Century

Rating:
Summary: Good book for Teachers and Students alike
Review: This is an immense photo-retrospective of the last 100 years. I am continually impressed by the choice of pictures; most are new to my eyes, rather than mere reprints of old LIFE pics and such. The commentary, while brief, is poignant and humble. I use many of the photos in my U.S. and World History classes and the students (high school) are captivated by them. One note to bear in mind: this book focuses primarily on European influence around the world and war and its effects. People looking for a cultural/historical study of non-Western people will probably find more useful information elsewhere. That aside, this is a spectacular and intelligently collected volume of photographs, more deserving of a place on the shelf than the coffee table.

Rating:
Summary: WOW . . . . .
Review: This is an impressive work. Ten pounds of thought provoking pictures. It is too bad other reviewers here criticize the book for being depressing. Let's see, in the 20th Century there was the Great Depression, two world wars, three significant United Nations actions including Korea and Vietnam, and God only knows how many political assassinations. In many respects it was not a pretty century. However, the good is also shown: art, motion pictures, fashion, technology, and human kindness to one another. Just find a sturdy surface to hold this book, dig in and be prepared to spend many hours engrossed in a wonderful tour of the Century.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional book but....
Review: This is an incredible book filled with outstanding photography and brief history surrounding those pictures. I bought it as a present, but now that I have begun looking through it, I am finding it harder to part with. I only have two complaints about the book. It seems to focus very little on the United States (a very big player, my opinion, in the century) and more on lesser known historical occurrances. Second, the book looks mostly on the human effect and does not show the cause (i.e. 1 picture of Columbine students hugging and nothing of the massacre). I was pleasantly shocked at its' size and look forward to paging through the book several times. I definatly recommend this book to photography buffs and enthusiasts and anyone who is interested in the century that was the 20th.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible Book!
Review: This is one of the worst books I've ever seen. It is very depressing. It does not show an accurate description of the last 100 years. It shows all the war and killing and negative side of everything. I do not recommend this book to anyone. The pictures are gross!! Please do not show this book to children unless you want them to think everything is terrible. I usually love books like this but was very upset by this book.

Rating:
Summary: What a Century
Review: Tragic but true! Impressive immages of human fall and rise. Although more concentrated on human suffering than joy (that's why 4 not 5 stars), brings only one question to mind: Human race should learn from its history!

Rating:
Summary: Horribly Negative! ZERO Stars, Really!
Review: We received this book as a Christmas Gift, and I now I've got to figure out what to do with it. What a terrible waste of money! This book depicts the century in a truly negative light, presenting pictures full of suffering and violence, even stacks of corpses. It is too big to ingnore, and too horrible to display. I don't understand what anyone could find appealing in this book, even the non-negative pictures were nothing spectacular. Don't buy this book, especially not as a gift! Because I received this book as a gift from another Amazon customer, I choose to remain anonymous.