Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rules, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention

Absolutely Everything is an enjoyable romp through history that is geared towards older Middle School readers (but those of us a 'little' north of our early teen years can enjoy it too). It comes in print format (with amazing illustrations, so I've heard) but I listened to an eAudiobook version and really enjoyed it. 

The author himself narrates the book -- but don't be thinking it's the actor Christopher Lloyd (aka 'Doc Brown') from the Back to the Future series though. This Christopher Lloyd is a UK author and lecturer and he does a bang-up job relaying a lot of information in an engaging way.

Lloyd gives readers a taste of many different parts of history from the beginning of the earth, approximately 13.8 billion years ago to present day. That's a large time frame but he provides readers with a visual of a clock to illustrate just how much (or very, very little) time certain historical events occurred in the grand scheme of things. 

His entertaining and easy-going description of history touches on major environmental and historical events and humans' impact to our earth. From The Big Bang to dinosaurs roaming the earth, to earlier civilizations, wars, inventions, animals, religions, scientific discoveries, cultures, and how humans have fared since the beginning of time, this is a fairly comprehensive, yet well-summarized book that doesn't have that 'dry textbook' feel in its delivery. I appreciated that Lloyd acknowledges history's tendency to tell history from the POV of white people and tries to incorporate other cultures and aspects and also includes social issues like Black Lives Matter, Feminism and how these have impacted society as well.
I enjoyed this science-based viewpoint and how it briefly touches on different aspects in history, making it a great way to open discussions and perhaps even entice middle schoolers to do more historical research on their own. Parents, be prepared for lots of great "Hey mom, did you know that ..." kind of conversation starters.

Overall, this is an enjoyable book that discusses humanity's successes, failures and gives kids ideas on how we can make things a little better too. In the last pages, the author encourages readers who want to know more to contact him with ideas for his next book and what they'd like to learn about.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to What on Earth Books for providing me with a complimentary eAudiobook copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 5 stars

Author: Christopher Lloyd

Genre: Nonfiction, Middle School

Type and Source: unabridged eAudiobook from NetGalley

Publisher: What on Earth Books

First Published: June 2, 2020

Narrator: Christopher Lloyd (author)

Running Time:6 hours, 31 minutes

Opening Line: Take a look around.

Book Description from GoodReads:How was our universe made from a tiny speck of energy? Where did the first trees, plants, animals and humans come from? What happened to the dinosaurs? What was so miserable about medieval times? How were railroads and electricity invented? What are the perils of global warming? You might have many big questions about our planet, life and people. Embark on an entertaining journey across millennia and continents with this captivating book by Christopher Lloyd, author of the bestselling What on Earth Happened. Discover everything from the creation of planet earth and the rise of animals, to globalization, wars and global warming.