The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution

The Cartoon History of the Modern World #1

by Larry Gonick

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, World History, Comic Book

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Larry Gonick (born 1946) is a cartoonist best known for The Cartoon History of the Universe, a history of the world in comic book form, which he has been publishing in installments since 1977. He has also written The Cartoon History of the United States, and he has adapted the format for a series of co-written guidebooks on other subjects, beginning with The Cartoon Guide to Genetics in 1983. The diversity of his interests, and the success with which his books have met, have together earned Gonick the distinction of being "the most well-known and respected of cartoonists who have applied their craft to unravelling the mysteries of science" (Drug Discovery Today, March 2005).

Reviews

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kartun ini lucu dan lumayan sarkastik.

Mengetengahkan sejarah kolonisasi orang² Eropa yg mengeksploitir terutama benua Amerika. Termasuk diawali dgn sejarah suku² Indian juga.

Dari buku ini saya jadi paham asal mula perseteruan Spanyol vs Portugal, lalu Inggris vs Perancis. Gak ketinggalan Italia dan paus²nya yg korup.

Perang Agama gak ketinggalan dijabarkan dlm buku ini. Begitu pula asal mula mengapa India bisa dijajah dan berpindah tangan antara satu negara Eropa ke negara Eropa lainnya.

Penjelasan sejarah di buku ini memang gak mendetil tapi intisarinya dijelaskan cukup rinci. Jadi saya paham peralihan suksesi dinasti di Perancis abad 15-16. Atau siapa Philip II itu, suami Queen Mary dari Inggris dan sepak terjangnya. Tapi yg menarik dan lumayan koplak adalah petualangan Cortez dlm menaklukkan sebagian besar benua Amerika krn kelicikan dan ambisinya. Ternyata dibalik semua itu ada seorang wanita haus darah yg mendampinginya sehingga Cortez dijuluki Malinche.

Buku ini ditutup dgn Kemerdekaan Amerika Serikat. Sayang buku kartun ini cuma ada jilid 1. Jadi pengen cari.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a bit of a weird one when it comes to history. Not only is it a graphic novel, but it consistently straddles a strange line between lots of information on a subject and not very much.

It generally reads sort of like a brief summary of events - you get the big important points, then it moves on to the next event. But then occasionally it'll go into a lot of depth on something, for example how Gonick spends a ton of time covering Columbus and his expeditions at the start of the book but covers the following couple hundred years of Spanish colonization a page or two at a time scattered throughout the rest of the book. I mean, sure, he was a pretty significant figure, but probably not ten times more significant than Isabella. Hell, he spends about as much time on Potosi as he does on India.

At the same time, this book covers such a large swath of history in so many places that it's hard for things to stick very well. Jumping from the colonization of South America to the Protestant Reformation to the founding of the United States naturally happens across the world over hundreds of years, with many events disjointed enough that it's hard to keep it all in your head. I will say that despite this, Gonick does a good job of showing when things are related - which is especially relevant in all the events around the rise of protestantism and calvinism - he just goes over so much that there are naturally a pile of things that just can't be linked in with the rest.

I found that the art rarely made a notable impression, and the bits of humour and politics all seem like cheap shots that don't really add to the presentation. So the major stylistic choices that differentiate this from a history textbook really fell flat for me.

In the end, I would probably rather have just read a bunch of the books listed as references in the back rather than reading this. It definitely covers useful and interesting information, but it does so in a way that just does not jive with the way I like to learn this stuff.

[Evan Dewangga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Membaca komik menjadi salah satu terapi saya saat menghadapi reading slump. Dan benar saja, komik ini, meski sulit untuk dibaca, mengantarkan saya kembali ke perjalanan sejarah dunia, topik yang selalu saya suka.

Awalnya saya clueless saat membahas koloni-koloni Spanyol di Amerika atau Kesultanan Mughal. Saya memang kurang akrab dengan sejarah India ataupun Amerika Latin. Namun begitu menyentuh masa Renaissance hingga kemerdekaan Amerika Serikat, saya mulai bisa mengikuti tempo buku ini yang terbilang cepat. Di tiap kesempatan, selalu ada highlight mengenai tokoh penulis yang berjasa mengubah zaman itu. Dari Hobbes, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Locke, saya serasa diajak tur buku dan pemikiran oleh mereka.

