Rating: 
Summary: History told the way it happen'd.
Review: I too have the "updated" version,revised by postgate..and last published by double day in (61)my second year on the planet Earth. I found this book in the Early 80's(Vol 1 & 2)while perusing thru my Mother's home library. Fortunately She was a pack-rat extrordinaire,and knew a good book when she saw it. For over 20yrs of my Adult life,I have read,and re-read time & again these two wonderful volumes of mankind's history! I challenge ANYone to find a geo-political situation in our world today,that wasn't foretold by Mr. Wells,in great depth and common insight,many,many years before most of us on the planet today were even born!. If I was "stranded" on a desert island,I'd wish for three things to be my companions there.
A solar powered Sat/Phone and Both volumes of this great book!
-=H.G. WELLS RULES BABY!=-
Sincerely.
Johnny.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent read
Review: i was in prison when i read this book so i only got to read the second volume but it made me change my whole perspective on history. It is a very good book for anyone who wants to REALLY UNDERSTAND history because instead of just giving a plain account of it, it puts history in perspective, in more of an outline, hence the title. i think it lays it out better than any history book i read in my high school. it makes history look rational and not just like a bunch of random, unconnected events. I think it exposes a pattern and a natural sequence to the events that have shaped this world. After reading it, i kind of look at what's happening today and put it in a historical context. It takes a step back to view history as a whole instead of getting too close to look at the details and making you lose focus of the BIG PICTURE that makes history so very important.
Rating:
Summary: The Man who Saw the Past and the Future
Review: In a time of "political correctness" in everything including our history texts, it's not startling to find the most unbiased look at world history is in a text that was first published 80 years ago! H. G. Wells was a man well in advance of his time. Not afraid to contradict the jingoistic attitudes of contemporary European and American historians, he places equal importance upon the development of Asian and African civilizations in his text, making sure the reader realizes that many events were happening simultaneously around the world, as well as pointing out the follies of European colonizing policies. (At the same time, he doesn't hesitate to point out mistakes made by African and Asian governments in their dealings with Europeans and each other.) His history reads like a sweeping fictional saga as he shows how events all over the world tie together in a cause-and-effect scenario. His history is not just names and dates, but explanations as to WHY things happened as they did! (The 1940 edition is particularly fascinating, as the final chapter in it details his amazingly-accurate analysis of the then-present situation in Europe, the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the failure of the other European powers to stop him when they had the opportunities! Remember, Wells is the man who predicted mass bombings of cities, extensive use of tanks and submarines, and other aspects of warfare pooh-poohed by military "geniuses" of his time!) He's brutally honest in his assessments of events and the people who caused them. There's no glossing over or whitewashing of history of the type seen in today's histories. I can see why many educators don't want it in today's classrooms. Find it and read it--if you have the guts.
Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary resourse for those seeking quick reference.
Review: My edition of the Outline of History is 1949. For the past 34 years I have used this resourse and have found it the single most beneficial publication in my library. It has allowed me to quickly evaluate if I need seek more detail information on an event in history or on a person in history. The time and effort that I have saved because of this publication cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: This is an absolute masterpiece. The version I read was 1931. Someone wrote "a flawed masterpiece". I am sorely tempted to write "a masterpiece without flaws", but someone would surely say it can't be "perfect". This is magnificent, a work of genius. To venture onto some specifics, first of all there are the very useful and numerous maps. But the "synthesis", or Wells' judgments, as well as the incredible quality of the historical facts related, and the writing, combine to make this a timeless and unique work. Wells judgments to me are priceless. Whether they are necessarily 100% correct or not, is not too important, but to have them as part of your perspective or repertoire, as one continues reading history, is very important. For example, he has some very unflattering things to say about Alexander the Great, his criticisms of the Roman and Greek civilizations as a whole are very interesting. He makes the migrations over time of the various tribes of northern Europe and central Asia almost comprehensible. Whenever in the future I read someone else's value judgments on any of the topics or personalities addressed by Wells, I will refer back to Wells to get the straight dope (or at least compare and evaluate them both). Books like this restore and refresh one's faith in man and man's possibilities in terms of achievement of great works, eg, The Outline of History.Michael Chesser
Rating: 
Summary: Very well written...
Review: This is exactly what it claims to be: a layman-level outline of history, from a renowned thinker. I would recommend this if you can get ahold of it. I'm surprised there's no currently published version! This is, from what I understand, H.G. Wells' culminating work. I'm not an expert on Mr. Wells' thought, but I know he was a well-respected thinker and known in his day for more than just his fiction. With that said, if you do read this, be sure to read Chesterton's critique (of sorts), 'The Everlasting Man', which ironically is still in print and widely available. I found The Everlasting Man to be immensely more interesting and relevant.
Rating:
Summary: H G Wells World History
Review: This is not a review. I am simply confused. Maybe someone can help me. I have H G Wells World History (as translated) in Swedish, published 1923. Two marwellous books in a perfect French binding. Excellent illustrations by JF Horrabin. Obviously presented as "working papers" for subscription sometime in 1920-21. Where can I find the English edition, not so much for collection as for finding the numerous (I think) translation errors.
Please help! Forever yours
Jan Wareus
Gaborone/Botswana
Rating:
Summary: The Outline of History by HG Wells
Review: This work is written in an elegant style typical of HG Wells.
The vocabulary is superb. The presentation is highly involved.
The reader traverses a considerable amount of history from
ancient times through the Roman Empire to Alexander the Great
up through the Middle Ages and more modern times. The work
is informative and well-researched in a highly abbreviated form.
It is so voluminous that the reader has difficulty gleaning
the historical character of individual periods because each piece of history is weighted on an equal plane. This work
is perfect for world history buffs and readers of complex
literature. The presentation could occupy multiple
academic dissertations. Students at every level could utilize
this book as a resource for college papers and obtaining
supplementary material for courses in comparative world
history . The work is geared for students in college or
advanced-level students in the later part of high school.
HG Wells is one of the finast writers to rise to prominence
in the last hundred years or more. This work ranks alongside
some of the historical writings of Sir Winston Churchill and other academic researchers of considerable standing in the
literary community in Europe and the Americas.
Rating:
Summary: A MAJOR PRE POST-WESTERN WORK
Review: Today, when there is little but propaganda on TV and at the bookstore, it is astonishing to read a 20th century English-speaking author write in a way devoid of the propaganda. I doubt that the work could be published as is today were it new, even if by such a well-known author. Those were the days of free, or at least freeer press.
Because the time span is so great, more attention is paid to 19th Century history up to the end of WW I, where it stops than to older periods. But earlier periods are treated in ways according to the information available to the non-specialist. Wells' history is easier to read than that of the Durants and lacks their obvious bias. With the exception of Spengler, Wells' History is perhaps the last history or biography in which the European point of view is taken as matter-of-fact.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not what you think
Review: Wells is a wonderful writer, it is true; however, his bigotry and hatred of certain peoples and of religion is very apparent. His political leanings are also too apparent--it is not an unbiased book and may give some the wrong impression of world events. I am currently reading the book updated just after WWII.
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