Story of the World, Vol. 4 (Second Edition, Revised): History for the Classical Child: The Modern Age (Story of the World)

I teach 6th grade social studies and this is a great read aloud resource that supplements my content.

I have no idea what some of the reviewers are referring to as I have not found one bit of religious content promoting or neglecting to acknowledge any faith. It's history. Other homeschool books, inc. math and science, make constant reference to "God" and how the "Wisdom of God" overrules science. Order it and decide for yourself. Look inside. Return it if it's not what you want. But when a teenager is interested in reading for fun, history, because the stories are interesting, that's saying something.

I have used the Story of the World Series as bedtime reading for my third-grade daughter. She is in an excellent public school program, and they do a good job teaching social studies in units by topic (Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, etc.), but I think this series is an excellent compliment to what the school is doing. These books present a wonderful chronology, from the Fertile Crescent in the beginning on Volume 1, all the way through the more recent history presented in Volume 4. The level of detail is just right for my daughter, and the length of the passages is just right for bedtime reading. My daughter has developed a great interest in history, and she knows a lot now that we are almost at the end of Volume 4. That knowledge and familiarity should provide an excellent basis for her future history education.

My son started with Book 1 of this series on audio and eagerly listened to the CDs over and over. He honestly knows way more about history and geography than anyone I know (including adults). His greatest loves are maps, geography, history, and military battles and equipment due to The Story of the World. This series has prompted a 9 year old boy to read scholarly tomes from the library and bookstore on those topics and now he eagerly watches the military and history channels. He is already planning on going to Annapolis and has commited to becomming an Eagle Scout to help him get into the naval academy. We never actually used the activity books, but I bought them (at his insistence) and he has used them independently. At this time he is begging me for the new Book 4 activity guide because it has tons of maps! Another great resource is Geography Songs.

I don't know how Bauer manages such a busy life and can still write so extensively. I'm familiar with Bauer's work because we homeschooled our children from kindergarten to college. I decided to read just the section of the book from WWI through WWII to help me better understand the dynamics of my dad's experiences when he served overseas during the war. That got me hooked. I read to the end of the book, then went back to read the beginning. Bauer makes history interesting and readable. While the target audience is 4th through 8th graders, I believe adults will enjoy this concise history. I gave a talk to a group of homeschooling moms yesterday, and several reported they and their children really enjoy using Bauer's series. If you are an adult who sees that your overall world history comprehension needs sharpening, this is a great book for you also.

This is the most unorganized and fractionated of the book series. It’s all over the place. Bounces from one unfinished event in one part of the world to the other side of the world so that kids can’t keep it straight. Not good for story format. Missing major historical figures and dates as previous books in the series.

I bought it for my 8th grader. I haven't use it yeat but I am excited to use the book.

This is a nice book for home schooling. It flows well between the book and the test booklet, but the first page or two of each chapter is a little disorienting as the author has neglected to state dates or orient the reader to just when the are in time. A few pages in there is a date in reference to a event which gives you a general understanding of when you are, but having a date in the first paragraph would make it much better.

This book arrived quickly, and is in perfect condition. I'm very happy with it! It is the final book in the Story of the World History Curriculum - very different from the first three, but still very good. Should be purchased along with the activity book.

Just as I expected great book would recommend you get the activity book to get the most out of it. Gonna probably end up buying the over volumes.

very good book

Meu filho leu o primeiro volume há cerca de 2 anos, tarefa na qual eu o ajudei. Agora, após ter passado pelo segundo volume, ele está terminando de ler o terceiro (já sozinho) e eu já comprei o quarto para que ele continue a jornada até os dias de hoje. Com essa série de livros, matamos dois coelhos com uma cajadada só: aperfeiçoar o inglês e ter uma ótima noção do que foi a história do mundo nas diferentes épocas. Os livros são muito bem escritos e as edições bem cuidadas. Vale muito a pena!

My bookworm son really liked the series, so we purchased whole volumes. Unfortunately the volume 4 book started to separate after 4 month. We purchased it in June and now page 459 to page 570 is falling apart. Bad book binding problem.