Customer Reviews

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia appears to be the updated version of the Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World, which received high accolades from Amazon reviewers and others. I've compared the two books. This "replacement" book is better laid out and has better graphics than its predecessor.

The colorful text highlights periods in history from 40,000 B.C. to the present. It is divided chronologically into segments:"The Ancient World" 40,000 BC to 500 BC, and The Classical World, 499 BC - AD 500, Early Middle Ages, 501- 1100, Trade and Empire1601-1707 , Revolution and Independence 1708- 1835, etc.

I like that it covers all regions of the world, including African history, and Indian, Asian, South American, Judea, etc, rather than the typical European history we're all used to. The information is broad in each section and includes wars, empires and dynasties, architecture, culture and arts, science and technology, maps, small biographies of important people in those times. I like that the book is chronological and also broad based in its approach. Each reference takes a full page or full two pages, with easy to find headings at the top of the page. There is a time line across the heading of each page so you know where you are in history. There's a nice "ready reference" in the back with quick notations of rulers and popes and the time period they ruled. I highly recommend this book for middle school years and adults who want a cursory but thought-provoking look at history. This book makes you want to delve more deeply into the different time periods. It's a good starting place for beginning your understanding of ancient history and getting a sense of time and place with regard to history. I homeschool and this is a great resource.

I have recently begun homeschooling my 6th grader, and am using The Well Trained Mind as a curriculum guide. This book was listed as a must-have for a classical education, which is based heavily in literature and history. I must say that when we received the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, it looked very impressive. It is a hefty volume, with colorful pages and a timeline which runs across the top of the pages. However, after only a few weeks of use, my daughter has come to dread the sight of this book whenever it is time for history lessons. It is very dry reading. The one to two-page spreads for each topic/culture/era have so little valuable content, that there is little opportunity for the spark of interest to be ignited. They have so condensed the information, that it is mostly a list of dates, names, etc. And there are boxes every couple of pages listing the same dates over again. The text is written chronologically, so each time you turn the page a different culture is discussed, and what they were doing during that time period. This concept sounds better on paper than in practical use. While the time periods overlap somewhat, it does tend to jump around a quite bit. The continuity of what should be exciting and intriguing becomes very choppy and disjointed and as a result frustrating and boring. What might be interesting stuff becomes distracting and in some cases irritating when it interrupts another story. For example, the rise and fall of Rome, while severely abridged, may have still interested my child, if it had not been broken up by seven other topics. Huge chunks of time (several centuries)are condensed into a paragraph, or even a sentence or two. Other chunks go unmentioned. For example, the Qin Dynasty in China lasted less than 20 years, and got the same attention as the Celts, who were around for 500 years. The first 400 years of Christianity are covered in the same amount of space. So I am seeing my daughter becoming confused about the significance of these subjects, and not really grasping the "chronological order", despite adding new information daily to the 8-foot timeline we keep on the wall. Also,I am constantly amazed at what the makers of this book did not see as important enough for further discussion. For example, in our studies so far, The Great Wall of China has been depicted in a 1/4 page illustration, but only the date it was begun and a sentence or two on why it was built is listed. Julius Caesar is mentioned briefly, and simply that he was assasinated(!?), and I have yet to find any mention of Cleopatra. Overall, this book might be a good addition to your library just to have around for kids to leaf through, or as a springboard for other reading. It does mention cultures I never learned about in school (i.e.,the Guptas )but is not very useful as a reference tool, as there really is not any in-depth information on very many things. In it's effort to cover all bases in a single volume, Kingfisher fails to teach children what history really is -- a really great story.

I, too, bought this book based on recommendations for the original that is now out of print. I found many typos, especially in the last 50 pages of the book. It's as though the publisher didn't even use a spell check! I also found several contradictions in their own facts, dates that were confused etc.
I liked the layout and I believe there are several subjects that are addressed well, but I would suggest that any homeschooling parent read ahead in order to omit the discrepancies found.

We homeschool, also, and ordered this 'red book' when we couldnot find the other. We were most disappointed with it...[I was ableto locate] leftover copies of the original... I bought two of those. We are glad and have never missed the red book. I have a copy of the 'red book' in my classroom where I teach and the kids are not drawn to it as I had hoped they would be. I also have the red science encyclopedia, and the kids like that one. I find the red history book is too cluttered, too vague in the sequence of happenings, and we dislike the manner in which the timeline is presented...

I read this history encyclopedia from beginning to the end; took 2 weeks, an hour a day, in preparation for homeschooling my son. It's about 5th grade level, good descriptions, excellent pictures, covers every corner of the globe. It's a big, thick book and worth the money. I plan on having my son read 2 pages a day and finish it in a year. I can then supplement any information he wishes to know more. Doesn't cover any event in deep detail, but gives excellent overall impression of the history of the whole world. Even I learned a lot!

Highly recommended in addition to other more in depth history studies.

Book contains some obvious mistakes. On page 113 it is stated that Rurik was the founder of Kiev, what is not true, because Kiev had been known since V century.

Beware -- this is not the update to the highly regarded Kingfisher Illustrated History. Instead, it reformats the previous work, departing from the orderly 'accent of western civilization' theme, de-emhasizing Greek and Roman history in favour of lesser known, minor world cultures and in general, adds aggresive PC editing. Using this book as a homeschool reference will result in you needing to spend time explaining the PC biases to your children, and ultimately, needing to purchase an additional reference book.

Great book for elementary through middle school children. Well organized, beautiful illustrations and condensed information so that everything you could possibly want to know about world history is covered. An added bonus is that there is a timeline across the top of many pages so that the reader can just select certain time periods to study. Excellent book for the independent learner and a great book for parents to read with their children.

I too homeschool in a classical mode. I originally bought this due to the reference in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Revised and Updated 10th Anniversary Edition). It is a useful introduction to unfamiliar ground. Non Western topics are often unfamiliar to me and I find the snippets given along with the timeline context enough of a start that I can take it from there. Would it be the only text I would use? Definitely not. However, it is a fleshed out outline of the topics and a good road map when outlining a course of study.

This book covers just about everything from "cavemen" to the Iraqi War (updated 2004 edition). The easy to read/understand narratives and the large, colorful illustrations make this book a great reference book for school reports/homeschool. Although we usually read it together, my 8 & 10 year old kids can both read & understand this book. A great resource for any family library.