The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 2: From the Bastille to Baghdad

I first fell in love with Larry Gonick's Cartoon History series back in the late seventies when they were first published in comic book form. Later they were anthologised in book form. As a student and teacher of history I have used them on many occasions with classes and have used them as a first port of call when checking some historical period.Not only is Gonick's work historically interesting, he recreates the past with flair and humour. Any volume of this series is worth dipping into for insight and entertainment. Gonick's historical knowledge is profound.and his passion for his subject permeates every page. His humanist, left of centre perspective resonates with my own and often over the years I have been drawn back to these books as a means of making sense and getting a handle on complex historical events. Gonick is never superficial, he invites his readers to consider history and its meaning.This final volume in a massive historical, artistic and publishing enterprise is a fitting conclusion, full of Gonick's clever illustrations and unique take on history. If you enjoy history then all of Gonick's volumes deserve a place on your bookshelf.

A concise and mostly quite accurate summary of a vast swath of history for younger readers, but also for older ones too.

Larry Gonick's Cartoon History series is the best overview of history I've ever read, and since I majored in history, I've read a lot. The reason is that the combination of illustrations, humor, succinct descriptions of key events, and intelligent insights and perspectives combine to make events more memorable than any text, and most professors ever could. This volume is the last in the series, concluding with current events, and offers insights and perspectives that were new even to me.Gonick illustrates events in a humorous fashion, making jokes, puns, and commentaries on the events his narration illuminates. Occasional footnotes provide greater depth in three or four panels than some books' entire chapters. He offers a global perspective on events, rather than focusing on American or Western events only. He also takes factors such as population, economics, and technology into account as well as politics and religion when examining the reasons behind events. Overall, casual readers will learn more, faster from his books than from any other source, and more serious history buffs will gain new insights into events no matter how much they've studied them from conventional sources.

I first read Gonick's original volume of this series - The Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 1 - back in the early 90's as a teenager. Since then I have kept up with each of the new volumes, so it was with both great excitement and a little sadness that I finally cracked open this final volume.This volume does not disappoint. Gonick keeps up the fast paced run through of history that we have come to expect in the books, covering from the 1700's all the way through 9/11 and today.Finally getting up to a century that I know well - the one we were all born in - it was interesting reading his take on events that I actually knew in great detail. There were a few things that I was bummed were left out - though planes start appearing in panels, the beginnings of flight are not covered. While Sputnik is mentioned and ICBMs, the space race is not covered. However, knowing Gonick's work as well as I do, I know this wasn't due to any ignorance or forgetfulness on the author's part - he simply could not put everything in.As I said before, fans can rejoice because this volume is no different than the others. It is more of the same wonderful history and cartoons fans have come to expect.

I adore Gonick's history books (though I was less fond of his science books). This is another fine entry (and apparently the last). Through humor and a complete irreverence for being politically correct, Gonick presents history that is not only enjoyable but illuminating.Gonick is not afraid to show humanity at its money and power grubbing worst. For me, Gonick's history, which is similar to Howard Zinn's, makes sense of so many issues I had when I was originally taught world history and American history. I received nothing but American whitewash when I was in the public school system, which is probably why I didn't like history then. Now I find History viable and titillating as Gonick lays bare the human condition. You can either laugh along with him...or cry at his straightforward and unflinching look at human history.