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Title: The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution (Cartoon History of the Modern World)
ISBN: 0060760044
Author:
Larry Gonick
Publicate Date: 2007-01-01
Publish: 2007-01-01
List Price: $17.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.35
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.99
Amazon Merchant Price: $12.21
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| Customer Review: |
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1: I love this guy.
He always uses humor to bring low the ego of man and the pomposities of our forefathers, and hence ourselves. It's good we don't take ourselves too seriously. We will make better choices for our future that way.
For those who might criticize this book as glossing over certain episodes: Well, I hope this isn't someone's *only* history book. It should just be in everyone's collection along with other reputable history volumes. These books are good for pointing out the history hidden well between the lines in most history texts.
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2: Great, but ...
Of course all the Cartoon histories are really great, illuminating, and educational, but on this one, I kept being irritated by with it references to today's events - references that a in a few years will be incomprehensible. A historian should write for the ages.
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3: The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution
Great for a student who just can't get into the dry text book in history class. Factual, funny and in a cartoon format. Student's who find that they have no interest in history, may decide differently when they read this.
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4: Shallow and snarky
First of all, I was a big fan of the first 3 books. But this one was no where near as good. Here are some of my complaints.
He comes off as more forgiving of the Aztec empire (human sacrifice, slavery and all) than the Spaniards (slavery, sans human sacrifice). A little more examination into the changes in the native populations day-to-day life would have been appreciated.
He seems to dismiss the theory that germs were the dominant factor in allowing Europeans to conquer the Americas. While he does touch on disease in a few instances, his only direct approach is to portray this notion as a way to assuage white guilt. But this was, almost certainly, the reason why Europeans were able to conquer the Americas and not Africa or Asia.
He perpetuates the myth that the croissant was invented to commemorate the victory of the Siege of Vienna. In fact, the myth originally claimed that it was invented for the siege of Budapest, and this was most likely invented as well. The first time that this story is told is in 1938, far too long after the fact to be accepted as fact.
The treatment of slavery and the U.S. constitution is shallow. There were real conflicts here that could have been given better treatment. I'd rather that he'd saved this for another volume than skim over it.
The religious conflicts in Europe were much more complex, and deserved more in-depth treatment. Too often, Gonick makes snarky comments about the participants, but there were real fears, real ambitions, etc. that motivated these conflicts.
In fact, too often, just like his comparison of Aztecs to Spaniards, he seems willing to accentuate European sins over non-European sins. One can't help wondering what types of biases he harbors when addressing these comparisons. Was life in Peru really better under the native lords than under the Spaniards? Under what measurements?
As well, the Ottomans are never addressed directly, even though they were an important world power. And did the Ottomans work in the African slave trade (why yes, they did)? How did this effect Africa, Turkey, etc.?
Some of this may be alleviated in future volumes, but this volume by itself is weaker than previous ones.
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5: EXCELLENT!
The most enjoyable entry in Mr. Gonick's series since I read his first volume in 1993. This book covers history from roughly 1300-1750, with a refreshing and rare emphasis on pre-Columbian American cultures, such as the Aztecs and Incas. Gonick also delves into the might of India's Moghul Empire, dishes on the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the first stirrings of the Enlightenment, global trade in the great age of sail, and more importantly, the sex lives of the rich and famous. Gonick pays particular attention to philosophers and scientists of all stripe, and does so with his trademark good humor and gift for turning what could be dry information into something genuinely fun to read. I'll say it again, you can learn more from one of Larry Gonick's books than from a semester in college!
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