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Summary: Just what the title says
Review: This is one of those books you can open to any page and find something you didn't know. All history books I've read jump from one culture or geographical location to another. This is the first book that lets you know what was going on at the same time in different locales. For instance, every American school child is taught that Columbus sailed for the New World in 1492. Looking up the entry for 1492, I also find out: The Spanish conquered Granada and extinguished the Moors; Charles VIII takes control of France; Lorenzo deMedici becomes ruler of Florence; Henry VII invades France; Turkey invades Hungary; Roderigo Borgia becomes Pope; Inquisitor-General Torquemada gives Spanish Jews 3 months to accept Chrisianity or leave; Leonardo da Vinci was drawing flying machines; and the profession of book publisher emerges.The book seems a little Eurocentric but it does provide information on the goings-on in the Americas, Asia, Africa also. Recommended.
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Summary: Instant info at your fingertips
Review: This is simply a phenomenal book. It gives most of the important events of history and lays them out in a helpful timeline fashion that allows the reader to get information about what happened in any year in politics, science, music, etc. Simply a must-have for any reference collection.
Rating:
Summary: Instant info at your fingertips
Review: This is simply a phenomenal book. It gives most of the important events of history and lays them out in a helpful timeline fashion that allows the reader to get information about what happened in any year in politics, science, music, etc. Simply a must-have for any reference collection.
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Summary: Information not understanding
Review: This work provides a year by year record of significant events in seven different areas. )1) History and Politics, 2) Literature and Theatre, 3) Religion, Philosophy and Learning, 4) Visual Arts, 5) Music, 6) Science, Technology and Growth and 7) Daily Life. One can look across the page at a certain year and see the developments in each of these areas during these years. There are certain periods in which there are no entries. As we move toward modern times the information increases. I understand that this resource is valuable for many people, however the book gave me little pleasure and I have not though I have had it for some years made great use of it. I think that one reason is that there is no story, no narrative, no connection between the ' facts'. Information without any effort at real understanding seems to me of very limited value. To understand connections between different areas of human endeavor, to put it all together seems to me one of the most interesting of all intellectual activities. But I do not feel this book does this in any way. This does not mean however it cannot be useful.It means that the very nature of the thing done is not to my mind a specially valuable activity.
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Summary: Great reference but needs updated - again
Review: Timetables of History is an encyclopedic style text that organizes information on a year by year basis. Each item is organized into one of seven categories: 1) History and Politics, 2) Literature and Theatre, 3) Religion, Philosophy and Learning, 4) Visual Arts, 5) Music, 6) Science, Technology and Growth and 7) Daily Life. Starting from 5000 BC and continuing to 1991, each area is shown in a parallel fashion so that you know which items were occurring at the same time in history. For example, in the year 1838 in politics, Osceola, the Indian leader died and Queen Victoria was coronated, in Literature Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby were top sellers, in Visual Arts the London National Gallery was opened, in Science John Muir was born and in Daily Life the first traveling post office was opened. If you have ever tried to fix an event in history in terms of what else was happening at the same time then this book is extremely useful. If you are into genealogy then it can help understand what was going on in the lives of your ancestors. If you are into science you can follow which scientists were contemporaries and what items were influencing them. If you have any interest in history and want to get an overall picture of what was happening around the world at a particular time then this book can be a useful addition to your studies. A recommended resource for those who are interested in such things I value it for it's ability to let me know what was going on during the time of my ancestors for my genealogy hobby.
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Summary: Selective memory?
Review: While I find this book very useful for a reference in mundane astrology, I was chagrined to discover that there are a few things missing... Try to find Women's Suffrage - it's not there except for a mention of when women got the vote in Great Britain. Did the authors not consider this a significant event? I had to go elsewhere to get the date for that one, and it made me wonder what else was missing that I had not noticed yet. The book still has its uses, tho, even though many things are obviously missing.
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