When I was younger, I recall that a lot of history was taught as memorizing dates and very specific events. That never captured my attention. I realized early on that if I was to get into history, it had to be more anthropological or social. So when I opened Christopher Lloyd’s brand new book, Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention (10/16/2018; What on Earth Publishing), I knew someone else just got it.
* Note – I did receive a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
Christopher Lloyd is a UK -based author, lecturer and non-fiction storyteller who excels in taking large amounts of detailed information and putting it into a narrative format that engages readers. Along with illustrator Andy Forshaw, the pair manages to create a book that spans from the Big Bang to present day. Even as an adult, this book feels exciting to me, and a great way to add another level to a child’s learning.
When taking a look at the book, I immediately went to a subject that my older daughter is studying to see how it presented the period – “Civilization Begins: 5000-1500 BCE.” Lloyd makes sure to give readers an idea of where the civilizations he discusses would be if it were modern day. For example, Sumeria would be “in the heart of what is now Iraq.” To tie all of the different times together, Lloyd focuses on the fact that this was the period where writing was created and that we have information about the time not only from archeological pieces that have been found, but because we also have pieces written by them.
I skipped ahead to look at the Medieval period as well as Going Global. I’ve been binge watching Reign on Netflix, so this whole period of religious power combined with the monarchy is absolutely fascinating. Lloyd covers all of that, and explains why the Protestant Reformation was so monumental in history. I don’t think I fully understood the full scope of what was going on when I learned of that period of history in school.
Absolutely Everything! is a great book for those interested in history. It is probably a great book for students who aren‘t interested in history to get them hooked. I definitely didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. It is a great addition to any library.