2024 the best history books review

Price: $40.99
(as of Nov 20, 2024 00:53:10 UTC - Details)

This comprehensive and compelling visual encyclopedia tells the story of our world in true depth and detail, from the origins of life on Earth right up until the 21st century. 

Human endeavor and achievement are charted and celebrated from every angle, alongside key events, groundbreaking ideas, political forces, and technological advances that have shaped our planet’s progress.



More than 600 pages chronicle global history in the most informative, illuminating, and inspiring way. Stunning images and illustrations bring the authoritative text to life, so each historical episode is explored and explained for easy reference and understanding. Important points in history, from the Battle of Hastings and the storming of the Bastille to D-day and 9/11, are given clear but concise coverage, together with profiles of influential figures, such as Rameses II, Julius Caesar, and Nelson Mandela. As each moment in history is defined and detailed, the causes and consequences are provided in supporting panels to provide a wider context and broaden our horizons. Contemporary issues, including climate change and the rise of social media, bring us out of the past and firmly into the present.



Recently updated and expanded, History is the story of humankind in which we all have a part to play. This classic compendium is a worthy addition to any bookshelf or library for generations of readers to look back in wonder at the world.

From the brand

Shop gift ideas

Shop cookbooks

Shop history books

Shop crafts and hobbies

Shop gardening books

Shop Travel Inspiration

Shop popular culture books

Shop coffee table books

Publisher ‏ : ‎ DK; Updated edition (September 1, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 620 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1465437975
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1465437976
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.77 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.37 x 1.62 x 12.25 inches
Reviewer: jmb
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Gorgeous, easy to read, chronological history book with lots of pictures!
Review: I had been wanting to purchase this book for awhile, but it was pretty costly. Prime Day alleviated that- at half off, I couldn't pass it up! It is a hefty volume- many thick pages, with lots of images and photos- yet easy to read. My husband (who is not a big reader) loves it, because he can sit down for 15 minutes and read and complete a section, similar to a magazine article. Not to say it's that simplistic, but it is not diving deeply into each historical event. It's giving the basics and then some incredibly interesting side tidbits with photos and sometimes timelines and drawings, which adds to the experience. It's not a literary history of civilization; it's something you could sit down with your pre-teen and read and discuss, and it would take up just enough time but not too much time. It would keep their interest, and they would learn something, without being bored, because it's colorful and glossy. It is a lovely book with a quality hard cover and thick pages. I'm really glad I finally purchased it. Highly recommend!

Reviewer: Omega Guru 111
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: History Dorks Unite!
Review: Did you ever want to know a little of everything... I love to have those fast fact tidbits to impress anyone but that's just me. "Oh, you want to bring up WW1... Did you know..."The illustrations are beautiful and the font is not too small like other history books of this size. Prepare a large space on your coffee table that people will open and act like they actually know what they are talking about. The majority of pages I've read so far are accurate and have a great overview of Ancient Rome and that is my fav. Learned a lot about various parts of history never taught in school.

Reviewer: Tipperaryman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Excellent history reference
Review: I keep this book in the living room or by my bedside. It is an excellent text. The chapters are well written and cover a wide breadth of world history with very good illustrations , maps and photos. I read a good number of primary sources and textbooks about history and military history and this survey texts provides a strong overview of important periods, events and figures in history with illustrations and visual images which supplement the text. The authors write in a prose which is clear and sufficiently comprehensive and appropriate for a survey text. For a history fan, young (bright young person) or adult this text is very enjoyable to read and is well worth the price. Highly recommend it and I will be receiving a similar text (focused on American history from the same publisher in a similar format) from my spouse for the holidays. This book is heavy (weight), but again, I read it regularly.

Reviewer: Wyz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: It's a fun to read overview of history.
Review: In the DK Smithsonian publications you get an awful lot of book for the money. History is no exception even at its $50 asking price. I love all that's in this large (12"x10") 620 page book. It has a little bit of everything. Lets start with the massive number of beautiful photos and illustrations. It doesn't stop there. Timelines, influential figures, famous battles, discoveries, philosophies, political movements and so much more are also covered. As an overview how can you not like this book?

