The Story of Civilization: VOLUME I - The Ancient World

by Phillip Campbell

Children should not just read about history, they should live it. In The Story of Civilization, the ancient stories that have shaped humanity come alive like never before. Author Phillip Campbell uses his historical expertise and story-telling ability together in tandem to present the content in a fresh and thrilling way. The Story of Civilization reflects a new emphasis in presenting the history of the world as a thrilling and compelling narrative. Within each chapter, children will encounter short stories that place them directly in the shoes of historical figures, both famous and ordinary, as they live through legendary battles and invasions, philosophical debates, the construction of architectural wonders, the discovery of new inventions and sciences, and the exploration of the world. Volume I, The Ancient World, begins the journey, covering the time periods from the dawn of history and the early nomads, to the conversion of Emperor Constantine. Children will learn what life was like in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and more, as well as learn the Old Testament stories of the Israelites and the coming of Christ. The strength of the content lies not only in the storybook delivery of it, but also in the way it presents history through the faithful prism of the Church. Have you always wanted your children to learn about world history from a Catholic perspective? Here, you’ll have the trusted resource you’ve always wanted. Did You Know…-That young people in the Minoan culture participated in bull leaping games? -That King Xerxes of Persia once ordered his soldiers to whip the waves when the ocean became rocky beneath their boats?· That the Greek inventor, Archimedes, built a giant heat ray to protect his hometown, catching enemy ships on fire through the use of sunbeams? -That the powerful Carthaginian general, Hannibal, used elephants to march his army over the Alps on his way to attack Rome? -That Julius Caesar of Rome fell in love with the famous Cleopatra of Egypt? Embark on the journey now to learn of all these wonders and more!

Genres: History, Education, Childrens, Audiobook, Ancient History

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 20, 2016

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent living history for children. Quite a bit of Catholic revisionist history/theology towards the end.

[Ann Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

We just finished the first volume in this series, and my boys are already begging to do the Medieval World this summer. In fact, every time we finished a chapter they begged for one more! It focuses on the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, but also the Israelites and other ancient peoples as well. We enjoyed the audio recordings, and the activities were fun as well. Usually they would color while listening. So, so good! Highly recommend!

[Catherine Zawacki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting points of view

Written for children but still good. There were few things I disagreed with and more I found myself enlightened. Happily.

[Damian Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first, and last, book in this series that isn't a raging Christian propaganda.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently read (much of) a book about the American West that, after a well-written beginning, was so biased toward the non-European peoples of America that it was modern propaganda rather than history. At the same time, I listened to this book from Audible that was so biased toward the church that it used church doctrine as history toward the end of the book. It became religious and conservative propaganda thinly disguised as history.

It was fascinating to feel these conflicting views attempting to sell themselves as actual history. Neither should have been unexpected as the former was a college textbook in a world where the study of 'isms' has replaced any form of objective intellectual honesty. The latter was a church indoctrination tome aimed at homeschoolers and certain religious schools intent on teaching 'truth' with no regard for truth.

In both cases, the attempts clearly worked as I'm a rare dissenting voice in the midst of positive reviews. I do hope that folks using this book or the well recorded audio book, nice music and FX, as a textbook will allow a more neutral view of history to find its way into the classroom.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We listened to the audiobooks for this 4-part series for our homeschooling history class. Our entire family loved it! The 4-yr olds didn't appreciate it as much as the rest of us, but the 6yr and 7yr old boys couldn't get enough of it. They would beg to be able to listen to more each day, whether we were eating lunch or driving in the car. I've never been very interested in history, but I was looking forward to it as much as they were. It's very well-written and the narrator is top-notch! Very impressive. So much of history is one conflict followed by another, and the author does a great job presenting both sides. This is especially apparent when he gets into the world wars and the American revolutionary war and such. It's impressive how he seems to remain neutral and not slant the story one way or another. Kevin Gallagher narrated all of these books and he does a fantastic job making the stories come alive. I highly recommend all of them!

[. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много хубава книжка. Историята на света разиграна като радио театър със звукови ефекти и всичко, от еврейска перспектива...христянска, Ма тогава христяни не е имало, щот Христос не е бил роден.

