John P. McKay

Well, it's a textbook: nothing deep here, and it's written by a consortium of area experts each trying to get their little viewpoint in (Catholic historians are especially bad about this, sorry.) But just reviewing the facts is such a good exercise, and you come out with things you didn't know--just e.g., I had no idea that medieval Russia was so free--peasants able to move as they pleased, healthier and happier and more prosperous than in the West--until they were crushed up by the Mongols show more and king-aristocrat collusion and reduced to classic serfs. You always wonder how that frontiery Russia was born and persisted, and this gives you a bit of a clue--and then it makes you think too about the peasant as a Communist rhetorical figure, and how this lost eden changes the angles there. That's something I got out of it. Your little piece of filled-in context could be something else entirely.


Also, this book is the right size and weight to lie open on the table while you eat, and it has been my breakfast book since like September. Looking forward to going through the three companion volumes! show less

Takes the reader on a 7,000 year journey from the Stone Age to the 2,000 covering all the major events of History in between. Lavishly illustrated and numerous maps and personal stories round out the prose.

Okay, it has been four-and-a-half years and it is time to accept that not only am I not gonna finish this breakfast book (which was a thing I used to do where I'd get a big book that was awkward to hold and read like a textbook or reference work and save it for the breakfast table, and read a page or two each day) but that when you have a small child, a breakfast book is just not remotely a possibility (not that I'm mad about that! I would much rather eat butter toats with Emmett on the show more kitchen floor and talk about what we're gonna do today and get butter smeared on me! Truly!). This book was fine in its allotted time and I learned some things about it while it was here. show less

First thing you need to know about this book, it is a history book and nothing more, it is boring, dry, and no one should ever read it unless they are in that class. The book is really great for projects though (so I suggest buying it). The writing of the book is not that dry, the author is a little biased towards certain things (he lets his opinions show), and he has an interesting voice that brings some sense of humor to the topic.