I had this idea that a history book written for schoolchildren might make for a lighter and easier read. It turns out I didn't like this, but I'm not sure whether my idea was mistaken or whether this is simply a bad book. Honestly, I remember as a child how much I hated feeling like an author was talking down to me. I think this book would have given me this kind of feeling had I read it as a child. In the end it's like I read a couple wikipedia articles in Simple English. I did learn a few things but I also wasted a lot of time.