Sean Price

I like the Wicked History biography series. The books are a decent length for upper elementary. The language gets as close to narration as it can without becoming historical fiction. There are lots of pictures, as well as a timeline at the end and a web of supporting characters at the beginning. The negative is obviously that all of the people in the series are the ones you can't admire. All of them served their own self interests and as a result innocent people died.

All of this pertains to the Hitler book as well. It gives just the right amount of detail for a kid to be knowledgable on the subject. The Holocaust is pure terror for those who lived it and it comes across in the book. You can't read about Hitler and not read about what went on in the concentration camps. For that reason, I would say that judgement should be used to decide when your child is old enough to tackle these dark people of the past.… (more)

I had no idea who Attila the Hun was until I read this book. I'd always heard the name, and knew he was barbaric, but that's about it. These Wicked History biographies are a quick way to get the story of some of history's most notorious bad guys.

Atilla reigned in the 400s in an area that is Germany/Austria/Hungary today. The more you read these wicked biographies, the more you will realize that world leaders back then only cared about money and grabbing more land. They were constantly at war. Attila promised to leave cities alone as long as they sent him gold. This extorted income allowed him to maintain an army. When funds ran low, he would set out across the land pillaging villages in a savage way. He was merciless. He would kill everyone in his path and take all of their food and belongings. His ultimate goal was to defeat both the western and eastern Roman empires. He tried but failed. His lasting legacy is savagery against innocent people who stood along his war route.

Even though these books are short and straight forward, probably only kids really interested in history would choose a book about Atilla. For the young history buffs, I highly recommend this series.… (more)