The Story of Mankind is a nonfiction book that was first published in 1921. It was the first book that ever won the Newbery Medal. It won the Newbery Medal in 1922.
The Story of Mankind was written by Hendrik Willem van Loon. He was an American writer and teacher. He wrote The Story of Mankind for his grandchildren. He thought that all children need to know about history.
The Story of Mankind tells how people have lived and what things people have done that made a big change in the world. It starts with cave men. It tells about many different people. The last people it tells about are the people that lived when Hendrik Willem van Loon was writing the book. That was just after World War I. At that time, lots of people wanted to make it so that there would never be another war. Hendrik Willem van Loon thought that if he taught children about history, they would not want to fight wars when they grew up.
In 1957 the Marx Brothers made a movie of The Story of Mankind. It starred Ronald Colman. Lots of other movie stars were also in the movie. The movie is also called The Story of Mankind.