National Geographic Visual History of the World [Hardcover]

I've always been a big fan of National Geographics and this comprehensive volume of world history doesn't disappoint. Complete with spectacular photography, the author includes written highlights on each page, covering events from the beginning of history to current times.

A color coded cross-referencing system allows the reader to stay on topic, but it's thrilling to just browse in this magnificent book. Open the 600-plus page volume to any page and learn while being entertained about things you vaguely remember from history class, complete with world famous paintings, illustrations, and biographies.

Brinkley is a history professor who must have agonized over what to include in this obvious labor of love. Highly recommended - would not collect dust on your coffee table.

I was so excited when I saw that this book was for sale, and I was even more excited to find that it was a work by the National Geographic Society. They have truly outdone themselves, combining various people, places, and artworks into a readable text concerning numerous facets of world history. This is NOT a western-obsessed book; there are plenty of representations of Middle-Eastern, African, and Asian history.

If the original pictures are in color, then they are VIBRANTLY portrayed
as such; there are no petty black and white substitutions (unless of course they were created in black and white). The pages are glossy, relatively heavy, and well bound.

The text is probably the worst feature of the book. It is not, in any mindset, for a scholar, but that is beside the point, because this book's focus evidently lies in photos and images.

Another great feature of the book is how it is organized. There are
several fold out components, as well as miniature timelines near the bottom. Furthermore, the major personalities of particular eras - such as the French Revolution, etc. - are organized together, with their pictures, of course, and a brief paragraph outlining their particular role in that period.

The final and notably fantastic aspect of this book came as a bit of a surprise. The foreword by Douglas G. Brinkley, goes slightly beyond just a sappy introduction, and includes some profound philosophical ideas concerning world history, which will inevitably provoke some thought if you are a passionate history buff.

Thus, for only thirty-five dollars retail, and around twenty-five dollars here on Amazon, there is no excuse not to buy this book. As a final thought, once you buy it, browse slowly and allow the pictures to soak in. I've had my copy two days and only looked at around ten pages. This book is too great to be appreciated with just a few cursory glances!

This was an in-depth look at our world history and written in an easy fashion.

The pictures were well rendered and I loved the stuff written on the early cultures (the byzantine empire, etc).

However, I was a little disappointed on the all-too brief pages written on Asian history. Asia has over 12,000 years of history combined (if you include India, Japan, China, Korea and the Islamic worlds etc). and the authors/editors decide to skim it with only 15 pages or so?

That's not quite a complete view of the world, if you ask me....

There's plenty of focus on the European eras (all of them) and not enough on the Asian ones.

Still an excellent read though; and for any student of history (or needing a paper done in minutes) this is definitely the book to use!