Rating: 
Summary: The way we should all have been taught History.
Review: If this book has a vice, it is simply you might forget what you came to find, as your eye catches some fascinating confluence of events hitherto missing from your understanding of the past. I have frequently beeen distracted for long periods wandering the endlessy intriguing pages of this indispensable reference. Have a child who is bored by history, and asking why does it matter? Are you puzzled by a historical event that is often quoted as important but seems irrelevant to you? Are you a writer? Editor? Teacher? A reader who loves to understand the setting and times of a novel or novelist or other writer? This book is for all of you. Like any comprehensive work, there are omissions; gaps and small shortcomings. But if you only have three reference books, they should be a dictionary, a thesaurus and The Timetables of History.
Rating:
Summary: The master work connecting events in time
Review: In 1946 Werner Stein published "Kulturfahrplan", or "Timetables of History" in Germany - just a year after the end of World War II in Europe. He was the first to crosslist by year, from the first accurately dated event (4241 BC) tens of thousands of people and events in world history and politics; literature and theater; religion and philosophy; visual arts, music, science and technology; and daily life. It took another 29 years before the first updated English language edition emerged. The edition I am reviewing goes up to 1978 (published in 1979). Although many more specialized chronologies are now available, nothing matches the Stein-Grun publication in breadth and authoritativeness (leave it to German thoroughness). That explains why this book is still in print with only minor updates since 1975. I have now upgraded the book from 4 to 5 stars, having meanwhile reviewed other chronologies. The five stars rating may suffer from grade inflation (understandably - most people will review books they like) but for those who want to know when practically anything was performed, invented, or happened, or what was going on elsewhere in 1776 besides the American Revolution, this is still the preeminent reference.
Rating:
Summary: The master work connecting events in time
Review: In 1946 Werner Stein published "Kulturfahrplan", or "Timetables of History" in Germany - just a year after the end of World War II in Europe. He was the first to crosslist by year, from the first accurately dated event (4241 BC) tens of thousands of people and events in world history and politics; literature and theater; religion and philosophy; visual arts, music, science and technology; and daily life. It took another 29 years before the first updated English language edition emerged. The edition I am reviewing goes up to 1978 (published in 1979). Although many more specialized chronologies are now available, nothing matches the Stein-Grun publication in breadth and authoritativeness (leave it to German thoroughness). That explains why this book is still in print with only minor updates since 1975. I have now upgraded the book from 4 to 5 stars, having meanwhile reviewed other chronologies. The five stars rating may suffer from grade inflation (understandably - most people will review books they like) but for those who want to know when practically anything was performed, invented, or happened, or what was going on elsewhere in 1776 besides the American Revolution, this is still the preeminent reference.
Rating:
Summary: The master work connecting events in time
Review: In 1946 Werner Stein published "Kulturfahrplan", or "Timetables of History" in Germany - just a year after the end of World War II in Europe. He was the first to crosslist by year, from the first accurately dated event (4241 BC) tens of thousands of people and events in world history and politics; literature and theater; religion and philosophy; visual arts, music, science and technology; and daily life. It took another 29 years before the first updated English language edition emerged. The edition I am reviewing goes up to 1978 (published in 1979). Although many more specialized chronologies are now available, nothing matches the Stein-Grun publication in breadth and authoritativeness (leave it to German thoroughness). That explains why this book is still in print with only minor updates since 1975. I have now upgraded the book from 4 to 5 stars, having meanwhile reviewed other chronologies. The five stars rating may suffer from grade inflation (understandably - most people will review books they like) but for those who want to know when practically anything was performed, invented, or happened, or what was going on elsewhere in 1776 besides the American Revolution, this is still the preeminent reference.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this book!
Review: It is a MUST have reference for anyone who homeschools or who just has a love for history! It is simple and concise. It will really help you get history in place by helping you to see what was happening in politics, literature and theatre, religion, art, music, science, and daily life. I just used it to discover what was happening during the writing of the Count of Monte Cristo, and it was most helpful!
