Reddit Reddit reviews Cartoon History of the Universe Volumes 1-7

We found 32 Reddit comments about Cartoon History of the Universe Volumes 1-7. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Books
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Cartoon History of the Universe Volumes 1-7
Three Rivers Press CA
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32 Reddit comments about Cartoon History of the Universe Volumes 1-7:

u/baconautics · 43 pointsr/history

I'm partial to A Cartoon History of the Universe for several reasons:

  • It is actually surprisingly well researched and written. It is pithy and covers a lot of material, including some subjects a lot of other histories gloss over.
  • More importantly, the bibliography (and bibliographical comments) are very extensive, so if you find something you like or want to research more about, you can flip to the bibliography and find the reference material.
  • Well, it is entertaining, too.
u/Georgy_K_Zhukov · 31 pointsr/AskHistorians

So I'm going to plug for some books that I loved when I was a kid.

The Cartoon History of the Universe / Cartoon History of the Modern World, by Larry Gonick. I'd caution that it isn't for very young children, as they decidedly don't censor the sex and violence, but I probably started reading them around age ten, and the tattered copy of volume one I still have - and occasionally peruse - attests to just how much I read and reread them. The books are thoroughly enjoyable, and just the kind of thing to get a kid to really enjoy reading history. The only real word of caution Ii would offer is that yes, they are at the core pop history, and especially the earlier volumes - the first one was published in 1990 I believe - can reflect some outdated scholarship - but especially for young, budding historians, I don't feel this is all that much of a drawback. The goal at this point in time is to make history fun and exciting, and these books absolutely do that - and they prime the pump for enjoying dry academic tomes ten years later to get the necessary corrections!

On the topic of cartoons, I'll also plug Asterix and Obelix, which we'll be charitable and call 'historical fiction'. You shouldn't be taking anything from these to be accurate and teaching tools, but looking back, they are another set of works that I was reading as a kid that decidedly made me enjoy reading about the past.

u/MysteriousSandwich · 8 pointsr/IAmA

If you ever want a good summary of world history check out The Cartoon History of the Universe. It's well-researched and fun to read.

u/Talmor · 5 pointsr/suggestmeabook
u/yumcake · 5 pointsr/bestof

https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204

I loved these books so much as a teen. They did such a wonderful job of taking dry history and making them come alive in the imagination. Having gained this perspective from Larry Gonick's books made it SO much easier to read about history in general afterwards.

u/Robert_Bork · 5 pointsr/AskHistorians

I'm not a historian, but I used to be a history teacher and I think I got a few things right in terms of keeping people interested. A few books I used that are fun and relatively easy:

  • The Cartoon History of the Universe is good for kids and grown-ups, although there might be some sections for which there has been much new research.

  • You may also enjoy Guns, Germs, and Steel which gives an interesting theory of history up to about 1535. A book which tackles the same questions from a much more "cultural" (rather than geographical) angle is The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. They're a fun read together.

  • I know the professional historians might disagree, but starting with the broad sweep of European history and working your way outward can be fun. I liked From Dawn to Decadence which is a bit of a luxuriating read and very detailed. Less detailed but also good popular introductions are Norman Davies' Antiquity and Europe books and Norman Cantor's Civilization of the Middle Ages.

  • For a total timeline (big bang to now), Cosmos (the series or the book) is an awesome way to slot human history and science into the whole universe.

  • Also, novels that cover crazy spans of time are great. One I liked was Bridge over the River Drina which helps you understand both Europe and the Ottoman Empire over the course of 400 years. Others can recommend novels in the super-epic (in terms of timespan) genre as well.
u/FoeHammer99099 · 5 pointsr/AskHistorians

If you're looking for something that covers everything in a pretty entertaining format, I would suggest the Cartoon History of the Universe. It's a thoroughly cited series of comic books that inject a good deal of humor and narrative into history. The format leads it a little too heavily into great man history at times, but overall it's fantastic, and features a lot of Chinese and other Asian history that I don't see a lot of in Western books for a general audience.

u/floydiannyc · 3 pointsr/historyteachers
u/djadvance22 · 3 pointsr/Art

I wish I had more time right now - maybe I'll fill one of those out later and send it to you.

I have to say, though, that I don't like the layout - turning much more of the text into dialogue would be much easier to read. Now it's like a book with pictures, like A Cartoon History of the Universe, which, as we all know, sucked ass and just sat on my shelf until I got to high school and just burned it in my backyard. Not that yours is bad (it's good, I like it a lot), but it shares the problematic "is it a book or a comic?" layout.

