The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History

We are Christian parents homeschooling our two girls using a trivium-based curriculum of our own design. If we had to limit ourselves to one history book it would be the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History (Hardcover).We also use Parragon and Kingfisher World History books, Usborne Atlas of World History, Usborne History Dates, and the Mystery of History. I also use Cracking the AP World History Exam (by Princeton Review) as an aid in linking key history concepts when putting our history lessons together.Because we are using the Well-Trained Mind to guide our homeschooling I have looked at Story of the World several times but can't bring myself to like it. I feel it (and Mystery of History) are inadequate for use as a history spine, although we occasionally use Mystery of History as a supplement. One reason Mystery of History is inadequate is that it's 50/50 religious/secular history, crowding out to much world history in the process. We do our Bible study in addition to history rather than trying to kill two birds with one stone.The Parragon book is similar to the Usborne book and, though not as complete, it provides a very good complement. The Kingfisher was intended to be our primary history book for grades 5-8. It is more detailed and requires a higher reading level but overall doesn't flow nearly as well as the Usborne World History. I expect to lean primarily on the Usborne EWH again in grades 5-8 while still using the Kingfisher as a supplement. We'll just use it more often than in grades 1-4.The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History has great maps, great graphics, and well-written text. The sections are complete and it does a decent job of connecting the dots from one civilization to the next. It's also been very helpful in building a history timeline. Our Amy Pac timeline figures are really not that great and have numerous errors, so being able to download graphics from the Usborne Encylopedia has been very useful in generating our own timeline figures. The Usborne internet links provided are generally pretty good and are maintained current. Sure you can Google for similar content but it doesn't take long to realize how much time gets eaten up sorting through sites looking for something worthwhile. Using the Usborne-quicklinks is a no-brainer and time-saver.As noted by other reviewers the first 100 pages covers creation to the dawn of man, including changes to the earth and life on it. It's well done and what we used for our daughter's Kindergarten "history" lessons. The girls always looked forward to the readings and, other than a few skipped pages, we had no trouble reconciling Usborne's pre-history with our Christian faith.I spend a fair amout of time each week putting together history lessons using multiple resources, so I agree with the reviewer that wished for something better but wrote that it's the best history currently available. I'm also confident that if our girl's history lessons consisted of nothing more than reading from the Usborne Encyclopedia Of World History they would still love history and easily learn more about it than 98% of our country's children.

My daughter is a rising 4th grader at a Montessori school and her teacher requires this book. This is a secular book of World History, not Human History. As a result it devotes a large section to events that occurred before people entered the story, and does so in a manner consistent with prevailing, mainstream, scientific thought, presented at an age appropriate level.The first section is the Prehistoric World section and there are 2 pages devoted to Evolution, 2 pages devoted to the formation of the Universe and Earth, and 2 pages devoted to Biogenesis. The remainder of the Prehistoric World section is a secular presentation of various prehistoric life forms, extinct animals, and a few pages on the great apes including Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens. If this treatment of the prehistoric world offends your religious beliefs then you may want to steer clear of this book.The remainder of the book addresses the Ancient World through Modern times in a fairly linear presentation. Every couple of pages is devoted to a topic of interest that tends to define the region or time frame of interest. There is sufficient information to provide the student a high level overview of each topic. I expect my child will take an interest in certain topics and then dive deeper on her own, probably reading a topic specific book, writing a short paper, or creating a diorama.In my opinion this is an excellent book, and I'm glad my child's teacher has selected it. I don't have a problem with the earlier sections in the book, but I am really looking forward to some of the latter sections where I plan to combine the book with History Channel and PBS documentaries. I am very pleased with the secular treatment of the topics. There are, though, 2 pages devoted to the rise of Christianity, as well as 2 pages devoted to the rise of Islam. And of course, it is hard to omit discussion of the historic influence of the Catholic Church. Again, these topics are presented without emotional overtures or bias, which I appreciate and do not find inappropriate.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a rational and mainstream treatment of world history that is appropriate for 4th through 6th grades.

Liberally illustrated history book with treasure trove of historical information, suitable simplified for young children. Excellent book to own and to be utilized. But, the separate books of the sections are having larger pages and larger fonts and the instant book is made smaller in size and thereby cramping the information in to smaller size of paper by making smaller font of words and smaller illustration. Due to this, reading of the book becomes slightly difficult. In my opinion, the size of paper should be increased as equivalently as in separate history books, for more beneficial reading by the young children. In spite of the above short coming, the instant book is verymuch beneficial for obtaining information about world history.

LOVE THIS! It covers our entire History curriculum for my homelearner. The entire history of the world without the religious jargon. Totally secular educational information is hard to find but this book delivers only the facts. Highly recommended.

Good quality, great book.

Before sending the kids to the PC for their history homework, direct them to the bookshelf and the Usborne Encyclopaedia of World History. With a massive range of topics, the encyclopaedia will then direct your young historians to the best pages on the web for their project. Detailed illustrations and colour photographs are supplemented with informative and interesting text, encouraging KS3 and KS4 readers to delve deeper into fascinating bygone worlds.

I have bought this to accompany the Science encyclopedia which is in frequent use in our house with kids aged from 7 to 14. They are really informative, easy to get the info you need, but also great coffee table books for mindless browsing. Great buy and even better if you can get a good quality used one...but they are worth every penny.