Alih-alih digunakan sebagai pengantar sejarah, saya rasa buku ini lebih tepat dibaca untuk me-refresh wawasan tentang sejarah yang sebelumnya sudah dimiliki pembaca. Banyak peristiwa dipadatkan hanya dalam sedikit panel komik, sudah seperti sekedar timeline sejarah saja terkadang, tanpa penjelasan rinci. Pengantar sejarah yang lebih mudah dimengerti dan asyik saya kira sudah bersliweran di jagad maya, seperti kanal Crash Course ataupun situs Khan Academy.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neat book, I gave it an Ok rating because it just didn't keep my attention. While it does a nice job giving account of various events, every little quote wasn't exactly historically accurate.

I went into it thinking this could be a great book for elementary aged kids studying history, but when page 3 had some promiscuous egyptians saying things like "talk dirty to me some more" I started to change my mind. And Did Martin Luther really say "the pope's a pig and the church is a whore"? Seemed to me like there was a lot of little additions by the author on historical events in an effort to just bring characters to life.

Also, lots of nudie people walking around. I don't have a problem with it, but I could see some parents maybe wanting to have their kids return it to the library. Just a heads up for someone who may think this book is great for younger kids.

Id recommend it more for young adults.

[Zach Danielson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, picked this up at the library on a whim. Read the first 15 pages and I can't really see finishing it. It's fine, I'm just not really that intrigued by a historical summary right now.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first Cartoon History book, but this one didn't work for me at all. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle with only a few sections put together into coherent images, and pieces from other puzzles interspersed. The book's approach doesn't work well; the geographic approach across different eras means a lot of the pieces that should connect don't, and some of the individuals and situations that Gonick focuses on don't seem important. It's good to see history with less of the whitewashing (and this book positively revels in some of the bad behavior it chronicles), but when it comes at the expense of telling a coherent story, it loses much of its value. The book also tries to do too much; the 1700s are relegated to maybe 20 pages, which isn't near enough to give a good coverage of them, and it is also very eurocentric - even the time it spends in the Americas and India are predominantly from the perspective of the Europeans. I did appreciate some of the information, like the Netherlands' place in this time period, but ultimately I got only nuggets of useful information from what should have been a filling meal of history.

[Paul Schulzetenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll praise Gonick's Cartoon History of the World series to everybody who will listen. As a history buff and a thoughtful comics fan, this series exists at a perfect intersection for me, and I think that anybody with even a passing interest in one or the other will find this illuminating.

Of course, the usual caveats apply. Nearly 300 years is a lot of ground to cover, and there are things that are left out that I wish had been included. What's more, the format encourages a certain amount of flippancy, which means that if you prefer your history dignified and dusty, this book won't appeal to you.

But the same style means that the book is incredibly successful. This is a highlight reel of history, which means you get a very zoomed out, highly contextual view of history. It's useful to understand how Charles V is simultaneously balancing the New World and the old, or how the Dutch revolt has ties affecting Indian politics. If you're looking for an overview of history, you aren't going to find much better or more accessible than this.

[Doc Opp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cartoon history of the universe was my high school history text. It was a great text. Not only was it full of history - but funny. And a lot of interesting asides which filled my desire for esoteric trivia.

I saw the Modern World book and bought it for nostalgia's sake. It didn't disappoint. I learned more about Inca history from the 30 pages of cartoons in this book than I did from my two week trip to Peru. I finally understand the history of the 100 year war. Got a really nice review of the differences between different protestant sects. Learned the origins and philosophies of the Sikhs, which I'd never known. And was entertained the entire time. I also added a great deal to my reading list of the important books that influenced thought.

I wish they had a cartoon history of psychology - I'd assign it to my students...

