Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing....
Review: Author covers a lot of ground in a very entertaining style. Not a lot of depth in any one area, but this could be expected from such an overview. On the down side: Pictures and maps were just about useless. Questionable organization - constant references between chapters was distracting and annoying. Attempts to be too "politically correct" - constant apologetic comments come off as patronizing - most people are smart enough to read between the lines.
Rating: 
Summary: The History of the World in less than 400 pages
Review: Far from comprehensive and lacking in detail one would think World History for Dummies would be a disaster. Because of Peter Haugen's entertaining but taught writing the reader will get a great outline of major concepts of world history. I am aprehensive of books that adhere to a formula like the Dummies books do but Haugen works with skill within the formula making a strong impression on the subjects he writes about. There are no particular political viewpoints and discussions, while light, are treated thoughtfully and transparent of the author's politics. I was attracted to this book when I realized my apalling lack of memory on the basics in world history. I wanted to know about why things happened, how historical events came to be and in this simple volume I got a clue along with ideas on where to continue reading. This is a book parents can give to their kids knowing it will help augment the sometimes boring classwork and keeping the idea that history is about people and can be as exciting as any fiction they read or see in film and television. I can't recommend this fine review of world history high enough. That does not mean it is without fault. At times the tone of the prose is condesending although it is quite possible that this is part of the format of Dummies books as the other couple of books in this series try to disamingly walk readers through concepts that may require humor to disarm otherwise intimidating subject matter. In the end, World History for Dummies is a useful primer for adults or school age children. My favorite feature of this book is Peter Haugen's gentle reminder of multiple disciplines involved in the understanding of the world that formed the civilization we now live in.
Rating:
Summary: See next chapter for reference to previous chapter.
Review: How many times can an author say "as covered in chapter..." or "see chapter .." If you want to find out, read this book. It gets so bad that all you do is focus on how terrible a writer this guy is and not on the content of the book. Im still not sure exactly how the book was organized. Whether by time or content or subject. I guess it really wasn't organized at all. Im sorry that I don't have a better book to recommend, but I can tell you to save your time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: See next chapter for reference to previous chapter.
Review: How many times can an author say "as covered in chapter..." or "see chapter .." If you want to find out, read this book. It gets so bad that all you do is focus on how terrible a writer this guy is and not on the content of the book. Im still not sure exactly how the book was organized. Whether by time or content or subject. I guess it really wasn't organized at all. Im sorry that I don't have a better book to recommend, but I can tell you to save your time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: See next chapter for reference to previous chapter.
Review: How many times can an author say "as covered in chapter..." or "see chapter .." If you want to find out, read this book. It gets so bad that all you do is focus on how terrible a writer this guy is and not on the content of the book. Im still not sure exactly how the book was organized. Whether by time or content or subject. I guess it really wasn't organized at all. Im sorry that I don't have a better book to recommend, but I can tell you to save your time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: captivating, hard to put down
Review: I got this book because I wanted to refresh my knowledge of world history and I figured I could actually make it all the way through (as opposed to the huge volumes out there by other authors). I wasn't disappointed. It was easy and entertaining reading with a good format. The organization of the book is very helpful to enable people to put together the histories of various civilizations. I now have a clear picture of how the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec fit into the scope of world history (and numerous other cultures and historical figures are now clear in my mind). That said, there were a few annoyances. The first and biggest, was the FREQUENT use of parenthetical statements referring the reader to other sections of the book for more information about a particular subject. Not only did these interrupt the flow of thought, but they were generally useless (vaguely referring the reader to another chapter, but not telling where within the chapter the subject is covered). Either eliminating these completely or placing them in the margin would have greatly improved the readability of the book. The second annoyance was that there were some obvious errors in the information given. The accepted age of the earth, as mentioned by another reviewer, was one. He repeated the false urban legend that the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" came from the black plague. There were a few other errors I detected as well. This made me question the level of research the author did and raised doubts about the accuracy of other sections (though in general I think it was pretty accurate). Overall, I'd recommend this for anyone that wants a readable introduction into world history. It would be helpful for either a student currently studying it or an adult wanting a refresher course.
Rating: 
Summary: Good except for a few annoyances...
Review: I got this book because I wanted to refresh my knowledge of world history and I figured I could actually make it all the way through (as opposed to the huge volumes out there by other authors). I wasn't disappointed. It was easy and entertaining reading with a good format. The organization of the book is very helpful to enable people to put together the histories of various civilizations. I now have a clear picture of how the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec fit into the scope of world history (and numerous other cultures and historical figures are now clear in my mind). That said, there were a few annoyances. The first and biggest, was the FREQUENT use of parenthetical statements referring the reader to other sections of the book for more information about a particular subject. Not only did these interrupt the flow of thought, but they were generally useless (vaguely referring the reader to another chapter, but not telling where within the chapter the subject is covered). Either eliminating these completely or placing them in the margin would have greatly improved the readability of the book. The second annoyance was that there were some obvious errors in the information given. The accepted age of the earth, as mentioned by another reviewer, was one. He repeated the false urban legend that the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" came from the black plague. There were a few other errors I detected as well. This made me question the level of research the author did and raised doubts about the accuracy of other sections (though in general I think it was pretty accurate). Overall, I'd recommend this for anyone that wants a readable introduction into world history. It would be helpful for either a student currently studying it or an adult wanting a refresher course.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Reading!!!
Review: I picked this book after reading U.S. History for Dummies. If you've ever been fascinated by Conquest, Exploration, Empire Building, Philosophy, or what the difference is between Catholics, Protestants, Calvinists, or Heugenots(not a giant astronaut) you wont be dissapointed. If you want to know how Philosophy leads to Science which leads Technology which leads to Industry which leads to Economics you won't be let down. If you're fascinated by War(History, Strategy, Tactics, Personalities, Civilizations, Technology) you'll more than love this book. I have just started reading Philosophy for Dummies to pick up where the trail left off in World History. Even if you've read all of this before you'll find it refreshing and wonder why it hasn't been put together this lucidly before. If you have kids in school you'll be able to enlighten them with fascinating and even racey tidbits of history that they probably wouldn't cover in school. Great addition for folks who like to play Age of Empires or Civilization.
Rating:
Summary: Get rid of the parenthetical comments!
Review: I read the review about the annoying parenthetical comments, but thought Winters was just over-reacting. Having obtained and read the book myself, I must thoroughly apologize to Winters. The parenthetical comments are *EXTREMELY* annoying! Haugen, the author, thinks he's making the text more modular (he encourages the reader to skip around), but he just makes reading the book feel like you're watching a tv show with a commercial break everytime the story gets interesting. (Your book has an index, Haugen. Let the reader use it.) That said, this is a pretty good review of world history, quickly summarizing thousands and thousands of years into a short, readable volume. It also has a good survey of philosophy, religion, and the instruments of war. For an introduction to world history, the content is 150% there. (I just wish there weren't so many useless parenthetical references.) Oh, one other (big) criticism: there are only two maps in the entire book and neither were very helpful, so I recommend "Atlas of World History" by John Haywood as an awesome companion piece.
Rating:
Summary: captivating, hard to put down
Review: I wish I had this book as my textbook when I was in high school social studies class. Students should demand that their teachers throw out their texts and get this one! It is an interesting read. I found myself wanting to read more and more, in my free time. You won't be disappointed buying this book.
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