A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich2006, Blackstone Audiobooks.
ISBN: 078617286X
Reviewed by Ana Braga-Henebry, M.A.
This is the kind of book that is written for children and yet any adult will enjoy it immensely. We listened to it during a summer trip, and all of our children, from 6 to 20 years old, were enthralled. Reader Ralph Coshan won an audio award for the reading of the book and we have truly grown to love the sound of his voice.
Gombrich's A Little History of the World is was right up there with Hillyer's A Child's History of the World, but even better--which I never thought I would say, as A Child's History of the World has been a favorite of mine for years. The very author revised and translated his own 1930's text into English before his death in 2002. This is why we have a recent publication in English of an European bestseller History text for children from the 1930s! The text is geared to children a bit older than the Calvert School classic, which is good for a homeschooling family.
I love the way the author dealt with a huge Catholic theme: the Reformation! And I love the fact that there is a whole chapter on the Counter-Reformation, which is largely ignored by the American public when studying European history. His account of Saint Ignatius Loyola's story and the founding of the Company of Jesus (Jesuits) makes this volume very Catholic-friendly indeed, which is something to be said for a History book from any major secular publisher. The way the author refers to God, and to the person of Jesus Christ, and to His teachings, is very respectful and wonderfully done. In my research about Gombrich's faith life, I learned that he converted to Christianity from Judaism early in his life.
I am currently leading a History 3rd/4th grade small class using Hillyer's text and comparing/complementing it with Van Loon's Story of Mankind. I believe these three volumes together can make up a superb World History curriculum for elementary school! Hedgeschool's First Timeline, done in first and second grades, would be a great place to start.
Highly recommended. This will be a great addition to your homeschool audio library.
Available from Blackstone Audio.
7 comments:
hi ana
just an FYI.. i looked today and see that this bood is able to be downloaded from itunes for those who use itunes and ipods/mp3 players. thanks for review.
by the way... we had baby... Emma Therese Marie was born on the 29th. Tiny little thing she is.
Ciao!
I'm so happy you mentioned this book to me!
We have a couple of weekend trips coming up in October and this will provide wonderful learning entertainment!
Suzanne Temple said...
I'm so glad to learn about this audiobook. We just LOVE "A Child's Story of the World" and the Susan Wise Bauer books as well. We will certainly add this to our collection. Thanks so much, Ana!
9/15/2007 12:04 PM
I just downloaded this from audible.com. Thanks again! I am so excited.
9/15/2007 12:14 PM
You are most welcome. Few things are as good as an excellent new homeschool resource! The listening of this audio book is terning into our history curriculum too! Let me know how you like it. Actually I'd love to do a more in-depth comparison between this and and Hillyer's A Child's History.
Ana,
Another great resource...thank you! Our family is part of a Catholic co-op this year using a combination of Story of the World (which we have used for several years) and The Old World and America. We will check this out; sounds like a great addition.
Our first timeline from Hedgeschool arrived several weeks ago and we are enjoying it so, so much.
Nancy
I am also leafing through Van Loom's History of Mankind now. Lots of good things there too.
Nancy, have fun with the timeline! As a disclaimer, Hedgemom did not give me very long to make those pictures! :-)
Ana,
We listened to the first CD of this audiobook today--first hour--and we are head over heels in love with it. I, too, love the reader's voice and enjoyed listening. It has a broader appeal and I look forward to reading you comparison of this book with the Calvert "Story of the World" which we enjoy, but so many demands on my time now make it hard for me to find the time to read it through to the younger set. Thanks again, for a great resource!
Suzanne
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