这是一本写给孩子看的世界历史书。作者用通俗易懂的语言，娓娓道来，将世界历史知识极为精彩地讲出，让孩子知道一些他们来到这世界之前就已经发生的事情，开阔孩子的眼界，拓宽他们的视野，将过去时代的历史画面展现在他们面前；让他们熟悉历史上一些重大事件和伟人的名字，并把这些事和人在时间和空间上确定下来，作为将来系统学习的基础。作者讲法独特，让人过目不忘。对中国孩子来说，他们既能学习到丰富的历史知识，又能学习到优美的英语，还能在书中精湛的语言艺术里得到熏陶，提高自己的文学水平。

维吉尔·M.希利尔（Virgil Mores Hillyer），出生于美国马萨诸塞州韦茅斯，美国著名教育家。哈佛大学毕业后，毕生从事中小学教育工作，创立了著名的卡尔沃特教育体系，是卡尔沃特学校的首任校长、美国“家庭学校”课程体系的创建者。他酷爱历史和艺术，喜欢旅行。同时他了解孩子们的成长心理，痛感传统教科书的枯燥无味，作为教育革新者，他在美国国内和国际上拥有广泛声誉和影响力。希利尔认为，孩子们应该接受系统的历史、地理、科学和艺术方面的教育，这样才能成为了解世界的全面型人才。他从事教育工作的同时，为孩子们编写了这套以故事对话形式切入，循循善诱，趣味盎然的历史、地理和艺术读物。这套书至今仍是每一个渴望了解世界的孩子的经典读物。

01 HOW THINGS STARTED
02 PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN CAVES
03 FIRE! FIRE!! FIRE!!!
04 FROM AN AIRPLANE
05 REAL HISTORY BEGINS
06 THE PUZZLE WRITERS IN EGYPT
07 THE TOMB BUILDERS
08 A RICH LAND WHERE THERE WAS NO MONEY
09 THE JEWS SEARCH FOR A HOME
10 FAIRY-TALE GODS
11 A FAIRY-TALE WAR
12 THE KINGS OF THE JEWS
13 THE PEOPLE WHO MADE OUR ABC'S
14 HARD AS NAILS
15 THE CROWN OF LEAVES
16 A BAD BEGINNING
17 KINGS WITH CORKSCREW CURLS
18 A CITY OF WONDERS AND WICKEDNESS
19 A SURPRISE PARTY
20 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD: INDIA
21 ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD IN CHINA
22 RICH MAN, POOR MAN
23 ROME KICKS OUT HER KINGS
24 GREECE VS PERSIA
25 FIGHTING MAD
26 ONE AGAINST A THOUSAND
27 THE GOLDEN AGE
28 WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK
29 WISE MEN AND OTHERWISE
30 A BOY KING
31 PICKING A FIGHT
32 THE BOOT KICKS AND STAMPS
33 THE NEW CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
34 THE NOBLEST ROMAN OF THEM ALL
35 AN EMPEROR WHO WAS MADE A GOD
36 "THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY"
37 BLOOD AND THUNDER
38 A GOOD EMPEROR AND A BAD SON
39 I_H_ _S_ _ _ _V_ _ _ _ _
40 BARBARIAN INVADERS
41 BARBARIANS MEET THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD
42 NEW PLACES-NEW HEROES
43 BEING GOOD
44 A CHRISTIAN KINGDOM IN AFRICA
45 MUHAMMAD AND THE EARLY YEARS OF ISLAM
46 ARABIAN DAYS
47 TWO EMPIRES, TWO EMPERORS
48 GETTING A START
49 THE END OF THE WORLD
50 REAL CASTLES
51 KNIGHTS AND DAYS OF CHIVALRY
52 A PIRATE'S GREAT GRANDSON
53 A GREAT ADVENTURE
54 TICK-TACK-TOE; THREE KINGS IN A ROW
55 THREE KINGDOMS IN WEST AFRICA
56 BIBLES MADE OF STONE AND GLASS
57 JOHN, WHOM NOBODY LOVED
58 A GREAT STORY TELLER
59 A MAGIC NEEDLE AND A MAGIC POWDER
60 THELON GEST WART HATE VERWAS
61 PRINT AND POWDER
62 A SAILOR WHO FOUND A NEW WORLD
63 FORTUNE HUNTERS
64 THE SEARCH FOR GOLD AND ADVENTURE
65 ALONG THE COAST OF EAST AFRICA
66 REBIRTH
67 CHRISTIANS QUARREL
68 QUEEN ELIZABETH
69 THE AGE OF ELIZABETH
70 JAMES THE SERVANT
71 A KING WHO LOST HIS HEAD
72 RED CAP AND RED HEELS
73 A SELF-MADE MAN
74 A PRINCE WHO RAN AWAY
75 AMERICA GETS RID OF HER KING
76 UPIDE DOWN
77 A LITTLE GIANT
78 LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
79 FROM PAN AND HIS PIPES TO THE PHONOGRAPH
80 THE DAILY PAPERS OF 1854-1865
81 THREE NEW POSTAGE STAMPS
82 THE AGE OF MIRACLES
83 A DIFFERENT KIND OF REVOLUTION
84 A WORLD AT WAR
85 A SHORT TWENTY YEARS
86 MODERN BARBARIANS
87 FIGHTING THE DICTATORS
88 A NEW SPIRIT IN THE WORLD
89 YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW