Customer Reviews

The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a comprehensive survey of history from the creation of the Earth to the begining of the Millenium.It is divided into 4 sections:Pre-History, Ancient World, Medieval World, and the Last 500 years. It is a very visual book, with lots of photographs and illustrations to complement the concise text...But what makes it an INCREDIBLE resource is that it is internet-linked. There are hundreds of websites listed in the book that expand on the information presented. The research team at Usborne books has come up with age-appropriate websites from extremely reputable universities, museums, and institutions throughout the world to complement what is in their encylopedia. Let me give a few examples. For Ancient History there is a link to the University of Pennsylvania where a person can print out his/her name in hierglyphics. For modern day, there is a fabulous site at the BBC where you can read about the rise of Hilter and take a quiz afterwards. There is another site where you can listen to famous speeches throughout the ages. IT IS SO INCREDIBLE. And the best part is you can access all the listed sites through Usborne's website. The publisher's site will keep the links up to date if addresses change. This is a terrific resource for any student.

We are Christian parents homeschooling our two girls using a trivium-based curriculum of our own design. If we had to limit ourselves to one history book it would be the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History (Hardcover).

We also use Parragon and Kingfisher World History books, Usborne Atlas of World History, Usborne History Dates, and the Mystery of History. I also use Cracking the AP World History Exam (by Princeton Review) as an aid in linking key history concepts when putting our history lessons together.

Because we are using the Well-Trained Mind to guide our homeschooling I have looked at Story of the World several times but can't bring myself to like it. I feel it (and Mystery of History) are inadequate for use as a history spine, although we occasionally use Mystery of History as a supplement. One reason Mystery of History is inadequate is that it's 50/50 religious/secular history, crowding out to much world history in the process. We do our Bible study in addition to history rather than trying to kill two birds with one stone.

The Parragon book is similar to the Usborne book and, though not as complete, it provides a very good complement. The Kingfisher was intended to be our primary history book for grades 5-8. It is more detailed and requires a higher reading level but overall doesn't flow nearly as well as the Usborne World History. I expect to lean primarily on the Usborne EWH again in grades 5-8 while still using the Kingfisher as a supplement. We'll just use it more often than in grades 1-4.

The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History has great maps, great graphics, and well-written text. The sections are complete and it does a decent job of connecting the dots from one civilization to the next. It's also been very helpful in building a history timeline. Our Amy Pac timeline figures are really not that great and have numerous errors, so being able to download graphics from the Usborne Encylopedia has been very useful in generating our own timeline figures. The Usborne internet links provided are generally pretty good and are maintained current. Sure you can Google for similar content but it doesn't take long to realize how much time gets eaten up sorting through sites looking for something worthwhile. Using the Usborne-quicklinks is a no-brainer and time-saver.

As noted by other reviewers the first 100 pages covers creation to the dawn of man, including changes to the earth and life on it. It's well done and what we used for our daughter's Kindergarten "history" lessons. The girls always looked forward to the readings and, other than a few skipped pages, we had no trouble reconciling Usborne's pre-history with our Christian faith.

I spend a fair amout of time each week putting together history lessons using multiple resources, so I agree with the reviewer that wished for something better but wrote that it's the best history currently available. I'm also confident that if our girl's history lessons consisted of nothing more than reading from the Usborne Encyclopedia Of World History they would still love history and easily learn more about it than 98% of our country's children.

This is an excellent introduction to history. This is a must for homeschoolers, particularly those of a young age.

There are pictures and drawings and photographs that illustrate intersting points in history. There is basic information about how the archeologists have surmised what they know.

The children and I have found it fascinating.

It does once in a while touch on subjects that we discuss or skip over. It is so mild it is difficult to think of an example up front. However, the books is well worth the money and I would buy it again.

It is educational, interesting, clearly written and concise yet it is not boring.

To touch on other comments: there is some religion. There are a few links that don't work anymore. Yes, you can find some of the links yourself. The type is NOT too small.

We used this book AND the kingfisher book for 6 months within our studies of ancient history at a 3rd grade level. Our family of 5 unanimously agreed that this usborn book is far superior to the kingfisher book.

