Review: _The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 1_, by Larry Gonick

Though labeled "Part 1", long time fans of Gonick's work will think of this as part 4 of "The Cartoon History of the Universe". Since that series went from a universal scale to a focus on human history somewhere around chapter 2, the name change is actually somewhat overdue. Besides the name, little has changed here, which is all to the good. As with earlier entries, this is a whimsical but deeply-researched overview of selected parts of world history. This volume covers "Columbus to the U.S. Constitution", though the section on Columbus actually starts a good deal earlier in the Americas, to set the stage for what he and subsequent explorers would find there.

There are actually a few things that are different from earlier volumes in the series. As he starts covering the period when representational art becomes commonplace, there exist portraits for many of the people he talks about, and he actually restrains his tendency to caricature at times, in order to produce more detailed, accurate depictions. He's actually a more skilled mimic than I would have credited, since the bulk of his work to date on the series has been "bigfoot style". Don't worry, it's still *mostly* very bigfoot/silly drawing, and the occasional more realistic image is a nice change-of-pace, not a fundamental change in style.

And while the series has always tried to draw modern lessons from the historical stories it tells, I don't remember it being nearly so strident about it before. Of course, the author, being American, lives in a country that has for many years now been led by a war-leader who has shown an appalling lack of ability to grasp the lessons of history, so that's understandable. Over three centuries of European colonialism and religious warfare, he has *many* opportunities to draw parallels to the Current Unpleasantness, and does not hesitate to do so.

This book has the typical strengths and weaknesses of the other volumes to date. Gonick is a greatly skilled storyteller, and his images and retellings will tend to stick in your mind. On the other hand, he's covering a *lot* of history per page, and often makes eclectic choices as to what to emphasize and what to leave out. He's good at giving you a big picture to ground your ideas of history in, but a serious student will want more details than he provides. Happily, there is a detailed bibliography at the back to aid with that. (I noticed the choices here more than in other volumes because for once, he was talking about stuff that I had independently researched a lot beforehand. Since this volume covers the last century or so of SCA period, I expect many of you reading this will have a similar reaction. For someone just joining the SCA, who hadn't previously had much interest in history, this might be a very useful book to read.) On the other hand, no one but the most in-depth student will walk away from this book without having learned something new and interesting. Highly Recommended.

[An afterthought: Larry Gonick was one of the first comic book creators to abandon "pamphlets" for straight-to-book production. An obvious idea today, but not back when he did it.]

Review: _The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 1_, by Larry Gonick

Though labeled "Part 1", long time fans of Gonick's work will think of this as part 4 of "The Cartoon History of the Universe". Since that series went from a universal scale to a focus on human history somewhere around chapter 2, the name change is actually somewhat overdue. Besides the name, little has changed here, which is all to the good. As with earlier entries, this is a whimsical but deeply-researched overview of selected parts of world history. This volume covers "Columbus to the U.S. Constitution", though the section on Columbus actually starts a good deal earlier in the Americas, to set the stage for what he and subsequent explorers would find there.

There are actually a few things that are different from earlier volumes in the series. As he starts covering the period when representational art becomes commonplace, there exist portraits for many of the people he talks about, and he actually restrains his tendency to caricature at times, in order to produce more detailed, accurate depictions. He's actually a more skilled mimic than I would have credited, since the bulk of his work to date on the series has been "bigfoot style". Don't worry, it's still *mostly* very bigfoot/silly drawing, and the occasional more realistic image is a nice change-of-pace, not a fundamental change in style.

And while the series has always tried to draw modern lessons from the historical stories it tells, I don't remember it being nearly so strident about it before. Of course, the author, being American, lives in a country that has for many years now been led by a war-leader who has shown an appalling lack of ability to grasp the lessons of history, so that's understandable. Over three centuries of European colonialism and religious warfare, he has *many* opportunities to draw parallels to the Current Unpleasantness, and does not hesitate to do so.

This book has the typical strengths and weaknesses of the other volumes to date. Gonick is a greatly skilled storyteller, and his images and retellings will tend to stick in your mind. On the other hand, he's covering a *lot* of history per page, and often makes eclectic choices as to what to emphasize and what to leave out. He's good at giving you a big picture to ground your ideas of history in, but a serious student will want more details than he provides. Happily, there is a detailed bibliography at the back to aid with that. (I noticed the choices here more than in other volumes because for once, he was talking about stuff that I had independently researched a lot beforehand. Since this volume covers the last century or so of SCA period, I expect many of you reading this will have a similar reaction. For someone just joining the SCA, who hadn't previously had much interest in history, this might be a very useful book to read.) On the other hand, no one but the most in-depth student will walk away from this book without having learned something new and interesting. Highly Recommended.

[An afterthought: Larry Gonick was one of the first comic book creators to abandon "pamphlets" for straight-to-book production. An obvious idea today, but not back when he did it.]