<Li> Essayist Edward Shanks described The Outline as "a wonderful book". However, he also criticised what he saw as Wells's "impatience" and stated "it is an unfortunate fact that Mr. Wells often seems to find himself in the position of scold to the entire human race". </Li> <Li> American historians James Harvey Robinson and Carl Becker lauded the Outline and hailed Wells as "a formidable ally". </Li> <Li> In 1926 Hilaire Belloc wrote "A Companion to Mr. Wells's "Outline of History". A devout Roman Catholic, Belloc was deeply offended by Wells's treatment of Christianity in The Outline of History . Wells wrote a short book in rebuttal called Mr. Belloc Objects to "The Outline of History ." In 1926, Belloc published his reply, Mr. Belloc Still Objects . </Li> <Li> In 1934 Arnold J. Toynbee dismissed the criticism of The Outline of History and praised Wells's work in his A Study of History: <P> Mr. H.G. Wells's The Outline of History was received with unmistakable hostility by a number of historical specialists...They seemed not to realize that, in re-living the entire life of Mankind as a single imaginative experience, Mr. Wells was achieving something which they themselves would hardly have dared to attempt...In fact, the purpose and value of Mr. Wells's book seem to have been better appreciated by the general public than by the professional historians of the day . </P> Toynbee went on to refer to The Outline several times in A Study of History, offering his share of criticism but maintaining a generally positive view of the book . </Li>

The outline of history being a plain history of life and mankind