亨德里克·威廉·房龙（1882.1.14—1944.3.11）， 荷兰裔美国人，著名历史通俗读物作家、插图画家、记者。1882年，他出生于荷兰鹿特丹一个富裕家庭。自幼对历史、地理、船舶、绘画和音乐等很有兴趣。1902年只身赴美国，入康奈尔大学，1905年获学士学位，1911年在慕尼黑大学获博士学位。
　　房龙的作品多以散文的形式叙述、评论历史事件及人物，他生动诙谐的文笔使读者能在短时间内以一种轻松的方式了解历史的大致脉络，并配上亲手绘制之许多生动插图，提高阅读的趣味，因此很受大众读者欢迎。他的书十分畅销，拥有惊人的销量。但在历史学研究上，房龙则并未取得相应的学术地位与成就，基本上是被定位于一位“优秀的通俗历史作家”。
　　他的作品中，以《人类的故事》、《宽容》、《圣经的故事》最为著名。

　　呈现于读者面前的这部《美国学生人类史（英汉双语版）（套装上下册）》，亦名《人类的故事》，是荷兰裔美籍记者、教授兼作家房龙的经典著作，书中插图亦出自作者之手。本书英文原版问世于1921年，1922年获得首届纽伯瑞儿童文学奖。1923年，著名教育出版公司麦克米伦公司出版此书学生版，推荐给学校作为教材使用。1957年，据其改编的电影上市。1925年，沈性仁女士将此书翻译介绍到中国，由商务印书馆出版，在国内掀起一阵房龙热。
　　《美国学生人类史（英汉双语版）（套装上下册）》最初是房龙写给两位孙子的历史故事集。书中内容均按短篇章节而写，叙述西方文明是如何从原始人类发源，并进一步讲述书写文字、艺术、建筑以及主要的信仰，直至近代民族国家的兴起等。遗憾的是，房龙的这部经典儿童文学作品，在中国一直与他后来写作的《宽容》、《圣经的故事》等被当作成人阅读的人文经典。这种出版导向，使得本书错失了很多青少年读者。在出版美国另一位作者维吉尔·希利尔的一套文史经典（《美国学生世界历史》、《美国学生世界地理》、《美国学生艺术史》）之后，我们决定将房龙的这部书并入希利尔校长的文史系列。并将此英汉双语版定名为《美国学生人类史（英汉双语版）（套装上下册）》，以期引吸更多学生读者阅读此书，了解人类历史知识、同步提升英文阅读水平。
　　The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by American journalist， professor， and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. In 1922， it was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature.
　　Written for his grandchildren， The Story of Mankind tells in brief chapters the history of Western civilization beginning with primitive man， covering the development of writing， art， and architecture， the rise of major religions， and the formation of the modern (for 1921) nation-state. Van Loon explains in the book how he selected what and what not to include by subjecting all materials to the question： Did the person or event in question perform an act without which the entire history of civilization would have been different· This genuinely enjoyable charmer， for history buffs and the historically challenged alike， covers human history from prehistoric times， when our earliest ancestors were learning to communicate with grunts， right through to the issues of the latter 20th century. Van Loon's inviting classic is filled with stories that bring history alive. His pen-and-ink illustrations， maps， and animated chronology contribute to the cozy， round the fireplace aspect of the book.

　　01
　　THE SETTING OF THE STAGE
　　人类舞台的起始
　　WE live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark.
　　Who are we？
　　Where do we come from？
　　Whither are we bound？
　　Slowly， but with persistent courage， we have been pushing this question mark further and further towards that distant line， beyond the horizon， where we hope to find our answer. We have not gone very far.
　　We still know very little but we have reached the point where (with a fair degree of accuracy) we can guess at many things. In this chapter I shall tell you how (according to our best belief) the stage was set for the first appearance of man.
　　If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length， then the tiny line just below indicates the age during which man (or a creature more or less resembling man) has lived upon this earth.
　　Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going to study him， rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other animals， who， all in their own way， have a very interesting historical development behind them.
　　In the beginning， the planet upon which we live was (as far as we now know) a large ball of flaming matter， a tiny cloud of smoke in the endless ocean of space. Gradually， in the course of millions of years， the surface burned itself out， and was covered with a thin layer of rocks. Upon these lifeless rocks the rain descended in endless torrents， wearing out the hard granite and carrying the dust to the valleys that lay hidden between the high cliffs of the steaming earth.
