Paperwhite; even though the Fire is only slightly bigger, it was enough to overcome the fine print, and I found I enjoyed the colored pictures and diagrams on the Fire as opposed to the black-and-white displays on the Paperwhite.Basically, this is a good reference book that will give you an interesting overview on major events in history.

I liked the format of this. One may read a couple chapters in 10 minutes then put it down until you can spare another few moments. Taught me a lot of the history I wished I’d paid more attention to in school

History condensed and comprehensive. Recommend to students and hobbyists as a tool for useful reference and learning. This book does a great job of filling in previous historical gaps to where the larger picture can be seen and explains why history took a certain course of action.

I was a poor student in school, and history was my worst subject. This book as me lapping up what you couldn't have shoved down my throat as a youngster. Sure, I've matured some toward learning (now in my 60s), and the Kindle is way more comfotable and convenient than the heavy, awkward textbooks we had then, but these authors and organizers deserve some big-time credit for this work way beyond that. This is writing that doesn't just impart information; it gives you the sense of almost being there. Five stars allthe way!

This book is a wonderful way to learn the history of people and cultures going back to ancient history. Just enough information to be educated without having to read a bunch of histories about different times.

Very satisfied with this item

Ha llegado a tiempo, como es en inglés, viene bien para mis clases bilingües de filosofía, psicología, valores éticos.... Son muy buenos libros en general y muy amenos de leer. Recomendables para todos,desde adolescentes a mayores.

This is a very good 'big picture' book although I suspect it must, out of necessity, gloss over or leave out a significant amount of detail. It will, however, serve as a good 'primer' for those who have not read much history and hopefully encourage further interest in this subject.

La manera de exponer los temas es simple y efectiva. Es visual, pero no deja de lado entrar a fondo en los temas. Lo recomiendo mucho.

Damaged!!! The cover was crumpled and ripped and the pages were never cut properly when the book was being manufactured, so they are all stuck together at the top which makes it impossible to read . I had to cut at least 20 pages open individually (so far).