There is a timeline on the bottom of every page for the spatial learner to see where they are within the context of time. The pages are illustrated nicely and appropriately. Items are labeled for the compulsive reader. The index is comprehensive. The breadth of information is appropriate for kids, under the heading of "put it before them and let them feast." If there is something your child wants to know more about it, for all means, look it up online or in other resource books. Many of the links provided will yield endless hours of additional information (and while you can look them up yourself with a search engine, I have three kids and am not interested in searching through pages of links, and I found it very helpful to have a ready-to-go link handy).

The comments about religion vs evolution are interesting... I personally don't think it is possible to provide a comprehensive overview of history without some sort of slant. We are a Christian family who also believes in science and evolution, and I am competent and smart enough to use the information in these books as a tool with my kids to teach them about what OUR beliefs are. People who are blaming the information in this book are perhaps expecting this book to parent their kids for them.

After six months of side-by-side weekly usage between this usborn book and the kingfisher book, this is - in the opinion of our household - a better book, with more interesting illustrations, better written text for kids, and providing in general a better single resource. If you are comparing the two books, this review was for you.

This is an excellent History book for kids who like to read and see pictures. The pictures are not only beautiful, they help kids to transport themselves to the times of History they are reading about. The internet links information is very useful, but if your child is too young to surf the internet, the book itself has enough historical information for young children.

It is a very good buy if you want to give your child a classical education.

This book provides an excellent history overview for children with engaging illustrations. The chronological sequencing of the book helps provide an illustrated and written time line of the world that is helpful for children to see events in relation to one another. The book has many layers of educational opportunity. With a younger child you can read the pictures they are interested in, with an older you may read all of the text and use the internet links for additional information. I highly recommend this book.

I heard so many raves about this book, so I bought it for my 10 year old.

The information to me was sparse, the printed words in the book are so tiny, I almost pulled out my magnifying glass for my child. The internet links, are links you can find on your own, by typing the subject in google. The price for this paperback book is riduculous. Very disappointed, ended up buying the Kingfisher history book, which I found so much better in reading quality and price, especially since it is a hardback and the Usborne book I bought was a paperback. Check if they have it at the library or school to see if, it is what you want, before you waste your money.

I teach history classes for homeschool junior high students and use this book as the spine of our program. The paperback's font is way too small-- I recommend the hardcover.

The book is divided into 4 sections: prehistoric, ancient, medieval, and modern. The Ancient and Medieval sections are available as stand-alone volumes from Usborne. But, you have to purchase this thick encyclopedia if you want the first and fourth sections. For my kids, we purchased the large hardcover and had our local Kinkos slice the spine off the book and spiral-bind the four sections into 4 different books that were much smaller and more manageable.

I give it only 4 stars. It's the best history encyclopedia available, but I hope something better will someday be available.

PROS: great review of ancient and medieval history, great illustrations, good readability. Internet links are fun and easier than googling.

CONS: Insufficient coverage of 20th century and *WAY* too much time spent on prehistoric life. I'm not anti-evolution (I haven't yet made my decision on this topic). I simply feel the the information would be better suited to an earth science book rather than a history book. It's simply a waste of money for parents to pay for 1/4 of a book not even used in the majority of history studies. I suppose Usborne wrote the book from the perspective of "Earth's History" rather than the history of just humans on the earth.

I bought this book for my kids 5 years ago, they are now 9 & 11 yrs old. They have used it so much the binding is almost worn off. The best thing about this book is how it lets the kids get as in-depth with a subject as they want. They can just glance over it without being overwhelemed or delve into a subject for weeks without running out of information. Great buy! It is one of 2 books I bought at the time that the kids still use, the other one was Usborne's Internet-linked Encyclopedia of World History.

My first grader, a very visual learner, loves this book. He asks for history first thing every morning because we use this book as our primary resource to study prehistory. To be precise, pages 12-101 offer a highly visual overview from the birth of the Earth to the first farmers.

We read a double page spread every day or two, then I'd type out his brief oral narration. As a treat, we'd visit the Quicklinks every Friday to further delve into what we'd read the whole week. Like another reviewer mentioned, the Quicklinks clearly set this encyclopedia apart.

My son was so enthralled by this book that he wanted to create a Prehistory Timeline of his own and we adapted the text from this book for notes for our timeline. We are now stepping into the study of the Ancient Civilizations and I must say this book is proving to be a winner in this area too.

It's such value for money because it can be used for at least 4 years of world and American history studies. That's great news whether or not you intend to follow the Classical Method's 4-year history rotation.

Many thanks to Usborne for creating this gem and helping to plant a passion for history in my son's heart.