While this book is geared to middle grade children, the snippets of facts and history from the beginning of the universe clear up to modern times was interesting for me, too!

I listened to the audio book version of this book. The author, Christopher Lloyd, narrates his own book. Up until now I always said only actors and Neil Gaiman should narrate their own books, but Christopher Lloyd is now added to this list. His voice is pleasant and he does a very good job of reading his whirlwind history of almost everything. I read up on this author....he's a lecturer specializing in sweeping, big scope histories. I couldn't help thinking as I listened to him talk about events, people, and changes in the universe and Earth over time that this man is the school assembly we always wished we could have, but never got. Or the popular professor whose classes are always full because students just like him and enjoy his lectures. It's a super power I think -- the ability to bring complex subjects to a level that makes students love to learn and seek knowledge. And this author has that superpower! This book was interesting, entertaining and filled with facts on a huge variety of things. Very interesting!

This book is the reason why I read a lot of books for kids. It isn't bogged down by adult nonsense, but just conveys the joy of learning and knowing. Very entertaining and informative listen...and I will be looking for more audio books of this author's work.

The audio book is about 6.5 hours long, and is organized into 15 chapters. It starts with the beginning of the universe in chapter 1 and ends with 1945-present day in chapter 15. Lloyd covers everything from dinosaurs to climate change. Great book -- for kids and adults!

**I voluntarily listened to a review copy of this audio book from Spotlight Audio. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

A whirlwind trip through time with historian Christopher Lloyd (not to be confused with the actor, who also did some time travelling — no DeLoreans here!)

This was such an informative book for readers of all ages! This may not cover EVERYTHING, but Lloyd covers a ton of ground from the beginnings of the universe, to dinosaurs, to great empires and civilizations, world wars, civil rights and more. This is also a great read for anyone like me who has learned history through primarily a Western/European lens. A fantastic book to spark questions and inspire further learning.

The audiobook was a very fun listen with Christopher Lloyd narrating.

A huge thanks to Publisher Spotlight Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

I listened to an advanced copy on netgalley. While still primarily euro-centric in focus, Lloyd does an admirable job of including other histories often left out of Western textbooks. His explanation of the early world is exquisite, and his descriptions about what plastic is doing to the Earth and humans' impact on climate change is detailed. I thoroughly enjoyed the listen, and I'm excited for his next book.

Absolutely Everything! is an outstanding children's audiobook that introduces prehistorical and historical facts in a highly entertaining and approachable way. It's been a few decades since I could claim to be a child, but I am not too proud to admit I still learned a heck of a lot from this book.

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.

I loved this book!! Absolutely everything is included in 'Absolutely Everything' starting with the Big Bang all the way to today, the year 2020! The information is written for the middle to older children age level but I found it informative for adults as well. I enjoyed re-learning historical events that I learned about when I was in elementary school as well as other lessons that I was not knowledgeable about. I found myself listening to many chapters at a time and was completed in three days!
I 'read' the audio version narrated by the author himself and found Christopher Lloyd very easy to listen to. I would love to also read a hardcopy version to see the illustrations past reviews have mentioned. I do plan to listen to the book, starting from the beginning again. I am sure that I will learn even more... there is that much information included!
I well deserved 5 stars have been given with recommendations to buy the hard copy and the audio!

Thanks to Publisher Spotlight Audio and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this wonderful book!!

Engaging narration and full of fascinating facts! I loved listening and learning while on my morning walks. This is an engaging--an painless way--to expand your knowledge about the evolution of life on earth.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to an ALC!

I am by no means a history love but this book was full of so much information and was a nice listen to while in the car with two boys. They enjoyed some of these stories and my older son wants to look into more history! That Sounds like a win-win to me.

Christopher Lloyd is such a joy to listen to, with a personality that makes this audiobook easy to enjoy. He has such a warm, natural, passionate way of narrating, along with his fun sense of humor in just the right places.

Absolutely Everything! does cover pretty much everything from the beginning of time, to life, to the dinosaurs, to running through history, to modern day life and problems, to science progress, to climate change and beyond. I think this is a great book for all ages. I liked the way the chapters were broken up so that each one was not too long, and made the book flow from topic to topic perfectly. I think that Christopher Lloyd is a perfect person to listen to for this content. I would recommend this audiobook.


I would like to thank #NetGalley and the publisher Spotlight Audio/What On Earth Books, along with the author Christopher Lloyd for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

What a great book. I loved it and would recommend for ages of 7 upwards. An easy listen and I loved the narrators voice. The idea of a clock to give you the time frames was a great one. Thoroughly enjoyed and very informative without being over the top.

The blast through history was just what I needed to listen to right now. With everything going on in the world it came as a real breath of fresh air to realise that everything that has happened, is happening and will happen in the future is all interconnected around the world and runs in cycles. The world kept on going after the extension of the dinosaurs as it did after the black plague decimated humanity in the middle ages as we all kept going after the Spanish flu, WW1 & 2 and the deaths in so many countries around the world in the 20th Century. Life will be.
This great audiobook looks at history from the whole world perspective, comparing and drawing connections between events happening on opposite sides of the globe at a time well before globalisation. How the Chinese visited Africa in the middle ages, Columbus wasn't the first European in the Americas and sensible discussion around colonialism.
Whether you are totally mad about all things history or just generally interested in the world around you, this is really worth a listen.

