Many of van Loon's books serve as an expansion of The Story of Mankind. Tolerance analyzes humanity's struggle for the right to think, while Van Loon's Geography discusses the impact of location on the course of historical events.

The Arts concentrates on how artistic expression changed the story of humankind, and Van Loon's Lives tells how individuals made an impact on the world.

The Story of Mankind was made into a motion picture by Warner Brothers in 1957. Produced and directed by Irwin Allen, the movie featured Vincent Price as the Devil, Ronald Colman as the Spirit of Man, Hedy Lamarr as Joan of Arc, Agnes Moorehead as Queen Elizabeth, Charles Coburn as Hippocrates, Francis X. Bushman as Moses, and Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx as Peter Minuit, Isaac Newton, and a monk, respectively. The screenplay, written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennet, pictured a...