It took me a while to get into this book. The author uses a tongue-in-cheek way to look at history, which I think is a good idea for bringing in readers who aren’t usually too interested in history. However, I do find history interesting, so I wasn’t thrilled at first with the irreverent, not 100% factual, very Western-minded style of this book. However, once I got past this and accepted the book for what it was, I started to enjoy it more. The topic is broad – a survey history from the 1400s to the late 1700s with no specific country of focus – so there’s a limit to how much the author can say about each event/country/person/etc. Of course, as the title implies, the text is supplemented with graphics – cartoons in this case, which I didn’t necessarily love because I generally prefer more sophisticated illustrations. Published in 2007, the author occasionally uses lessons from history to make subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at the policies of then-President George W. Bush. While I’m not particularly a big fan of the Bush era administration, I felt this was inappropriate in a history book NOT covering times anywhere near George W. Bush’s terms of office. Overall, my impression is that this book would appeal to those who enjoy humorous non-fiction, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. ( )

The Cartoon History of the Universe continues in a new series, the Cartoon History of the Modern World. As always, Gonick brings both knowledge and humor to illuminate and enliven the subject of history. Like his other work, this is a valuable index and overview to a huge body of information, and should not be cited as a primary source; Gonick lists his references in back. ( )

Despite the change of title (due to a change in publishers), this is actually Volume 4 of Gonick's celebrated Cartoon History of the Universe; Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis championed the collection of the early comic books into book form, and Gonick has been publishing his historical comic books as trade paperbacks ever since.

This volume (which, in keeping with the new title, has its individual parts, or "volumes," renumbered; Vols. 1-5 are featured here) is not quite as compelling or as funny as the previous volumes. Part of the reason for this is due to the narrowed scope and shorter length: Western Europe and some of the conquering/colonization of the Americas are featured, with a brief sidetrip to the Asian parts of the Portuguese Empire and the Mughal Empire of India up to Aurangzeb (latter half of the 17th century); frustratingly truncated or wholly absent are developments in the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Persia, China and Japan; the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of the Americas; European encroachment into India and Africa (whither the Boers..?); and events among the indigenous polities of Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. If that seems like an unduly heavy laundry list of quibbles, Gonick has only himself to thank for raising his readers' expectations to such levels in his previous globe-trotting Histories. One hopes that his current publisher won't force him to stick to a Eurocentric (and Americo-centric...) perspective.

That said, Gonick still manages to produce a few laugh-out-loud gags (one of the main charms of his work) -- such as the dig against J. Edgar Hoover in a footnote on p. 245; perhaps more disturbing to some readers will be his editorializing on current subjects, primarily the U.S. war in Iraq and the administration and rhetoric of George W. Bush (see pages 87, 107, 109, 148, 161, 173, 182, 200 and 243), but also a sly dig at the Bush and Big Oil-sponsored "debate" over global warming (p. 160).

NB: even though Gonick's drawings often look like a cartoon aimed at "tweeners" and young adolescents, the Cartoon Histories are decidedly not "kid's stuff," as they deal frankly with violence on both a personal and mass level and slip in the occasional sex joke to liven things up. Gonick doesn't "work blue" per se, but parents may wish to read the book first before allowing their kids under the age of, say, 15 or 16, to read it. OTOH, Gonick's books are precisely the treatment that might get reluctant students of history of all ages interested in the subject; like the previous three volumes, TCHotMW has a bibliography, salted with the occasional opinion as to the merits of the book, which may point the way to further reading. (New to this volume: an admission to a reliance on Wikipedia, which Gonick declares to be a "good source of images as well as articles," may also put off some readers.) ( )

Pretty easy reading, but informative. I think he's somewhat more bitter here than in the previous volumes of the series, but for easy, broad history in an accessible form, it's hard to beat. ( )

Larry Gonick is one of comics' unsung heroes as far as I'm concerned. His Cartoon History of the Universe, and associated books, is one of the triumphs of just what the comics medium is capable of. If you've not come across him before, Gonick narrates the history of the world in a conversational style, darting from civilisation to civilisation across the world, illuminating the various perspectives history offers, and shining lights on societies that you may find more unfamiliar. While his narrator is - like Gonick - a Western man, he attempts to break out of the mold of more standard histories to offer a wider view than many of us will have been taught in school.

After a bit of a break, he returns to the Cartoon History with The Cartoon History of the Modern World volume 1 pretty much picking up where the Cartoon History of the Universe Vol 3 left off a few years ago, with Christopher Columbus sailing to the New World, and finishing with the US Declaration of Independence.

Gonick's strength as ever is his ability to shift perspectives and show history from all angles, concisely covering all the major touchpoints - and many of the minor - all written and drawn in a wry, off-hand style that never fails to raise a smile.

If you've not read Gonick's books before, then I think the Cartoon Histories are volumes that everyone interested in comics should have a look at. ( )