Cartoon History of the Universe I & II

[Stergios Botzakis]

This book began as a series of comic books that started in 1977. It covers history from the Big Bang until the time of Alexander the Great (roughly 350 - 320 BCE) with well-researched facts, footnotes, citations, resources for further reading, and the timely infusion of humor. The author/illustrator Gonick plays the narrator, portraying himself with wild Einstein-style hair and amazing abilities to travel through time and space.

Volumes 1 through 7 cover a broad range of history, from the origins of the universe and life on Earth to the Ice Age and the rise of human civilizations. The high points include sections on Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Middle East via the Old Testament (or the Torah), Mycenaean Greece, and Athens. At the end of the book are pages dedicated to brief commentary on the references that inform the cartoons, which could also be read for further information.

Writer and artist Larry Gonick has been creating comics since the early 1970s, and he has made a cottage industry out of his Cartoon series of nonfiction. His works range in topic across chemistry, genetics, statistics, and sex. He has served as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT as well as a cartoonist for Discover and Muse magazines. He and his work have won a number of awards including a Harvey and an Inkpot. For those interested in his life and work, this interview with Richard Morris is quite informative. This interview with Chris Mautner at Robot 6 gives some insight into the Cartoon History of the Universe books, his magnum opus.

The Cartoon History of the Universe books have been very well received and have been translated into many languages and sold internationally. Reviews have been largely positive, and many of them point out that it was entertaining and effective to learn about history via comics. J. Stephen Bolhafner called it "a delight to read." Jerry Stratton stated that this book and the rest of the series "should be on every bookshelf of the English-speaking world." Gonick also catalogs a diverse range of reviews on his website.

Gonick offers a sample page on his website, but a lengthier preview can be found at Amazon.com.

This book is the second of five in a series from creator Larry Gonick. It follows immediately after the last volume, which ended with Alexander the Great's quest to conquer the world stalling n India. In this volume, we learn more about what went on in the eastern hemisphere, with great attention to the history of ancient India, the growth of the Chinese empire in Asia, and the rise of major world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism (which is more a way of life than a religion, but still...).

The second half of the book returns to the western hemisphere, documenting the rise of the Roman republic into an empire, but also telling tales about the northern peoples, including the Huns, Goths, and Germans, who rose up to eventually topple it. Paralleling these accounts is the rise of Christianity as a major world religion.

Even when tackling major issues and events, Gonick inserts wit, humor, and personality into the proceedings. As see by the range of reviews on Goodreads, this book is generally well-liked, with people stating they enjoy learning from the comic format. In a New York Times book review Jonathan Spence wrote that it was "a curious hybrid, at once flippant and scholarly, witty and politically correct, zany and traditionalist." He also adds that the book falls victim to one of the plagues of textbooks in general, that it covers topics in a quick manner without much elaboration or analysis.

Gonick offers a sample page on his website, and a lengthier preview is available from Amazon.com.

More graphic novel links can be found at http://graphicnovelresources.blogspot.com

[Susan Stephenson, the Book Chook]

Even though we live in Australia, we made a point of ordering the whole series from the US. We LOVE these books. My son developed a love of ancient history after reading them (and re-re-reading them!). Yes, it is only a quick dip into subjects covered, but totally worth it if kids' interest is piqued.