No matter who you are, there are gaps in your knowledge of world history. Whether they're big ones (when did World War II take place? who were the Sassanids? what nationality was Genghis Khan?) or obscure ones (where did the ancients consider the seat of thought and emotion to be? who tried to find the Fountain of Youth in Florida? did Richard III kill his nephews?), filling those holes can only help your understanding of the big picture.
Reference works are easily the best way to do this. While you could just read every massive historical tome you can find, getting a compendium of information is much more time- and cost-effective, and more likely to yield the information you want. We carry overall guides, lists of resources (All Through the Ages is the best of these), encyclopedias, timelines, atlases, etc., covering both the spectrum of world history and specific periods.
Don't think these have to be strictly school-related books, either—facts have a fascination of their own, and both kiddos and adults can be drawn into a good reference book for hours. Some of these are beautifully illustrated and make excellent coffee table books, while others are hilarious, theme-related, or just plain interesting. Learning ought to be fun, and world history reference books are one of the best ways to make it so.
Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews
here.
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