Rating: 
Summary: Selective omissions of North American early European history
Review: This book has almost no history of early Spanish history that involves "native" North American cultures and trading activities. These expeditions and conquests greatly affected the survival and distorts by omission important historical contributions of tribes in New Mexico, Arizona, etc. Furthermore, the "Indian Wars" affecting English migrations from the east coast to 1900 were impacted in significant ways from the events centuries earlier involving Spanish conquests and the "religious conversions" of the earlier inhabitants. For example, a book that discusses many of these features is "Cities of Gold" by Douglas Preston. This book's focus is on Coronado's search for the 7 cities of gold, but integrates considerable detail predating and postdating the particular search.
Rating: 
Summary: Handy Resource. Especially For Researching Writers
Review: This book is basically what it says. All filled with timetables, it's one huge book that is a chart. It goes throughout history listing the events of the years. Categories include history, politics, literature, theater, religion, philosophy, learning, visual arts, music, science, technology, growth, and daily life. The version available now is newer than mine so it may have more. It's a handy reference guide for wither self interest or research.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: This book is exactly what the title states... it's a book on timetables. It's been a great resource tool for me. It helps to have all of this information compiled into one book and it certainly has given me a great starting off point for further research on different eras in History. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating, and eminently browsable
Review: This is a really interesting idea, and the authors have done a terrific job with it. It makes one wonder what future historians, if we have much of a future, would choose to place in a description of the year we are in now... Look at the "daily life" column of each year, while you leaf through this. A lot of the most unexpected surprises are in that column... Also, it is quite an experience to choose some period of history about which you might be relatively poorly informed, and just leaf through the appropriate pages. I chose the 7th century A.D., as a time that, to my mind at least, was a virtually total blank. Before I knew it, I found myself going to the library, reading up on the precursors to the Merovingians in France; the kings of Wessex in England; the origins of Islam; the re-settlement of Britanny by Celtic peoples; the early medieval popes... and not only that, it really is a pretty global book. There is a lot of stuff, throughout the book, on the African empires of Songhay and Mali; the various Chinese dynasties; the bloody adventures of Timurlaine; the flowering and eventual decay of the Mayans... I suspect that this might have some value to a PhD candidate in history, or a writer of historical fiction, but its real value lies in its ability to just open the eyes of the average person to the sheer wealth and breadth of history. Two thumbs up, and I'm trying to make my big toes go "up" too, just for emphasis.
Rating:
Summary: Well done and very useful
Review: This is one of those books that is just great to browse through to get a perspective on a particular period in history and the sequence of important events during that time. The timeline goes from earliest history, 5,000 B.C., up to modern times. One nice feature is that it displays parallel timelines for several different topics, not just history and politics, but also Literature and Theater; Visual Arts; Music; Religion, Philosophy, and Learning; Science, Technology, and Growth; and Daily Life. This makes it useful and convenient for getting a broader picture of the overal cultural context in addition to the usual events such as which king was ruling, which wars were being fought, and so on. One interesting use for this book would be along with one of those big historical atlases of the world, such as the ones from Hammond, National Geographic, Oxford, Time, and so on. Some of them include their own timelines, but usually they're not as detailed as the ones in this book. The combination of the two resources would make for an even more effective learning tool. If you're interested in buying one of these, out of the big 5 or 6 offerings out there, I like the Historical Atlas of the World, by John Haywood. It's not the biggest, or most complete, or the fanciest graphically, but it's one of the best written, visually appealing, and easiest to use. Also, I think it does the best of job of integrating the graphics and maps with the textual presentation. It's also the most reasonably priced and is anywhere from 40% to 80% cheaper than some of the others. If you like timelines, another thing I noticed is that there are now several good websites devoted to this subject. You could also check some of these out if you're interested. I still find it's easier and more convenient to just have a book like this rather than having to download a lot of web pages (unless perhaps you have faster network connection than I do). Overall, a very well done and very useful book on historical chronology, and at a very reasonable price. The price is less than many of the standard histories out there, despite its being a pretty big and thick book itself.
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