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The Story of Mankind
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Author | Hendrik Willem van Loon |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Hendrik Willem van Loon |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's literature |
| Publisher | H. Liveright |
| Released | 1921 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 505 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. In 1922, it was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature.
Written to his grandchildren, The Story of Mankind intermingles personal anecdotes with the history of Western civilization, covering the development of writing, art, and architecture, the rise of major religions, and the formation of the modern (for 1921) nation-state. Van Loon explains in the book how he selected what and what not to include by subjecting all materials to the question: Did the person or event in question perform an act without which the entire history of civilization would have been different?
After its first edition, Van Loon had another edition published later in the 1920s which included an extra essay, called "After Seven Years" about the effects of World War I. Since van Loon's death in 1944, The Story of Mankind has been added to extensively by his son, Gerrit van Loon. A current release covers events up to the mid-1980s.
In 1957 a film was made based on the book, titled The Story of Mankind starring Ronald Colman and the Marx Brothers.
- The Story of Mankind, available at Project Gutenberg.
| Preceded by (none) |
Newbery Medal recipient 1922 |
Succeeded by The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle |