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

These are among the few things both interesting and light enough reading that 1 minute intervals work:

Cartoon History of the Universe I - from the Big Bang to Alexander the Great

Cartoon History of the Universe II - from the springtime of China to the fall of Rome

Cartoon History of the Universe III - from the rise of Arabia to the Renaissance

Cartoon History of the Modern World I - from Columbus to the U.S. Constitution

Cartoon History of the Modern World II - from the Bastille to Baghdad

While not that in depth, the China focused section of the Cartoon History of the Universe pt 2 gives a humorous overview to the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms era.

I know you said modern and American history but I have a fun, quick way for you to pick up some world history which believe it or not, you need a good deal of to understand US history. The US was not created in a void and before the revolution it was European colony of England, Holland, France and Spain at variant times. Not to mention the founders were all shaped by ideas from the Roman Republic and its collapse etc.

That said, I am a huge fan of accurate graphic novels to introduce people to history, I own the following one so will vouch for its accuracy and fun.

A Cartoon History of the Universe II - This book is cheap and outstanding, I started you at II as the first one goes back to the big bang and stops in the 4th century B.C.E. Likely further back then you'd want.

In looking this up for you, I also found Gonick wrote one about the modern world, no idea how good it is, but if his accuracy and fun holds up from his other works, it will be good. Cartoon History of the Modern World

I offer these as starting points. You get a full overview with awesome illustrations that might spark your interest the way some boring high school history teacher who was going through the motions didn't. If you like this, I hope you will keep asking questions and we can point you toward more books of interest.

https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-8-13/dp/0385420935/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465631693&sr=8-2&keywords=cartoon+history+of+the+universe

A great source for a teen is Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe (specifically, volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Universe-Volumes-8-13/dp/0385420935).

It's accessible and funny, but it's also carefully done.

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.

Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe, Volume 2. Funny, reasonably accurate, not at all a textbook. Not available, unfortunately, as an audiobook.