Our Times: An Illustrated History of the 20th Century

by Lorraine Glennon (Editor)

A history of the twentieth century features special photographs and artwork, and essays commissioned from distinguished writers

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference

713 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[James S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good overview of the 20th century (up to '94). It's international in scope and has a nice blend of politics, technology, science, and culture. The essays that introduce each decade are also pretty good (the one about Hitler called him a "demonic Napoleon").

It's also much longer than it seems - it's only 685 pages, but it took me more than a year to read. Each pages has several columns, and there also side columns in the margins. It's worth it, though - I learned something new on every page, if not every column.

[tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe more people haven't read/commented on this book. I mean, don't we all need to know that Puccini's first showing of Madama Butterfly in Milan was a total flop? Don't we all need to know that Scott Joplin, bitter over the popularity of The Entertainer, died in a mental hospital despite his success?? Don't we all need to know that Annie Sullivan, that underappreciated worker-helper of Helen Keller, taught Keller the alphabet by drawing each and every letter into the palm of her hand and that with Keller's indomitable will, then mastered French, Latin and Greek??? This book beautifully imparts the experiences of the 20th century on its 21st century readers; I highly recommend reading it from cover to cover. :)

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

only goes up to 1994. pretty good compilation, year-by-year of 20th century history.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chronological listing of events of the 20th century. Each year has 10-20 events of major importance along with a discussion of them. I only got up to about 1910 and had to leave the book behind.