The Cartoon History of the Modern World is a wickedly funny take on modern history. It is essentially a complete and up–to–date course in college level Modern World History, but presented as a graphic novel. In an engaging and humorous graphic style, Larry Gonick covers the history, personalities and big topics that have shaped our universe over the past five centuries, including the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the evolution of political, social, economic, and scientific thought, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, the Cold War, Globalization––and much more. Volume I of the Cartoon History of the Modern World picks up from Gonick's award winning Cartoon History of the Universe Series. That series began with the Big Bang and ended with Christopher Columbus sailing for the New World. This book starts off with peoples that Columbus "discovered" and ends with the U.S. Revolution. Grade 9 Up—An award-winning author presents a hilarious and informative survey of modern history. The book actually begins with an impressive 15-page distillation of pre-Columbian America; and while Europe and North America receive most of the attention, Gonick does include at least some highlights from other parts of the world. Covering such topics as the Protestant Reformation, the British defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Copernican model of the universe, and the American Revolution, he writes and draws with considerable wit and authority, and is obviously well versed in his subject. A good example of his cleverness appears at the book's outset, where he summarizes our knowledge of the first Americans who "arrived 12-, 15-, or 30,000 years ago, by land or by sea, from Siberia or somewhere else. They killed all the mastodons, ground sloths, and saber-toothed tigers, or else the big animals died of climate change." In the accompanying drawing, a man says to a serpent, "That much is almost certain." It is even more certain that most readers will enjoy this fun-filled trek through time.— Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. His long comic-book history of everything having reached the era of European exploration, renaissance, and reformation, Gonick changes the object of the titular preposition from the Universe to the Modern World No shift in comprehensiveness, however. Despite primary focus on Western Europe, worldwide coverage continues, and the rest of the universe is noted by attending to developments in science. This book begins, gratifyingly for many readers, with pre-Columbian American history, which is treated no differently than European history. That is to say, the most salient features are emphasized, and the most important figures are depicted, accompanied in every panel by ironic/sarcastic comments by representative commoners. Those bon mots just may be sharper and slyer than ever. For instance, in one panel an underling addresses the pope as "sire," which rings all wrong until Gonick points out the peculiarities of the pontiff in question, Alexander VI, whose many peccadilloes included several illegitimate children. Gonick's Harvey Kurtzman-meets-Hank Ketcham draftsmanship guarantees forward momentum even when the words are about, say, the ideas of John Locke. Ray Olson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "I first discovered your Cartoon History series when I was in fifth grade. I was hooked. My mom noticed my interest in history, and she asked if I would be interested in competing in the National History Bee. To prepare, I didn’t study. I didn’t read textbooks or historical studies. Instead, I just kept reading your books, over and over again, and I found myself leading most of the rounds. By the end of the night, I had earned a spot in the national stage of the Bee." - Freshman, Brown University The Cartoon History of the Modern World is a wickedly funny take on modern history. It is essentially a complete and up–to–date course in college level Modern World History, but presented as a graphic novel. In an engaging and humorous graphic style, Larry Gonick covers the history, personalities and big topics that have shaped our universe over the past five centuries, including the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the evolution of political, social, economic, and scientific thought, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, the Cold War, Globalization––and much more. Volume I of the Cartoon History of the Modern World picks up from Gonick's award winning Cartoon History of the Universe Series. That series began with the Big Bang and ended with Christopher Columbus sailing for the New World. This book starts off with peoples that Columbus "discovered" and ends with the U.S. Revolution. Larry Gonick has been creating comics that explain history, science, math, and other big subjects for more than forty years. His books have sold