Customer Reviews

The Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Internet Linked (History Encyclopedias)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not only does this Encyclopedia look impressive on the bookshelf, but it is quite impressive in content as well. On opening this 400 page hard covered book, it oozes tactfully and beautifully layed out illustrations and photographs from start to finish.
This Encyclopedia covers the Mesopotamian World, Ancient Egypt, Ancient, Archaic and Classical Greece and the Roman World giving you historical background along with insight to the every day life that one may of experienced in that time. For Example, in covering Ancient Rome, the major headings are Early Rome, The Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, Everyday Life, The End of Empire, The Roman Word factfinder etc.
If you want to look further into a topic that is covered in this Encyclopedia, it does add an internet link on the same page of that topic so you aren't scouring the back trying to find the link.
My only dissapointment with this Encyclopedia is that it does not cover Ancient China and other ancient civilisations. When I looked at the title of this Encyclopedia, I just presumed that they would be covered, but not so.
Other than this, this is a very user friendly Encyclopedia and glad it is in my home library.

This book is a GREAT resource for your family. Your kids will love the pictures and facts scattered throughout the pages. It is well organized, colorful, and full of information. My kids are 9, 8, and 6 and have all benefitted from having this book at home. This book makes reading assignments fun! Great for homsechoolers, and the internet links are terrific. Even as an adult, I have enjoyed reviewing the stuff I learned when I was in school as a child.

The only downside to this book is that some of the pictures cover the page numbers. This makes it a little hard to find a certain page because this sometimes occurs for several pages in a row.

I am teaching my children ancient history and needed something to give my curriculum some meat. This book does it! Very thorough (100 pages on Egypt), colorful, covers concepts such as government, religion, architecture, and daily life for each civilization. Even mentions a few empires other books don't bother to bring up.

I wish that I would have been able to see the Table of Contents before ordering this book. So for those who are wondering...It basically has three sections... 1) Egyptians 2) Greeks 3) Romans. Those sections are very well done, and I'm sure my son (4yo) and I will enjoy reading this together. However, there's is soooo much left out! Africa, China, Americas (Aztecs, etc), etc.

I understand that the history of these other civilizations and geographies hasn't been as influential on most westerners' culture/history/worldview, and I'm not looking for a PC perspective. I just hoped that my son would at least see that there were other people around the world, living in other ways during those times too. I'll continue searching for a book that covers early history more broadly at an appropriate age level.

This book is filled with beautiful pictures and amazing facts. As a homeschooling mother beginning our study of the ancients, it's a must have! I am very pleased with this purchase. The ONLY complaint I have: What about ancient China?!?!?!?!?!

There are two names in English publishing that assure a quality product for children (and adults): DK Eyewitness and Usborne. After Usborne added internet links, they raised their ante on the value of their books. "The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World" is a fantastic resource for study of the civilizations of the Ancient World: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

For each civilization there are sections on history, government, everyday life, religion, entertainment, maps, and many more topics. At the end of each unit is a fact-finder specific for each civilization: rulers, gods/goddesses, laws, and the like.

The book is not just words. Illustrations, graphs, photographs make each page attractive and educational. For example, seeing for the first time an illustration of the size of the statue of Athena in the Parthenon just takes one's breath away. On the next page are illustrations of prayer positions of supplicants. I've seen each pose before in movies and documentaries and had no idea of the meaning.

Fabulous tidbits of information fill each page. On a page of a photograph of part of Hadrian's Wall separating England from Scotland (an attempt to keep the Scots in their land and out of England) is the brave story of Boudicca and her uprising against Rome.

To really appreciate this rich resource, you need to have it in hand and page through, stopping to read items of interest. Then keep it nearby to take out and read to enhance your own personal education. Very highly recommended!

I'm a homeschooling mother of two boys, and this book has been a godsend. The book itself is amazing, with intriguing pictures and a clear, concise presentation that makes it easy to teach ancient history to young children. It's the internet links that take this book to the next level, however. I never would have been able to track down so many exciting websites on my own. This book made ancient history come alive for my boys - they really look forward to their lessons. I highly recommend this book and plan to buy the others in the series immediately.

We use this title as a spine for homeschooling a 7 and 10YO in the ancient Greeks and Romans. Although we bring in a lot of other resources (biographies, myths, fiction books on the topics, field trips) it serves as a great organizing book and source of initial information and inspiration for "what's interesting enough to dig into further?" There is a great breadth of information and fantastic artwork-- both photography and other illustration as well as clear maps. My kids will dig out this book on their own and read from it even when they aren't "in school," and then they make lists of things they want to go look up in the library for more information. That observation alone says a lot!

I am homeschooling my first grader this year and this book has become one of our staples for History! He absolutely loves it. It's bright and colorful, with enough info to learn some new things, without being overwhelming. He loves to look through it just for fun and tries to copy the pictures.

This is an excellent resource book for kids and adults. My four year old loves to look at all of the pictures while I read and explain the time period or event in history. Perfect for the home schooler or after schooler.