Reviewer: Thomas E. Davis
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful book, useful resource, fun for the whole family
Review: DK does for history what it has previously done for the universe, the earth, animals, and humans in gorgeously-illustrated large-format "visual guides" entitled, logically enough, "Universe," "Earth," "Animal," and "Human." Each book in the series is as comprehensive as possible, though of course none of them can be as endlessly expansive as the enormous subjects they tackle. But they do a wonderful job of categorizing knowledge and related fields, including copious detail, and inspiring curiosity and wonder."History" will not replace standard textbooks on specific historical eras or regions of the world, but it serves as an excellent general introduction, particularly for those who might otherwise be turned off by the subject of history. It starts with the origin of our species, its spread throughout the globe, and prehistoric developments that ensured our survival. Early and classical civilzations are covered next, followed by the Dark and Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, and finally the Industrial Revolution and the Modern Age. A lengthy appendix concludes the book with brief timelines for all of the world's nations.Numerous maps, links, and period documents are included. There are special two-page features on such leaders as Rameses II, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Ganghis Khan, Elizabeth I, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Lincoln, Victoria, Stalin, Hitler, and JFK, along with photo features on Egyptian, Celtic, Islamic, and Native Amerian artifacts, personalities like Columbus, Leonardo, Marx, and Einstein, decisive events like the Battle of Stalingrad, D-Day, the bombing of Hiroshima, 9/11, and many others. Recommended.

Reviewer: Boy Val
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Almost complete
Review: This is a good book, nice illustrations, concise descriptions of mostly relevant events in human history. Like every history book that tries to compress millions of years of human history in a single volume, not everyone will agree on the attention given to each subject, too little, too much or nothing at all.I bought this 4 years ago, and so far I just read the subjects that interest me. With the on-going pandemic I thought I'd pick it up again a see what the book says over the 1918 pandemic.In the timeline for the period 1914-present there's one picture of cops in Seattle wearing mask at the height of the pandemic, no description, just a small picture.On page 467, under the chapter "World Health", there's this one sentence: "Just after World War I, a pandemic of "Spanish flu" (influenza) killed up to 50 million people - more than the war itself."That's it, no other mention or short description of the 1918 pandemic can be found in the whole book.The book devoted 2 whole pages on Isabella of Castile, who of course was an important historical figure. But one sentence for an event where 50 to 100, maybe 150 million died, really?I'm sure a lot of world history books whose revised volumes were written this year will include a little more than one sentence over the 1918 pandemic.

Reviewer: marcelo souto maior
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ótimo resumo de história geral, com imagens de alta qualidade. Requer um bom nível de inglês para a compreensão, mas não contém exageros no rebuscamento da linguagem. Perfeito para amadores, como eu.Uma pequena ressalva quanto à entrega: a lombada do livro veio um pouco amassada e rasgada.

Reviewer: Symytry
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The book is huge, and is true to the description. It is a massive book, quite comprehensive with overall history. There are plenty of pictures, and I haven’t come across a single one that looks low quality or is a duplicate image that I’ve seen in another book. I loved the timeline introduction of each chapter, giving a concise overview of each period within. Highly recommended if you love history, or want to use this as teaching material. If you have kids in a public school, or just think it’s important to teach them about history and want to give them more to learn (as they don’t teach them much of anything like this about human history these days) then I recommend this book!

Reviewer: Leo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A Treasury of knowledge.Recieved the book today ,April 19, 2023 on time according to date specified.New and in good package.efficient delivery service.thanks to "Depository book ."

Reviewer: Jorge R Mata
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: DK es garantia de buenos libros y mas tratandose de historia. Son libros que parecieran formar parte de un enciclopedia ya que el contenido tiene ese formato

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good reference for learning all human history with some good details and amazing images and pictures to better visually understand the topics.