“It has been a great book, finely planned, well arranged, full of vivid historical sketches and of telling raps upon the knuckles and noses of the great, but as soon as it starts for the stars its charm decreases.” E. M. F.
+ − Ath p690 N 19 ’20 1500w Booklist 17:110 D ’20
“The great thing which Wells has done—and it is, unqualifiedly, a very great thing—is to state the evolutionary concept of history as a continuing, growing entity, in terms readily understandable of the common man. It is not too much to call it the most potentially formative book of our day.” H. L. Pangborn
+ Bookm 52:358 Ja ’21 950w
“In his entire career Mr Wells has never written a more important book than this. It is a superlatively fascinating piece of writing, in all its details and as a whole, and it proves that the best historian is the man with imagination who has created, or who is capable of creating, real literature.” E. F. Edgett
+ Boston Transcript p6 N 24 ’20 2850w
“This is the true and lasting value of the work of Wells—that he has given our world a greatest common historical denominator.” H. W. van Loon
+ Dial 70:202 F ’21 720w
“History as seen through the temperament of Mr Wells is novel, piquant, and entertaining. Mr Wells has no sense of time, for he discusses events in the remote past as if they were still happening. This gives vividness to his story and truthfulness, too.... With the chapter on Buddhism the ‘Outline’ reaches its high water mark. From thence on, a startling change is noticeable. And the change is for the worse. J. S. Schapiro
* + − Nation 112:sup224 F 9 ’21 9250w