Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 1 is divided into five volumes or chapters. It picks up where his 3 volume Cartoon History of the Universe (from the Big Band to the Renaissance) leaves off. For a humorous and popular account, Gonick's Cartoon Histories can not be beat. While telling the big story, his comic book style finds the quirky humor in the personalities of history.

Volume 1, War of the Worlds, starts with Native American Pre-Columbian history and tells the story of early Spanish conquest by Columbus and Cortes of what we now know as the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. Volume 2, What Goes Around, looks at the rivalry between Spain and Portugal as they send ships out to explore and colonize the world. In Volume 3, Good Works, Gonick returns to Europe and takes on the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic response. Here the focus is on King Carlos V of Spain who ruled much of Europe in the 16th Century. With Volume 4, The United of , Gonick looks at The Age of Enlightenment and the birth of Netherlands (aka the United Provinces of the Netherlands) with its non-royal governing and religious tolerance as a precursor of the USA. The final chapter, Volume 5 "Let's Be Reasonable", shows how the Age of Enlightenment and the conquest of North America develops into the beginning of the USA. He ends the book with a 5 page Index and a 4 page listing of Books, Sites, Etc. with notes on recommended further reading.