Another point of unsolicited advice - your illustrations show that you have lots of potential as an artist - I'd encourage you to dive into upping your illustrative abilities and learning all you can about comics. Truth is, comics are all about the illustrations, and if you really want to do this, it'll be in your interest to figure out the visual part of it, and how better to incorporate your admittedly great message into comic form. And you can do it, as evidenced by your solid foundation.

As is, as an artist and writer I'd be hesitant to join forces because I'd be doing a vast majority of the grunt work and I'd want to reformat and maybe rewrite all the text blocks completely to fit my illustrations. This seems kind of like the "design the new Facebook for me for $50 and no credit, and it has to be pink" trope for web developers. The Cyanide & Happiness model of several artists making their own full comics with the same theme seems to me like it would work way better than separating out the writing and illustrating. Again, just my personal response as an illustrator/writer.

Anyway, I'm shitty at giving opinions that aren't so sharp that they make people want to avoid them just to spite them, so sorry, and I hope you find an awesome illustrator here - but if you don't, there are other great options.

u/MikeOcherts · 3 pointsr/atheism

May I suggest "The Cartoon History of the Universe". AWESOME book(s). My 7 year old thinks it is one of the greatest books ever.
Link

u/elcheecho · 3 pointsr/guns
u/Psyqlone · 3 pointsr/history
u/byproxxy · 2 pointsr/booksuggestions
u/schweikist · 2 pointsr/philosophy

You might enjoy the depiction of Socrates in The Cartoon History of the Universe. It doesn't contain any great revelation about his philosophy, but it does convey what you've described quite well.

u/finalcut · 2 pointsr/books

If you want to learn a ton while being entertained the entire time I can't suggest anything better than the Cartoon History of the Universe. This book is pure win.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/Parenting

My husband was given these as a kid: http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204

He still reads them today. The shit that he has learned from them is incredible. He talks about histories of the various middle eastern political systems like he was there...it seems to be a learning style that really resonated with him both as a kid and as an adult.

u/krisak02 · 1 pointr/AskHistorians

The Cartoon History of the Universe is surprisingly good in this regard.

http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Vol-Pt-1/dp/0385265204

u/fectin · 1 pointr/history

USN war college uses this as a textbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Landmark-Thucydides-Comprehensive-Guide-Peloponnesian/dp/0684827905

For a surprisingly good overview of history generally, I recommend https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204

u/moxy801 · 1 pointr/history

Nothing is perfect or without issues, but Cartoon History of the Universe is as good a place to start as any.

If anything particularly piques your interest, then start going down that road to learn more.

u/frakking-anustart · 1 pointr/history

I suggest a cartoon history of the Universe. It's brilliant.
http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204

u/fivezero_ca · 1 pointr/tipofmytongue
u/deepthot42 · 1 pointr/atheism

Honestly? This

u/triad203 · 1 pointr/reddit.com

This reminds me of a series I read many times throughout my teens:


Cartoon History of the Universe 1 Vol. 1-7: From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great, by Larry Gonick

See also, other volumes in the set:

The Cartoon History of the Universe II, Volumes 8-13: From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome (Pt.2)

The Cartoon History of the Universe III: From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance

NOTE: All contain somewhat mature language and illustrations, hence probably ~PG-13ish.

EDIT: I was misremembering the source.

u/Dilettante · 1 pointr/history

A History of the World in Six Glasses is a nice, very approachable book for someone who's not very into history. It's not a deep book, but it has some interesting ideas and can serve as a jumping-off point for people.

Another very easy-to-get-into source is one that I cannot recommend highly enough: Larry Gonick's series of cartoon histories: The Cartoon History of the Universe, in three volumes, covers world history from the age of the dinosaurs to Columbus' journey, and his later two-volume series Cartoon History of the Modern World picks up where that leaves off, going all the way up to 9/11. They are surprisingly well-researched, with each volume having pages of references at the end. There are unfortunately few pages of this series online to read - here's one I found from the first volume, and here's another in low resolution from his later volumes.

u/Crosem · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

Here is the first omnibus volume of the Cartoon History of the Universe. Follow it up with the other two and the Cartoon History of the Modern World books and you have achieved your goal.

They're somewhat dated by now, and they are of necessity only an overview. But they're reasonably entertaining to read, and they are the summary of everything you asked for!

u/changeworld9 · 0 pointsr/history

Ask them to try Cartoon history of the universe by Larry Gonick. 5 volumes of comics covering history to the 21st century :)

https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-1-7/dp/0385265204


Thats the link to the first volume :)

u/retsotrembla · -5 pointsr/books

To get you started:

300

Another treatment of the same event:

Cartoon History of the Universe

That has a bibliography, that will lead you to the next ones to read.

(I just found out that King Xerxes from 300 is the same guy as King Ahasuerus from the Book of Esther, in The Bible.)