Mankind: The Story of All Of Us

Criticisms, Positive:- The text is well written and summarizes human history in a sweeping pageantry. It hold the reader’s interest and is not difficult to read;- It tells human history as a compelling story rather than a collection of dry facts;- The photographs are well-chosen and interesting and they enhance the text.Criticisms, Negative: The book seems to have a number of editorial deficiencies.- Major Criticism: There is neither a subject index nor an index of the maps and subject boxes. Any non-fiction book should have an index. In frustration I finally made one of my own;- There are a total of 29 maps in the book, the last being on page 269; there are no maps on the last 160 pages except for a faded photograph of a map on page 300; where are the maps for more than the last third of the book?- Some of the photographs and maps are devoid of a legend and are displaced from the text to which they belong by one or more pages, which can be confusing;- The photograph and insert about pictographs on pages 28 and 29 are after a page about the art of the last Ice Age and would seem to be more appropriately placed before or after page 37 commenting on the development of written language;- On page 43 under “WHY” the sentence seems to be missing the word “solstices” after the word winter;- Pages 80 and 81: On page 80, the first sentence of the first paragraph states, “The Quin (pronounced Chin) dynasty of northwest China was considered less cultured than its rivals …” However, the map on page 81 (which has no legend) depicts Qin region in what seems to be southwest China. The map at the top of page 81 would be more appropriate on page 79, especially since it has no legend to explain what it intends to demonstrate;- On page 74, the map seems to be titled “Phoenician States” (within the borders of the map and not as a legend) but does not depict any of the Phoenician city-states (Byblos, Sidon, Tyre). The words “Phoenician States” is probably not a map title but a label for the yellow area immediately to the north of the Kingdom of Israel, but the font size and position on the map seem to make it a title for the whole map. If the map did have a legend or title, it would perhaps be “Neighboring Tribes of Israel, c. 1000 BCE”;- Page 167, last paragraph: In the sentence, “A second form, the pneumatic plague, was less common …”, used the incorrect word “pneumatic”; the correct word should be pneumonic;- Page 173: On page 173 malaria and typhus are listed with a group of epidemic diseases, caused by either bacterial or viral agents that are spread through direct human contact. Malaria is a protozoan parasitic infection that is spread by anopheline mosquitoes that have bitten an animal or human infected with the Plasmodium protozoa (usually P. malariae) then bites an uninfected individual. It not normally spread directly from one person to another (except through sharing hypodermic needles, for example). Thus, it is more common in swampy areas and controlling the mosquito population controls the spread of the disease.- There is not mention of the early space exploits of either the United States or the Soviet Union; the Apollo 11 landing on the moon is not mentioned; but there are over 8 pages devoted to the wreck of the Titanic; there are only 5 pages covering the exploration of space; even the American Revolution got only 7 pages.

I was introduced to this book by an excerpt in the Nov/Dec issue of History magazine, and immediately ordered the Kindle version. However, I think the hard cover book's larger format would be better for this work, so I will order that version for my second reading. I tried to watch the TV show but couldn't get interested, so I turned it off after 10 minutes. (in my poverty-blessed youth, the public library took the place of the TV my parents couldn't afford; I was past the age of 21 before I regularly watched TV) Negatives: the Kindle version seems to have been rushed into production; I found mispellings, incomplete sentences, and other grammatical errors. There are many "side-stories" inserted into the text in half-size type; hard-but-not-impossible to read. However, these side notes are often followed by another side note of half again down sized type that is certainly hard to read. Positives: the author tackled the ambitious project of covering the evolution of mankind from beginning to now, in one volume; she succeeded well beyond my expect ions. The narrative is fast-paced, informative, and flows smoothly from topic to topic, moving easily across centuries without losing context. Ms Toler tells the stories and covers major events of history without passing judgement; she covers such events as Hiroshima and the violence of the Selma AL civil rights march without resorting to the self-flagellating condemnation of America that is so prevalent today, even by those who enjoy the blessings of this great nation. Another positive: the illustrations - photographs, paintings, etc; zoomable on my Kindle Fire, and beautifully HD. This was a challenging project, well executed, and well worth the price in any format. Get This Book!

Very well written. Beautifully illustrated. Exceeded my expectations.

This book is indeed a story about all of us ! Well written with great depth !Pictures are grand also. This is a book that everyone ought to read ,it provokes a lot of concern and interest of the life and world .The story of luci was interesting ! She was more apelike than human !It is written her brain was about the size of an orange ! Amazing !It is stated she was probably better to walk than we are ! The human brain now is larger with larger skulls and the pelvic region is used for standing uprightand giving birth,according to the book !I find quite a lot of the information in this book to be fascinating !

Wonderful book and series. Very through. I think this is the first time I have seen a "History" book with such a strong focus and rounded out delivery. I suppose the only negative is this is somewhat of a companion to the TV series as many photographs are of the actors from the show. But one must understand that there obviously wern't cameras in some of the periods discussed. The book will stand on it's own nicely however. I did like it enough that I bought two and gave one as a gift.

This book beats the tv program. Even though it probably would not have been done without the tv program. It leaves out many important historical points for brevity. Great to inspire interest in what is missing. It is simple enough for school kids. Would make a good school reader. Anyone interested in history can use this as a framework for future reading.

The book has its biases and flaws. Used it as a textbook for a class at the university. Has some great pictures but am unsure on how credible some of the information really is.

violent mankind should be the name of the book although It is a good story of mankind, When you read it like it is presented you see what a violent people we were and still are.So brutal to our own species. I came away with very low opinions of mankind.. Good book well written.

Excellent

A wonderful book that manages to include as much as is humanly possible about the whole panorama of our history as a species. A book that feels good holding it in your hands, which is more than can be said about the trend towards electronic literature!

Excellent