Holy history batman! What don't they cover?
Written: Jan 05 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots of information, very good presentation of history.
Cons: No real organization to find things easily.
The Bottom Line: Very well thought out book that goes throughout history and asks questions and thoroughly answers them in an entertaining way.
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| biscuitfarmer's Full Review: The Handy History Answer Book Books |
Being a fairly avid reader of history and always making sure that I have plenty of time in my week to watch the history channel for hours on end, I found a book that I absolutely had to purchase, The Handy History Answer Book by Rebecca Nelson.
This is probably the best book for people that are interested in completely random tidbits of history. I personally keep it next to the john, so that I can learn in my favorite chair in the house. However, the problem is that I often find myself there for hours reading information that I'll probably never need in my life, but it's presented in a way that is truly entertaining.
Organization
While the book is fairly random at best, it is somewhat organized into sections. Inside the different sections, which really don't help as far as organization goes at all, because you have absolutely no idea of what could be included in any of those sections, are loads of questions. These questions are about different things that happened in history. The author then goes on to answer those questions in complete detail, covering all the pertinent aspects of what the question asks. I know this sounds like an absolutely horrible book in concept, but it's really cool and an interesting read, even if it doesn't have any real organization for the most part.
Chapters/Sections/Semi-organized areas/whatever
Since I am not really sure what to call the groupings under which each set of questions is placed, I guess you can kinda pick whatever you like.
Eras and their historical highlights
This covers all of the different ages throughout history. Some of the different areas covered are the copper age, the bronze age, prehistoric times, post communism, the world wars, the cold war, aztec empire, etc. As you can see there's really no organization, it's completely random and covers so many very very broad topics that it only gets you to a very general area of interest.
Exploration and Migration
This is probably the best of all the chapters, because it actually is pretty easy to tell what they will talk about. This section covers different explorers like Leif Ericsson, Christopher Columbus, and Sir Francis Drake. They also talk about things such as the Exodus from Egypt, Gold and Diamond Mining, immigration, trail of tears, slavery, the lost colony, and things like that.
Very good reading, especially in regards to American History. There's a lot of information here that applies directly to this country and how it was originally formed. This isn't just the stuff you learned in school, it goes above and beyond to really bring history to life during this time period in America.
Wars, overthrows, and revolutions
This section talks about all of the different wars that have happened throughout time. From the Trojan war, to Vietnam, to the French Revolution. Pretty much all the very broad topics are covered in this section.
I highly recommend a lot of the questions regarding earlier wars. They have a lot of information that they don't talk about in modern day textbooks that kinda get buried throughout time. I think some of these things should really be shown to our children, some of the horrific sacrifices that have been made throughout time.
Government, Law, and Politics
This is my favorite section as it covers things like the Roman empire and things like the bill of rights and Magna Carta. Pretty much anything that has to do with politics and government are covered in this area. Again, they are very broad, so things you think that will be discussed aren't always. Keeps you guessing though.
Goes into depth on how the United States was started up, some of the rudimentary goverments that were formed around the world throughout time and how certain styles of government have done with different countries.
Natural, Man-Made, and other Disasters
All of the major disasters in history such as different floods that have devastated areas, tidal waves, droughts, earthquakes. Then there are the man made problems such as apolla 13, chernobyl, and three mile island.
I've never even heard of most of the disasters in this section and they were pretty interesting to read about. I had no idea that some disasters were so devastating, really puts life into perspective.
Philosophy, Science, and Invention
Really cool section that discusses Confucius, Existentialism, Marxism, Halley's Comet, and all sorts of different theories, scientists, and inventors. There are a lot of different things that are talked about in this area all in a really small section of the book. Really interesting concepts here that I really had no clue about.
While this covers a really large area in relatively few pages, talks about some of the great thinkers of our time with a lot of really great details that are extremely interesting.
Medicine and Disease
Goes through medicine throughout the ages and diseases that were caused which have aided in our creation of new medicines. Things like pasteurization are also discussed and methods that we have used to irradicate some diseases.
I didn't know how some diseases came to be and just how devastating they were throughout time, this really brings it home, just how bad an outbreak can be, especially if you are unable to treat it with the medicine of the time. Kinda reminds me of our fight with cancer and Aids.
Religion
Probably the most sensitive of the topics discussed, talks about how many of the religions were formed, different bibles, different thoughts, the crusades, and several of the different religious wars that have happened throughout time.
Culture and Recreation
Discusses things like Shakespeare, Desegregation, public education system, cable television, the olympics, and all sorts of things that are related to culture.
Sample Questions
Some of the questions asked in the book include:
How were the Gauls related to the Celts?
What was John Cavendish's claim to fame?
Who was Hawaii-Loa?
What was the lost colony?
Who is Che Guevera?
How was it that Anne Frank's Diary survived World War II?
Was Attila the Hun really a savage?
Overview
This book is great and covers all sorts of things. Throughout the book it asks questions that many people just don't ask and answers them fully. The author has found a very entertaining way to bring history into every day life. It would be very hard to sell a book on history to the general public, but she has managed to combine it all in a way that is fun and intriguing and keeps you wanting to read more.
I know that everytime I go into the bathroom, I'm always excited to pick up the book and continue reading more and more of the events throughout history. I really do hope that there are more of these books out there after I am completely through with this one, which will happen over the next week most likely.
Recommended:
Yes
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