America 1900: The Turning Point

by Judy Crichton

America 1900 is a sweeping narrative that follows an eclectic group of men and women over the course of one pivotal year. As it happened, the issues they were dealing with are surprisingly similar to those their grandchildren and great-grandchildren face in the year 2000. Change had come so fast that there was an almost magical belief in the powers of science and technology. The country had never been more prosperous, but the gap between rich and poor had never been greater. And the soaring sense of optimism most Americans felt was severely tested by wars abroad and dissension at home.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Research

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 1998

Reviews

[anonymousreader]

to-read

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of amazing photographs and stories of life during a pivotal period in American history. The photographs have exceptional clarity and life to them.

In particular I appreciated the authors writing style. There are informative and interesting anecdotes about some of the major people, places, and events. All of these chunks of information are told with a narrative style and help the reader to gain a greater understanding of America and the forces at that shaped the turn of the century.

I'm very familiar with this period of history and there was information in this book I had never come across in other materials.

Definitely check this book out.

[Cheryl Gatling]

What a year. What events: war in the Philippines, Yukon gold rush, war in China, mining disasters, labor unrest, plague in San Francisco's Chinatown, Galveston destroyed by a hurricane. What issues: changing sexual standards, race struggles, new technologies, incredible wealth and grinding poverty. What personalities: Jack London, Carl Sandburg, Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan. The storytelling is vivid, and the pictures are striking. Reading this book you can learn a lot of history in an enjoyable way.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wondèrful photos. Also snippets of news from 1900. Interesting and enjoyable.