The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1: From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution (Pt. 1)
Starred Review.Since 1971 Gonick has been writing and drawing his highly entertaining  Cartoon Guides, popularizing an extraordinary array of subjects, including  genetics, physics, and even sex. Picking up where his most celebrated work, the  multivolumeCartoon History of the Universe,  left off, Gonick has now undertaken to cover the modern world. Though Europe is  his focus, Gonick commendably devotes considerable attention and empathy to the  native peoples of India and the Americas. He irreverently undercuts commonly  accepted historical myths: for example, Gonick persuasively and humorously  depicts Columbus as utterly hapless in dealing with other people, whether  native Americans or his own crew. He also presents serious themes, tracing a  history of religious intolerance and amoral quests for power and wealth,  repeatedly resulting in mass slaughters. Gonick points to visionaries who saw  beyond the prejudices of their times, focusing particularly on the Dutch  Republic as a forerunner of American liberty. Gonick usually draws his figures  in appealingly cartoony style, but will surprise readers with his occasional  ventures into realism. Readers will be impressed by the scope of Gonick's  research, covering subjects from Shakespeare, Galileo and Machiavelli to the  Reformation and the American Revolution.(Jan.)Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.