Popular Culture: 1900-1919

November 1, 2012

Gr 5-7-These books highlight the TV, movies, music, fashion, art, and major events of each decade of the 20th century. Unfortunately, they are dotted with pesky problems. Stilted, weak writing produces silly euphemisms (such as James Bond "found time to date many beautiful women"), and the set's design is uninspired. "Yuppie" is wrongly defined as "young upwardly mobile professional"; the 3-D film craze is said to have passed quickly even though such movies continue to be blockbuster hits, and there are some unhelpful glossary entries. For example, in 1900-1919, the one for "honky-tonk" gives the same definition as the main text. Flaws such as these build a strong case for the unreliability of these retrospectives as report material. The well-selected photographs and reproductions and abundant back matter aren't enough to bring them up to snuff.

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