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The Story of Mankind

Hendrik Willem Van Loon

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .After a careful study of the subject, Solon gave Athens a set of laws which bore testimony to that wonderful principle of moderation which was part of the Greek character. He tried to improve the condition of the peasant without however destroying the prosperity of the nobles who were (or rather who could be) of such great service to the state as soldiers. To protect the poorer classes against abuse on the part of the judges (who were always elected from the class of the nobles because they received no salary) Solon made a provision whereby a citizen with a grievance had the right to state his case before a jury of thirty of his fellow Athenians.

Most important of all, Solon forced the average freeman to take a direct and personal interest in the affairs of the city.[65] No longer could he stay at home and say “oh, I am too busy today” or “it is raining and I had better stay indoors.” He was expected to do his share; to be at the meeting . . . Read More

Community Reviews

The origins of mankind in a nutshell.

Considering it was originally published in 1921, Van Loon's voice is still surprisingly accessible.
And while the information is not 100% accurate, this has a quick and dirty look at the history of the world as historians kinda-sorta understood it when Van Loon wr

The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by Dutch-American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. It was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature. Written for Van Loon's children, The Sto

When I decided to read all the Newbery Medal winners in chronological order this year, I knew I would have to start with this one, and I was a little intimidated. I have checked it out at the library before, read the first couple of chapters, and then returned it, thinking it wasn’t for me. I have v

I have finished The Book. Mr. van Loon's Narcoleptic Affect (thanks for that, Jen) notwithstanding, I enjoyed it. Seriously, I have never in my life fallen asleep reading a book as many times as I did this one. I lost count, but am pretty sure it was upwards of 10.

That said, I marked a TON of things

We found this in my grandma's basement after she died. I picked it up again at my folks' house, when I was looking for bedtime reading, and I went through it in bits and pieces, over the course of several visits.

I went in with an open mind: I always try to love the book I'm reading, but then I alway

My journey through the Newbery winners begins here with the Story of Mankind. I’ve never been a great book review writer. It’s hard for me to talk about a book without giving too much away, so for these Newbery winners, I think I will stick to a format. I will answer the following questions. What di

The Story of Mankind is the 1922 Newbery winner, and the first book to receive the award. It chronicles the history of "mankind" from its single cell origins through the end of World War I. I'm not sure what inspired the Newbery committee to choose a nearly 500 page book with such an ambitious scope

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