The Story of Mankind

Winner of the American Library Association’s Newbery Medal

“Remains a marvel: a sparkling, erudite, idiosyncratic tour through the human experience.... What a pageant this charming narrator continues to offer us!” —Wall Street Journal

Winner of the first John Newberry Medal, Hendrik Willem van Loon’s The Story of Mankind, originally written for the author’s grandchildren, has charmed generations with its warmth and wisdom. Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to illuminate all of history, van Loon’s incomparable prose and illustrations presented a lively rendering of the people and events that have shaped world history. This new edition, updated by best-selling historian Robert Sullivan, continues van Loon’s personable style and incorporates the most important developments of the early twenty-first century, including the war on terrorism, global warming, and the explosion of social media. The result remains extremely “valid in broad outline if not detail and, as ever, a grand and thought-provoking read” (Kirkus Reviews).