Thank you so much to the author/narrator, publisher and NetGalley for an copy in exchange for an honest review!

This sounded like so much fun! I've always been interested in history, so I really thought I'd like this one. Unfortunately, none of the topics really interested me. The narrator was really nice. The voice of Christopher Lloyd is really soothing and I loved listening to his voice.

I listend to one chapter every night before going to bed. I would really recommend listening to one chapter a day, because it's quite a lot of information. It's not only about the American or European history, it's about the whole world!

If you really like history or would like to know some more about the history of our world, this is the one to read or listen to. But sadly, this one just wasn't for me.

Absolutely wonderful! This audio version of the book read by Christopher Lloyd, is brilliant. I understand the actual book version is wonderfully illustrated but I am only reviewing the audio version here. How could you miss with Christopher Lloyd reading in his excitement over various periods of time with a creative voice telling us about the Prehistoric Eras and the dinosaurs that existed then? He transitions from one timeline to another, sparking our interest into world religions, Christianity, the life of Buddha, Mohammed. Transitions continue—a fast paced world history lesson in, yes—(almost) everything. Fascinating and a delight to listen to.

Truly enjoyed learning frim Lloyds perspective. I wish I had this book when I was younger and I definitely wish I could have read it to my children. I can only hope for grandchildren. The best thing is I will only learn more by listening to it again. I need a long car ride.

This was absolutely delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed it and you could tell the author/narrator did as well. I recommend this audiobook to everyone wanting to know a bit more about the history of the world.

My kids really enjoyed listening to this audiobook and so did I. We would listen in the car on the way to school and every morning and afternoon. We all learned a lot of tidbits and the talking points are great starter topics when we would have dinner together at night.

I truly enjoyed learning about the our history. It really does cover a bit of everything and I learned many things that I did not know. I don't enjoy history but this author somehow managed to make it fun & interesting.

Fun book to listen to...we listened to this at school and the students loved it too.

Thank to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy for my honest review.

Great look back at earth's history in an engaging and easy-listening way. The narrator is excellent and the information is shared in an organized way,. This would be a great audiobook for the whole family!

This really deserves 3.5 stars (but I'm unable to give that). Christopher Lloyd's narration is superb, I loved his enthusiasm, humour and his personal anecdotes added warmth to his performance. I felt his passion and commitment to 'telling' this story and lapped it up. Had I been a child listening to this, I suspect I would have grown up with a better appreciation of natural history, geology and a curiosity to delve into prehistoric and ancient history. Alas, I did not and I must confess I struggled a bit to concentrate for the first few chapters - perhaps if I had the book to read alongside or repeated the chapters - I would have gotten more out of it. However, once the narration was on more familiar topics I found it skipped along, quickly. Suddenly, there's a lot to cram in and the change in pace is noticeable. I would've preferred this to be more consistent. Moving from a slow to an, at times, out-of-breath delivery keeps you on your toes as there's a lot of 'what nexts' and 'another thing' to describe - some chapters can feel too rushed. I appreciated the emergence and use of themes to connect ideas and events in modern history, and thought the 'looking ahead' bit inspired. I found the reference to the 24 hour clock inconsistent and it was empathised in some chapters and not referenced in others - I also don't remember it being explained. Overall, this is a comprehensive overview of the planet's history and can be appreciated and loved by children and adults alike.

I have really mixed feelings about this books, but these mixed feelings didn't settle in until I'd consumed about half of this book.when I realized I hadn't heard anything about countries like Russia or Japan and didn't hear anything about them until we his the 20th century.

I had the thought that (everything after human civilization really begins) felt so similar to the course of history I was taught in the US Public School System, incredibly Euro-centric and Amero-centric, stopping after World War 2. I did find expansions on the histories of China, India, and information related to Islamic Golden Age. Which are things I hadn't been exposed too.

I know Lloyd does say in his afterword, that there is no way that he can cover everything, because that would be endless. But I think the opportunity was missed to maybe have ended the book sooner then the mid 20th century in favor of going more in depth about other countries and cultures existing in the same time period.

I say this because, I had no concept of overlap of the timelines of history until I was an adult. I remember a professor in college saying that Samurai and Cowboys existed at the same time (albeit a short amount of time) and it blew my mind wide open because while I had loved history as a kid. No one every teaches these topics in a way that really shows how the world developed.

Which I will say Lloyd DOES in this book, and I LOVE it.

So while it isn't perfect and I wouldn't use it solely as a text book if I were homeschooling. It would be great for a history loving kind in your life.it will cover a lot that they may never hear about in school. I know it has sparked me to want to know more about countries histories that I had never learned about in school (India and Zimbabwe).