Автора е католик, което си проличава по-натам...


Но като цяло упражнението е хубаво..

Особено, като се има предвид, че стария завет колкото повече научавам за него толкова повече изглежда си е базиран на реални събития в реалните им години...

Книгата е уж за деца, но всъщност почти никой възрастен на улицата не знае и 10% от написаното.

Хареса ми, че изобщо не е написана снизходително. Тъй, че реално е за всички.


Научих някакви базови неща за историята на това време. Някои други вече ги знаех.


Като цяло дава добра основа за доразвити е на историческото познание..

От голямата скица към дребния детайл е принципа по който аз уча. :)

[Jessica Romportl · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had previously read Story of the World volume one on the ancient world but I was disappointed when it started talking about Christianity - the early Church wasn’t portrayed as Catholic which was frustrating. So I was excited to find this Catholic Story of Civilization! I love the way it addressed not only the early Church but also the pagan civilizations leading up to Christianity, occasionally addressing certain behaviors described about the pagans from a Christian perspective. Thankful for this resource for our homeschooling and looking forward to the other volumes!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homeschool history for elementary aged kids in narrative form. Kids retained a fair amount of information without much if any outside discussion of the topics covered. I took off a star because some of the in depth stories are graphic for such a young age. I do not want to sugar coat history but there did not need to be so much gore. For example: detailed description of Etruscan funerals, gladiator fighting, and a beheading.

[Heather Gmiterek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. We listened it to it as an audio book and it brought lots of history facts to life. My daughter has a timeline of history song memorized and she was really excited to hear more about names she had heard before like the Minoans and Mycenaeans, Alexander the Great and even Bible stories.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for homeschooling or supplementing schoolwork. Works for grades k/1-8 although you'll want to adjust your approach. Excited about the rest of the series. Nomads/Tribal peoples through Constantine is the period covered (~3500/3000 BC - 325 AD). Major units include the Egyptians, Middle East, Greece, and Rome. Lots of fun anecdotes for kids to grab on to.

[Leila Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and very Catholic. This is a great book that turns history into a series of highly entertaining stories. The production value is very good as well. We listened to it as an audio book in our car.

[Shiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chanced on this book looking for the books by Will and Ariel Durant. It drew me in and was a quick and fascinating read except for the religious undertones. I then realized that this was written specifically to promote Christian values which then explains the undertone.

[Havebooks Willread · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed reading this as part of our Ancient History studies--it was written in an engaging way. The author does have an obvious Roman Catholic perspective, which I do not, but it provided conversation opportunities.

[James Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children, this is a great overview and introduction to ancient history, especially from a Catholic perspective. For adults this is a great summary and it provides a great way to instruct a timeline to understand the events of history. I look forward to reading the next books in the series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

listened to the audio version, which is excellent.

[Kristyn]

I listened to the audio of this book for free on hoopla. It was exciting, and I was considering sharing it with my children until I got to volume II.

[Maria Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like this nearly as much as the Story of the World. The story told in this book did not catch my attention or draw me in.

[Shelly Weinhold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Can’t wait to teach this to my kids in our homeschool curriculum!

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the overview with the fictional historical anecdotes. I wish there were more of a focus on the Eastern civilisations, though.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've read Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World so many times that for fifth/sixth grade we decided to switch to Campbell. Volume one did not disappoint and we're on to volume two.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're currently binge listening to these for fun as we work our way through another curriculum. The audio quality is phenomenal. My child is engaged while listening, asking questions, pausing to start discussions about what we're learning while we listen, and has literally begged for more every time we stop listening. He's already begging me to start Volume II.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent presentation of the time period beginning with the first civilizations through the year 313 AD. Mostly concentrated on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Italy, and Europe. We used the activity book with maps which reinforced the retention of events and locations.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

We mostly listened to the audio version, which was quite well done. While no history book can cover everything, I did appreciate the unique aspects this did bring, while also wishing it went beyond western civ. But on the whole it was a great addition to our ancient history curriculum this year.