I Used to Know That: History

I Used to Know That

by Emma Marriott, Caroline Taggart (Series Editor)

Travel back through time to learn about the invasions of Britain, the Renaissance, the American, French and Russian Revolutions, World Wars I and II and the Cold War... and everything else you forgot from your school history lessons.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Education, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2010

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and easy read, a general view of history from Ancient times to the 1990s. Nothing in depth but enough to promote further reading of anything of interest.

[Harry Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. Another purchase from the British Museum. Emma Marriott does well at producing such a concise history book. The obvious flaw with this type of book is that so much is left out, and even the things that are included aren't covered in any detail whatsoever.

I still find it hard to sting it all together in my mind — hopefully that improves over time. Some topics I want to dive deeper into after reading this are:

1. The earliest civilisations (Sumer, Babylon)
2. The Byzantine Empire and Constantine I
3. The Germanic migration into Europe
4. The Crusades
5. The Spanish Inquisition
6. The American War of Independence and the French Revolution
7. The Napoleonic Wars
8. Origins of WW1
9. Russian Revolution(s)
10. The creation of Israel

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great little book! 'I used to know that' is a well-written primer to all the key factors in history from the dawn of civilization, though does seem to have something of a blind-spot regarding the Far East, only touching upon the most important dates and episodes.
When presented in one novella-length tome though, it's astonishing and quite sobering to see quite how much of human history has been dominated by conflict.
Emma Marriott presents an intriguing glimpse of history in this short book though, with an engaging style and concisely details facts whilst still retaining a whimsy sadly lacking from the majority of history teachers I've had the opportunity to meet.
Very good!

[Curtis Moyung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intriguing book that contains a lot of basic history around many subjects, from the first civilisations all the way to the current modern times. This book revolves around facts that adults might have forgotten about history, but it is not limited to adults alone. It is also a great book for student learners who might have an interest and want to learn more about general history, as it contains many trivia about multiple eras and times.

[yonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a perfect example of a book trying to oversimplify too much.
Although I applaud the effort, I find that the book lacks very important information.
It's not that summing up large chunks of info is an impossible task, but all of human history is just too much.
Anyhow, the book is nice if you are 10-12 and want to get a "summary" of history.
This book is probably utilized best with Wikipedia, to expand on all of the subjects.

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its super high level history in your pocket....but only up to 2001..ish...technically there is a knowledge nugget from 2010, but really there can't be too recent of things because history needs time to pass. I enjoyed the cartoons, the way it was broken up, the randomness. Would be cool to have had sprinkled popular culture through out it.

[John Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a follow up to the many Horrible Histories books I have read this year. It is good as a brief history of (mostly) Europe but it is also not completely accurate or deep. I feel it could be expanded into a series which would be an interesting series to read.

[kieran thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good bried introduction

This is a very quick and brief introduction to much of world history. Perfect for those who have a very limited knowledge of history, or those looking for a quick reminder of historical events of the past

[Garrett Hamblin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I loved the way it presents major episodes in history with short, easily understood sections - covering early civilizations to 9/11. So much easier to comprehend than the old history text books.

[del · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitivamente pensé que este libro me iba a tomar menos tiempo leer. es buen libro pero en mi opinión le falta profundidad a cada tema. me encanto leer algo distinto y siento que es un muy buen resumen de nuestra historia para después poder profundizar cada tema mas a detalle. 3.5 😁

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to know that world history...but I tend to forget things over time. Thankfully, this book is there to remind me. A short, easy to read little gem the covers major world events in history. Don't expect any deep dives here, but it can be a good starting point to begin.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, bire-size pieces of history, most of which I vaguely remembered, but some new information for me as well!

[Amul · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much history in such a little book! Proved to be a much better read than I expected :)

[Itai Gurira · Rating 5 out of 5]

a valuable addition to your bookshelf perfect light read too

[VJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read to refresh history. Past is past but doesn’t history repeats itself.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a nice little summary of British/Euro centric history. Helps me to relate to what my children are studying in school.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, interesting and informative. Very well written

[Eoghan Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic enough, but it gives a good overview

[Maria P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and easy to read! Will try some more from this series in time!

[Ajw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the conciseness of this book. It lends the reader the ability to spot recurring historical patterns.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the point and quick but still filled with detail and enjoyable!

[Kirsty Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kindle bargain from their summer sale LAST year. Not the best choice with me - probably should have picked a topic I am not still studying. I still know most of this. Also given the introduction said explicitly said it was without sources and not an academic tome it was a little irritating that more than 20 percent of it was actually references/bibliography. Of the 80% of book we actually got it was disproportionally modern with 20% of that being focussed on the last century.

[Elizabeth O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome review of world history and perfect for some of my academic goals. I will read this book at least once a year. I loved the format and how the most important events in history are collected and presented plainly in one place. Matt got me this for my birthday and I can't wait to read the next one. Well played, Mr. Preslar!

[Petersong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat little book that is very succinct but contains enough detail to be very interesting and informative. It makes me think that I was not taught history very well at school. It really is interesting but at school it really was boring.

[Ming · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess because I never took History, I got more out of this book than I did the rest in the series. Obviously, the content skews more towards European history - I would've liked to see a little more on other parts of the world.

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done for a little reader book, I can't wait to read the others I have in this series.

[Michelle Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat collection of events and people of world history

[Tim O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

short synopsis of world history

[Brandon B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wars, industrialization, muddy fossils, czars, and the entirety of the world's life-story is covered in about 150 pages - except it's not.

[Russell Sadowski]

Humorous and quick read of all of history with out getting bogged down in details.