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The History Book (Big Ideas) Paperback – November 10, 2020
DK (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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This book includes short, descriptive explanations of key ideas, themes, and events of world history that are easy to understand. Explore topics such as the founding of Baghdad, the colonization of the Americas, and the inception of Buddhism without complicated jargon.
This book is part of DK’s award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained educational series that uses witty graphics and engaging descriptions to enlighten readers.
Don’t stop at American history, explore the world! This book is full of fun facts from the human story, going as far back as the origins of our species to space exploration today. Discover all things revolution, from the French to the digital, including the rise of the internet.
Enjoy short and sweet biographies of some of the most important thinkers and leaders throughout history, like Martin Luther, Charles Darwin, and Nelson Mandela. You’ll learn who said famous historical quotes, and what they really meant when they said it.
Big Ideas
This is a modern twist on the good old-fashioned encyclopedia, now easier to follow with diagrams, mind maps, and timelines. Step-by-step diagrams will have you reviewing your ideas about history.
Start from the very beginning:
● Human Origins 200,000 years ago – 3500 BGE
● Ancient Civilizations 6000 BGE – 500 CE
● The Medieval World 500 – 1492
● Early Modern Era 1420 – 1795
● Changing Societies 1776 – 1914
● The Modern World 1914 – Present
The Series Simply Explained
With over 7 million copies sold worldwide to date, The History Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series from DK Books. It uses innovative graphics along with engaging writing to make complex subjects easier to understand.
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDK
- Publication dateNovember 10, 2020
- Dimensions7.75 x 0.92 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-101465491392
- ISBN-13978-1465491398
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From the Publisher

Big Ideas Simply Explained
Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics, along with straightforward and engaging writing, to make complex subjects easier to understand.
These books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject.
- Explore the world’s most famous and important ideas
- Insightful quotes from thought-leaders
- A vibrant mix of creative typography, graphics, and accessible text
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The Law Book | The Feminism Book | The Politics Book | The Crime Book | The Sociology Book | The History Book | |
Books in the series | This handy reference covers everything you need to know about law, legal systems, and the religious, political, and moral codes that shape our world. | Exploring more than 100 of the most important ideas, organizations, and events to have defined the feminist movement. | An invaluable, easy-to-understand guide to world politics and government. | This book explores over 100 crimes and examines the science, psychology and sociology of criminal behavior. | This is the perfect introduction to the study of how humans live and interact with each other. | Making big historical ideas accessible and easy to understand, with stunning visuals and memorable quotes. |
Editorial Reviews
Review
"[The Big Ideas Simply Explained books] are beautifully illustrated with shadow-like cartoons that break down even the most difficult concepts so they are easier to grasp. These step-by-step diagrams are an incredibly clever learning device to include, especially for visual learners." — Examiner.com
"The visual layout promotes browsing with illustrations, pull quotes, and simple mind maps to explain concepts quickly." — Library Journal
"Accessible guide to the great thinkers." — School Library Journal
"Clever and engaging." — Booklist
"Kids are never too young to understand history; it just needs to be presented in the appropriate way. With that in mind, The History Book is a fantastic place to start." — GeekDad.com
About the Author
From first words to the Big Bang, from the wonders of nature to city adventures, you will find expert knowledge, hours of fun and endless inspiration in the pages of our books.
https://www.dk.com/
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Product details
- Publisher : DK; Reissue edition (November 10, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1465491392
- ISBN-13 : 978-1465491398
- Item Weight : 2.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.75 x 0.92 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #80,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #69 in Historical Study Reference (Books)
- #73 in History Encyclopedias
- #2,615 in World History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

We believe in the power of discovery. That's why we create books for everyone that explore ideas and nurture curiosity about the world we live in.
From first words to the Big Bang, from the wonders of nature to city adventures, you will find expert knowledge, hours of fun and endless inspiration in the pages of our books.
www.dk.com
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2016
Top reviews from the United States
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The book is attractive to look at, but… The section on Bay of Pigs is almost word-for-word what you’d expect from the anti-Castro camp, which set the standard, until recently, for straight-out lying.
I don’t know if this approach is applied to all topics, but I don’t want to take the chance. At a time when honesty and simplicity could help us understand the world of today so we can rise to the future, this book does the opposite.
I will avoid this series, sadly. There’s enough BS in the world.
I can't say enough about how the book was composed. Each section of the book lays out a timeline of dates and events covered during that period. Each event is then covered in a sub-section, which bullet points things that happened in history before and after the event being discussed. To achieve greater understanding with a minimum of words, diagrams are provided which detail how the event came to pass (using early humans as an example: "Foraging lifestyles rely on hunting/gathering" led to "Humans develop an intimate knowledge of animal and plant species" led to "Beliefs and practices emphasizing connectedness and communication start to develop" resulting in "The first examples of art, such as the cave paintings of Altamira, appear").
The book is an easy read, giving just enough information to understand without overloading you with every little fact. Sub-sections are usually no more than a few pages, enabling the reader to be able to set the book down and easily pick it back up at a later time. The author also does a good job staying in the middle and not choosing sides during discussions on religion and political systems.
I alternate between my Kindle Fire and Paperwhite. It was impossible to read the timelines on the Paperwhite; even though the Fire is only slightly bigger, it was enough to overcome the fine print, and I found I enjoyed the colored pictures and diagrams on the Fire as opposed to the black-and-white displays on the Paperwhite.
Basically, this is a good reference book that will give you an interesting overview on major events in history.
Top reviews from other countries


Each double-page spread is an important world event, with a quick bulletpoint list of the events that influenced it, some images, quotes and summaries. It endeavours to present both sides, where this is relevant, and is both highly informative but breaks the information down, having one central essay interspersed with boxes of supplementary information.
It doesn't just cover the same 5 topics that schools focus on. There's a number of fascinating entries from Asia, Africa and from the US, areas often neglected in the school curriculum.
Perfect for dipping in and out of, and an excellent reference guide for homework. Beautifully presented, too.



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