　　Finally the hour came when the sun broke through the clouds and saw how this little planet was covered with a few small puddles which were to develop into the mighty oceans of the eastern and western hemispheres.
　　Then one day the great wonder happened. What had been dead， gave birth to life.
　　The first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea.
　　For millions of years it drifted aimlessly with the currents. But during all that time it was developing certain habits that it might survive more easily upon the inhospitable earth. Some of these cells were happiest in the dark depths of the lakes and the pools. They took root in the slimy sediments which had been carried down from the tops of the hills and they became plants. Others preferred to move about and they grew strange jointed legs， like scorpions and began to crawl along the bottom of the sea amidst the plants and the pale green things that looked like jelly-fishes. Still others (covered with scales) depended upon a swimming motion to go from place to place in their search for food， and gradually they populated the ocean with myriads of fishes.
　　Meanwhile the plants had increased in number and they had to search for new dwelling places. There was no more room for them at the bottom of the sea. Reluctantly they left the water and made a new home in the marshes and on the mudbanks that lay at the foot of the mountains. Twice a day the tides of the ocean covered them with their brine. For the rest of the time， the plants made the best of their uncomfortable situation and tried to survive in the thin air which surrounded the surface of the planet. After centuries of training， they learned how to live as comfortably in the air as they had done in the water. They increased in size and became shrubs and trees and at last they learned how to grow lovely flowers which attracted the attention of the busy big bumble-bees and the birds who carried the seeds far and wide until the whole earth had become covered with green pastures， or lay dark under the shadow of the big trees. But some of the fishes too had begun to leave the sea， and they had learned how to breathe with lungs as well as with gills. We call such creatures amphibious， which means that they are able to live with equal ease on the land and in the water. The first frog who crosses your path can tell you all about the pleasures of the double existence of the amphibian.
　　Once outside of the water， these animals gradually adapted themselves more and more to life on land. Some became reptiles (creatures who crawl like lizards) and they shared the silence of the forests with the insects. That they might move faster through the soft soil， they improved upon their legs and their size increased until the world was populated with gigantic forms (which the handbooks of biology list under the names of Ichthyosaurus and Megalosaurus and Brontosaurus) who grew to be thirty to forty feet long and who could have played with elephants as a full grown cat plays with her kittens.
　　Some of the members of this reptilian family began to live in the tops of the trees， which were then often more than a hundred feet high. They no longer needed their legs for the purpose of walking， but it was necessary for them to move quickly from branch to branch. And so they changed a part of their skin into a sort of parachute， which stretched between the sides of their bodies and the small toes of their fore-feet， and gradually they covered this skinny parachute with feathers and made their tails into a steering gear and flew from tree to tree and developed into true birds.
　　Then a strange thing happened. All the gigantic reptiles died within a short time. We do not know the reason. Perhaps it was due to a sudden change in climate. Perhaps they had grown so large that they could neither swim nor walk nor crawl， and they starved to death within sight but not within reach of the big ferns and trees. Whatever the cause， the million year old world-empire of the big reptiles was over.
　　The world now began to be occupied by very different creatures. They were the descendants of the reptiles but they were quite unlike these because they fed their young from the “mamm？” or the breasts of the mother. Wherefore modern science calls these animals “mammals.” They had shed the scales of the fish. They did not adopt the feathers of the bird， but they covered their bodies with hair. The mammals however developed other habits which gave their race a great advantage over the other animals. The female of the species carried the eggs of the young inside her body until they were hatched and while all other living beings， up to that time， had left their children exposed to the dangers of cold and heat， and the attacks of wild beasts， the mammals kept their young with them for a long time and sheltered them while they were still too weak to fight their enemies. In this way the young mammals were given a much better chance to survive， because they learned many things from their mothers， as you will know if you have ever watched a cat teaching her kittens to take care of themselves and how to wash their faces and how to catch mice.
　　But of these mammals I need not tell you much for you know them well. They surround you on all sides. They are your daily companions in the streets and in your home， and you can see your less familiar cousins behind the bars of the zoological garden.
　　And now we come to the parting of the ways when man suddenly leaves the endless procession of dumbly living and dying creatures and begins to use his reason to shape the destiny of his race.
