14 h 21 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if history feels less like a heap of dates and more like a mountain range you can finally see?
In The Story of Mankind, Hendrik Willem van Loon follows human history from the first people to the years just after the First World War. Egypt, Greece and Rome lead into the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and great revolutions. His aim is not to tell everything, but to make the broad shape clear.
Van Loon writes as a lively, personal guide, choosing moments that shape how people live, work and believe. His story asks what curiosity makes possible and what fear destroys. It also reveals his own early twentieth-century outlook: opinionated, warm and focused chiefly on Europe and its neighbors.
What you’ll discover
- A view from above Picture the past as a mountain range, then step back to see its larger shape.
- Life beside great rivers Follow settled life along the Nile and between the Tigris and Euphrates, where farmers grow grain.
- Cities with their own minds Meet the small Greek city states, each with its own government and fierce pride.
- A world in motion Trace the Renaissance, religious wars and revolutions as ideas and machines reshape daily life.
- Curiosity against fear Explore Van Loon's belief that tolerance and curiosity offer a better path than cruelty.
Who will love it
For curious readers who love a clear path through world history, and for parents and teachers who enjoy a warm guide. Young readers will meet ideas, tools and revolutions through plain language and the author's own drawings.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Climb high to see all of time
- Writing and river valleys begin civilization
- Greek cities trade and debate
- Rome builds order and Christianity spreads
- The Middle Ages hold knowledge together
- Renaissance, Reformation and the opening of the world
- Kings, wars and the fight over belief
- Revolutions and machines remake daily life
- Tolerance as the lesson
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 14 h 21 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Read and hear La historia de la humanidad in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La historia de la humanidad
by Hendrik Willem Van Loon · 1921
From the first fire-makers to a century of machines, Van Loon explores how ideas, tools and beliefs shape human lives.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
Newbery Medal, 1922
Excellent
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In short
Imagine climbing a mountain so high that all of human history spreads out below you like a map. That is the picture Hendrik Willem van Loon offers in The Story of Mankind, which appeared in 1921.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Climb high to see all of time
Van Loon asks you to picture history as a great tower. Below, the busy streets seem confused. From the top, the wider view brings order to the scene.
The earliest humans live in a world of ice, hunger and danger. Speech, fire and tools are the first great steps.
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What is The Story of Mankind about?
It is a one-volume history of the world from early humans to the years after the First World War. Van Loon covers Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the age of kings and the great revolutions in a lively style.
Did The Story of Mankind win an award?
Yes. It won the first Newbery Medal in 1922, the award given for outstanding American children's literature. It had been published in 1921 and was soon read widely in schools and homes.
Who wrote The Story of Mankind and who was it written for?
Hendrik Willem van Loon, a Dutch-born American writer and illustrator, wrote it. He aimed it at young readers, but its plain voice and clear sweep have also attracted many adults who want an easy way into world history.
The author
Hendrik Willem Van Loon
1882–1944 · Dutch-American historian and illustrator
Hendrik Willem van Loon (1882–1944) was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, illustrator, and author. He was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and later lived in the United States. He wrote The Story of Mankind, published in 1921, and illustrated his own books. He died in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
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