A Quick History of Politics: From Pharaohs to Fair Votes

by Clive Gifford, Steve Gavan (Illustrator)

Overview

How did ancient people make decisions? How do the people in power stay in power? Why did Karl Marx have to go without trousers? A Quick History of Politics answers these questions and more, taking a ride through time from plutocrats to people power.
 
What do you think of when you hear "politics?" Is it grey-haired men in suits, shouting at each other in a weird room? Well, you’re partly right… but there’s also a whole lot of crazy stories and weird history in the political world. A Quick History of Politics takes a look at the silly side of government, big and small, throughout the ages, and also explains the important stuff, like suffrage, elections and getting your voice heard.
 
You will discover:

• How the earliest tribes got by without a leader.
• How the first ever kings and queens ruled their people.
• When and how democracy was invented, and what it actually means.
• Why there are so many different ways of governing people, with no one right answer.
• What ‘gerrymandering’ means (no, we didn’t make that up).
• How empires, wars, and revolutions have shaped the world we live in today.
• How elections work today.
• How countries work together (and sometimes fall out).
• How young activists can use their voice to call for change, before they’re even old enough to vote! 

Plus, read about the women who used ju-jitsu to campaign for equal rights, the dictator who banned beards, and the rhino that became a council member in Brazil. Learn how the media can swing things in modern elections and get savvy to fake news. Test your knowhow with a quiz at the back of the book.
 
Packed with facts and jokes and perfect for introducing young readers to big concepts, the latest in the Quick Histories series is here to make politics funny again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711262744
Publisher:	Wide Eyed Editions
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Series:	Quick Histories Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	737,147
Product dimensions:	6.85(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Clive Gifford has traveled to more than 70 countries, climbed rocket launch towers, ridden on robots, and flown gliders. He's had more than 200 books published and has received nominations for or won Royal Society, School Library Association, Smithsonian, and TES awards. He won the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Book with Facts 2019 for his title The Colors of History (QEB). Clive lives in Manchester, UK. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

Who Cares? 8

What's so good about politics, anyway?

Taking Charge? 10

Why people first started talking politics

ME, ME, ME 12

Autocrats and the first kings

For He's A Jolly Good Pharaoh 14

The god-kings of ancient Egypt

Awesome Athens 16

How Athens invented direct democracy…

Not-So-Awesome Athens 18

… but only for some

Kings And Consuls 20

Overthrowing a monarchy, Roman-style

Emperors And Empires 22

The first great empires

Managing On Merit 24

The invention of the civil service

Here's The Thing 26

The world's oldest parliament

To The East, Westminster 28

How England's parliament came to be

Serfs You Right 30

How land = power in medieval Europe

Naughty NicCold 32

Machiavelli's mischief in Renaissance Italy

Parliament I, King D 34

Things get uncivil in 1600s England

Locke's The Key 36

John Locke's radical ideas

Age Of Empires 38

How European powers set out to conquer the world

I Want To Break Free 40

America boots out the Brits

America Decides 42

The US builds a government from scratch

The Peasants Are Revolting! 44

The French Revolution gives monarchs the chop

Left Or Right 46

Understanding the political spectrum

Party Time! 48

All about political parties

Fed Up 50

"Big" and "small" government

Divvying It Up 52

Constituencies and electoral districts

Gerrymandering 54

Dastardly district-drawing

Rebel, Rebel 56

19th-century workers take to the streets

Marx My Words 58

Two German beards with big ideas

The Art Of Persuasion 60

Fighting dirty in 19th-century elections

Most Votes Wins 62

How elections work

Electoral Upgrades 64

Ideas for making elections fairer

Deeds Not Words 66

The struggle for women's suffrage

How To Steal An Election 68

Electoral fraud and vanishing votes

Communism And Fascism 70

The far left vs. the far right

The Sometimes United Nations 72

Politics at the international level

The Great 28 Oops, 27 74

How the European Union was formed

About Time! 76

How women won the vote

Independence Day 78

How colonies become countries

Coup You! 80

Bringing the big guns-military uprisings

Iron Grip 82

A guide to the modern autocrat

Restricted By Race 84

Segregation and voter suppression

But We Were Here First 86

The global fight for Indigenous rights

You're Kidding! 88

Why voting age matters

Going To The Polls 90

What to do on election day

Surprising Candidates 92

Beer, rhinos, and a bottle of foot powder

Good News And Bad News 94

How the media influences politics

Putting Pressure On 96

Interest groups and lobbyists

Making Change Happen 98

Activism from the ground up

Net Gains 100

How social media and the internet changed politics

No Success Without Excess? 102

The mind-boggling money behind elections

Power To The People 104

Staging an election in the world's biggest democracy

Tackling Turnout 106

Making sure those who can vote, do

Never Too Young 108

Politics-not just for old people

What Happens Next? 110

What might the future hold for politics?

Politics Timeline 112

Politically Peculiar 116

The weird and wacky world of politics

Politics Qu12 118

More Power To The People 120

Further reading and resources

Glossary 122

Index 124