[Reenie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As fun as all the others in this series, this book is both highly amusing and a really good grounding in a lot of key developments of the beginning of the modern era. It won't replace actually reading normal history books, but it'll give you a lot of background that might otherwise be missing. There's a heavy focus on the Americas and Europe, with a few detours into India, but I suspect that the next volume will feature other areas more prominently, given what Gonick has done before in rotating regions from book to book. He's definitely not afraid to draw comparisons and raise eyebrows at how past events relate to current ones, which may end up dating this book quite badly since there's a lot of clear references to Dubya's America. Still, there's a lot to be said for doing things with cartoon format, which makes that sort of thing much less annoying than it would otherwise be.

[Sbuchler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: non-fiction, history, tongue-in-cheek history...

I didn't find this as much fun as the Cartoon History of the Universe trilogy... despite the fact that it picks up where the previous series left off... I think it tried to fit too much in too few pages. It was much more choppy then the other cartoon histories, and I don't think it drew connections as clearly. There are better overviews to Early Modern history then this, although it does have the benefit of not focusing solely on Europe, which is a failing of most overviews. (This is compared to the earlier books, which I thought were some of the best overviews of Antiquity and Medieval history I'd encountered - as well as being amusing and fun to read).

[Jaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one surprised me a little bit. I wasn't expecting this at all. When I saw, I picked it up, read it, and was very glad I got this. Having studied that period in world history already, I was familiar with the source material already. And yet, I still laughed; I hadn't noticed how absurd much of France and Spain's history was until reading this. I particularly liked the part regarding the rise of the Netherlands and how it set almost a template for the independence of the United States. But it also struck me how tolerant the Dutch were even back then. Live and learn, eh? Well, as this is volume 1, I do look forward to subsequent volumes. I suspect the Industrial Revolution will be next.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. I must have found it through some roundup of good books that break down complicated subjects into understandable and entertaining reading, because that's what it does.

Much of this was familiar - Columbus, the Tudors, Ferdinand and Isabella, etc. But much of it was glossed over in my history classes or not mentioned at all. And I certainly never learned many of these fun little details in class.

William the Orange, the impact of European explorers on India and Africa, John Locke, where the ideas that shaped the U.S. came from ... I'm torn between re-reading it, delving more deeply into these subjects, and getting the next book!

[Fira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cerita buku ini yang disajikan dalam bentuk kartun sangat mudah dipahami. Terutama, apalagi, buku ini bercerita tentang peradaban modern dunia yang notabene merupakan sejarah penting mengenai, salah satunya, terbukanya jalur perdagangan dari Eropa ke Asia. Bermula dari Columbus yang mendarat di Amerika namun mengiranya India, hingga pembagian dua wilayah dunia oleh Paus pada masa itu kepada Portugis dan Spanyol yang sedang 'bertengkar'. Menggelikan.

"Penguasa yang hati-hati tak perlu memegang janjinya sendiri jika itu bertentangan dengan kepentingannya."
-Machiavelli, Politikus Firenze, Italia

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Wickedly funny"? No, but peppered throughout with snickers. A few times the jokes missed the mark, but the book was overall entertaining and readable. The outlook was left-leaning and cynical (Howard Zinn-lite), but I don't up or downgrade on that issue, I only want to convey that in a review since I'd like to know that orientation before I pick up a book. I agree with another reviewer that it got a little muddled at times, though European politics is not easy to make clear with the regime changes and shifting alliances and inbred monarchies. The take-away however is that I learned quite a bit, the artwork was inviting and most telling of all I'd read another in the series.

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

An alright skim through the major events in world history from the first civilizations in Mexico to the founding of the United States. Take it as it is - a book very obviously written on the tail end of the second W. Bush administration - and it's pretty good for its time. Could it stand to improve from a modern perspective? Like all nearly 20 year old Eurocentric historical texts, yeah, it would.

[RaeAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Im abandoning this book for now - not as engaging as I expected. This was enjoyable but Im just not feeling it right now, illustrations often had too much going on for me and didn't pull me in. Still, a very creative book and fun.

[AnnaRose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although amusing, this book was a bit difficult to follow at times. Also, it was a bit more violent and crude than I prefer. Yes, the past was bloody, but the way it was shown was rather disgusting and tasteless. Overall, I would not read more.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not suitable for kids but yet a different way to read about history, albeit, a bloody history filled with death, corruption and a little bit of levity.

