Product Description
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship.Amazon.com Review
Anyone who can chronicle world history from 500,000 B.C. topresent times--and do so in a lively, entertaining style--deserves amedal. Luckily, the bestowers of the very first Newbery Medal in 1922thought so, too. The warm, personable tone of Hendrik Willem vanLoon's writing lends itself to true learning in a way that stern, drytextbooks never do. In the introduction, he describes climbing a towerin Rotterdam in his youth.Years later, the perspective at the topinspired the author to develop a metaphor of history as a "mightyTower of Experience, which Time has built amidst the endless fields ofbygone ages."

This genuinely enjoyable charmer, for history buffs and thehistorically challenged alike, covers human history from prehistorictimes, when our earliest ancestors were learning to communicate withgrunts, right through to the issues of the latter 20th century: gayrights, Arab-Israeli conflicts, and health and fitness. Revised andupdated several times since 1921, van Loon's inviting classic isfilled with stories (and witty parenthetical asides) that bringhistory alive. His pen-and-ink illustrations, maps, and animatedchronology contribute to the cozy, round the fireplace aspect of thebook. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Story of Mankind
I returned the book because it was only the text.There are NO illustrations.Part of the charm of the book are the illustrations.

No Editing
I just bought this book to use as a portion of our homeschool history curricullum. However this versionof the book (ISBN-13: 978-1153721998)also has little or no editing.There are whole sentences missing and some sentences stop mid line then continued on the next line.We can't make sense of it so I have purchaed an original text with illustrations.Hopefully it won't contain these errors and I can write an actual review on the material in the book.

Crazy as a Loon
This should be titled "Loons' Opinion of Western Mankind; at times based on historical fact." India and China are briefly mentioned in the chapter "Buddhism and Confusianism" and we don't hear anything from China until 1939. Africa? Not even in the index. I bought this because it was required for a history curriculum I was considering. We will be using something else. Only buy this if you are weary of screaming at your television, and would like to try screaming at a book instead. If you know anything about history, this book will make you Crazy as a Loon.

where it all started
my abiding interest in both history and politics began with this book which i found in our library.i was at first attracted to the amusing sketches and witty comentary then by what was alreadt clear to me




as the authors feeling for the human race and its struggles to make sense of itself and its place in the scheme ofthings. until now i had always thought my debt and affection for this special work singular. i am glad to see i was wrong.

Story of Mankind
This book is very educational.I was never in to history but this book makes it more interesting.I love teh drawings that go along with it.I think this is a great book for any one who teaches history, even elementary levels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I loved this book.
I heard about this book from a friend who was lending it out. She said it was her parents favorite book and now it was one of hers. Now it is one of mine. I was thrilled to find it at Amazon. It is basically 2 Dutch gentlemen in the 1930's who have found a way to invite historical personages to dinner. Each chapter is a description of the guests invited and how the Dutch Gentlemen decided on the dinner to serve; the wind to drink; and the music to play. Their deliberations about the details are delightful. Their descriptions of the lives of the guests include stuff I never heard anywhere else. I want to be at the dinner, I want to drink that wine, I want to listen to that music! Most of all I want to spend a quiet evening talking to the 2 Dutch gentlemen. I want to go to Veere, Netherlands more than anywhere else in the world.

Charming history
This is a work of historical fiction in a different sense of the words.

Two friends living in the Netherlands on the eve of WWII are mysteriously granted the power to invite anyone from history to dinner.They select Erasmus for their first dinner guest and he later becomes their mentor in choosing future guests for dinner.Each chapter gives an overview of the guest's place in history and then recounts the dinner.Van Loon makes history interesting and accessible.The stories are fun - Leonardo gets taken up in a modern airplane, Queen Elizabeth gets drunk and does some wild dancing, The Bachs and Breugels are fun.

Simply the best
I have read a lot of books in my life, but Van Loon's Lives is my all-time favorite book.It made history live and breathe for me, and set me on the path to my own research and degree.I hope this book never goes out of print.I recommend it to everyone. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Hendrik Willem Van Loon, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1577 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author