　　One mammal in particular seemed to surpass all others in its ability to find food and shelter. It had learned to use its fore-feet for the purpose of holding its prey， and by dint of practice it had developed a hand-like claw. After innumerable attempts it had learned how to balance the whole of the body upon the hind legs. (This is a difficult act， which every child has to learn anew although the human race has been doing it for over a million years.)
　　This creature， half ape and half monkey but superior to both， became the most successful hunter and could make a living in every clime. For greater safety， it usually moved about in groups. It learned how to make strange grunts to warn its young of approaching danger and after many hundreds of thousands of years it began to use these throaty noises for the purpose of talking.
　　This creature， though you may hardly believe it， was your first “man-like” ancestor.
　　【中文阅读】
　　我们活着有一个极大的疑问。
　　我们是谁？
　　我们是从哪里来的？
　　我们是往哪里去？
　　我们已把这疑问慢慢的但是鼓着坚执的勇气推到不能再推的地方，希望在那里可以得到我们的答案。
　　我们所推的不远，所以知道的事情不多；但我们已经达到一个由此可以猜想出许多事情的地方了。
　　……

01 THE SETTING OF THE STAGE
人类舞台的起始
02 OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS
我们最早的祖宗
03 PREHISTORIC MAN
历史以前的人
04 HIEROGLYPHICS
象形字
05 THE NILE VALLEY
尼罗河流域
06 THE STORY OF EGYPT
埃及的历史
07 MESOPOTAMIA
美索博达米亚
08 THE SUMERIANS
苏曼利亚人
09 MOSES
摩 西
10 THE PHOENICIANS
腓尼西亚人
11 THE INDO-EUROPEANS
印度欧罗巴人
12 THE ·GEAN SEA
伊近海
13 THE GREEKS
希腊人
14 THE GREEK CITIES
希腊都市
15 GREEK SELF-GOVERNMENT
希腊的自治政府
16 GREEK LIFE
希腊人的生活
17 THE GREEK THEATRE
希腊的戏剧
18 THE PERSIAN WARS
波斯战争
19 ATHENS vs
雅典与斯巴达之拮抗
20 ALEXANDER THE GREAT
亚历山大大王
21 A SUMMARY
概 要
22 ROME AND CARTHAGE
罗马与迦太基
23 THE RISE OF ROME
罗马之兴
24 THE ROMAN EMPIRE
罗马帝国
25 JOSHUA OF NAZARETH
拿撒勒的约书亚
26 THE FALL OF ROME
罗马之亡
27 RISE OF THE CHURCH
教会之兴
28 MOHAMMED
穆罕默德
29 CHARLEMAGNE
查尔斯大帝
30 THE NORSEMEN
诺斯人
31 FEUDALISM
封建制度
32 CHIVALRY
武士制
33 POPE vs
教皇与皇帝之对立
34 THE CRUSADES
十字军
35 THE MEDI·VAL CITY
中世纪的都市
36 MEDI·VAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
中世纪的自治制度
37 THE MEDI·VAL WORLD
中世纪的世界
38 MEDI·VAL TRADE
中世纪的商业
39 THE RENAISSANCE
文艺复兴
40 THE AGE OF EXPRESSION
表现时期
41 THE GREAT DISCOVERIES
大发见
42 THE REFORMATION
宗教改革
43 RELIGIOUS WARFARE
宗教战争
44 THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION
英国革命
45 THE BALANCE OF POWER
势力均衡
46 THE RISE OF RUSSIA
俄罗斯之兴
47 RUSSIA vs
俄罗斯与瑞典之抗衡
48 THE RISE OF PRUSSIA
普鲁士之兴
49 THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM
重商制度
50 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
美国革命
51 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
法国革命
52 NAPOLEON
拿破仑
53 THE HOLY ALLIANCE
神圣同盟
54 THE GREAT REACTION
大反动
55 NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE
民族独立
56 THE AGE OF THE ENGINE
机械时代
57 THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION
社会革命
58 EMANCIPATION
大解放
59 THE AGE OF SCIENCE
科学时代
60 ART
艺 术
61 COLONIAL EXPANSION AND WAR
殖民地的扩张与战争
62 A NEW WORLD
一个新的世界
63 AS IT EVER SHALL BE
永远是这样的
AN ANIMATED CHRONOLOGY
活的历史年表
后 记