[dollgowns · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Cartoon History of the Modern World is an interesting change from the usual textbook styles of history books. The different approach makes it easier to read the book but also a bit strange since you see all these gruesome scenes of history laid bare in the panels of the cartoons.
Despite the easy style in which readers can view the history of the world I think that it would be smarter just to read a normal textbook.
No one’s going to focus if dirty jokes are hidden in the story.
Also I personally think that the history of the world can be taught in interesting ways to make people enjoy leaning it but this comic book didn’t do the greatest job in the world.
The graphic novel was literally a textbook with a ton of very interestingly drawn pictures. A lot of the text was relevant to the panels but mostly it was just text carrying on and on with pictures to distract the reader.
Another thing is that the author’s writing style was quite strange, speaking about history but in turn making those famous people of the past look ridiculous and ignorant, and there was a lot of random details that were probably meant to be funny but didn’t amuse me.
The Cartoon History of the Modern World, being a comic book, was probably meant to keep the reader’s interest and attention because of it’s different writing style but it wasn’t much better than the average textbook. While reading my attention drifted so often that I found myself closing the book and staring at the wall for a few moments before opening the book again.

[Cosmos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what to think about this book. It was fun to read and interesting. This was a interesting comic book that did actually give a lot of information. This comic gave information at where the natives of the America's were doing stuff. Living, fighting, arguing, etc.
It keeps going to show when the Europeans came to try to find gold and other things. It keeps going to show the problems of the Spanish and other Europeans fighting over the Americas a little. Shows how lots of people are fighting and dragging natives into the fight. Then it shows the wars that happen not in the Americas but in the European countries. It shows the problems the pope has and some of the other kings.
Then it shows what started to happen at North America with the Europeans this time trying to befriend the Indians. Then it shows what the Americans started to do.
This book showed a lot of fighting. I liked that part of this book. I'll be reading the second one later so I hope that it is also as entertaining as this one.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

After recently reading Gonick’s 3-part Cartoon History of the Universe series, I am now visiting his follow up two-part series – Cartoon History of the Modern World. The first volume of this I had read when it first came out, but sometime next month will be my first visit to volume 2. Volume 1 certainly is of equal quality and interest with his earlier series. The amount of detail, and variety of sources, make Gonick’s Cartoon histories a great way to review or be introduced to the wonder (and often horror) that is human history. I highly recommend reading all 5 books (I have faith that #5 will measure up with the first 4).

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very annoying thing about this book is that there are asterisks all over the place, but not a foot or end note in sight, so I have no idea what they're for. This actually starts out with a brief summary of pre-Columbian civilizations in Central & South America (which are usually given short shrift in history survey courses) then their colonization then hops to India and looks at the origin of Sikhism (another thing not covered) and the stuff happening there, then focuses on Europe until a bit on their colonies and the American Revolution at the end.

[H · Rating 1 out of 5]

In general, I disliked and was disappointed in these cartoon histories. There was too much information, not enough maps, and textbooks told a clearer, better tale of the periods of time. The cartoon drawings just didn't improve the experience and hampered it, fragmented and not as smooth to read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're searching for an amusing introduction to the history of the Western world and the major events and philosophers who impacted it from the late 15th to the 18th century, this book does a great job making it both fun and understandable.

[Anas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Komik yang sangat padat informasi, saking padatnya sehingga banyak bagian terkesan sangat "melompat-lompat". Dengan guyonan sarkastik khas Larry Gonick, Kartun Riwayat Peradaban ini cukup memberi gambaran "keterhubungan" berbagai peristiwa dalan sejarah dunia.

[Carl Tubridy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still good, but not as good as earlier works in the series.

[Tamar Tal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love these books!
A must for every history lover with a sense of humour :)

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gonick's illustrations and humor are spot on, though world history has moved a bit past the highly-Eurocentric focus.

[Andika Lesmana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final: American Revolution and U.S. Constitution

[Oktavianti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku komik yang padat sekali isinya.