 "A summation of the past 100 years" | 2005-12-06 |
| - Reviewed By jjjjjjj |
The Century is a 15-CD retelling of American history, from the start of the 20th century to the late 1990s. Told by the bold and compelling voice of Peter Jennings, and interspersed with interviews and music like that heard on the nightly news, it is easy to listen to and easy to break up if listening while commuting.
As can be expected with any attempt to cover 100 years of history in a short space, the level of analysis or introspection is low. It is mostly a recounting of the main events, along with personal reactions by those who were there or who lived through the period. It does provide a good overview of the cultural, moral and social changes that American society went through with each decade.
This is unlikely to be appealing to history buffs. But for those with a few holes in their knowledge, The Century provides a good overview of what America has been through in the past ten decades and what shaped it into the country and people it is today.
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 "the century" | 2005-10-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1YSILRG5OH4OB |
| It arrived in new condition. Very good experience. Would purchase from them again |
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| "NearPerfect CoffeeTable 20th Century History!!!" | 2005-08-19 |
| - Reviewed By slhenkels |
| This is a very fine overview of much of the last century. US history is about 50% of the book, and there is not too much "US -centrism", as one might expect.Drawbacks include overdone pieces on entertainment personages like Elvis and Marilyn, not to mention a lot on US Consumer culture, especially since the 1950's. There are nice sections on "Levittowns", the A-Bombs, the McCarthy era,Chambers-Hiss, the Cuba Missle Crisis, Civil Rights into the present day.Even better is that WW2 coverage includes the war from the German and especially the Russian viewpoints, including an outstanding section on the siege of Leningrad, including a photo of a dead mother held by her (living)child. The Russian effort in WW2 is too often downplayed in US based histories. Also a fine section on the Chinese Revolution and Korean War. In fact,as an intro, this about as good as it gets, either for the student, or as a capsule for the amateur/armchair historian. Definitely a keeper,with great photos, and timeless as well! |
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| "Great text about the last century" | 2004-06-12 |
| - Reviewed By billybdt |
| The CENTURY is an excellent collection of narrative and photography from the last century. If you know who Peter Jennings is and what he sounds like, you can hear his voice as you read this book. It is not a fast read, more of a coffee table book to browse thru and most likely to spark conversation. Some of the photos could have been better edited.-ex. There is a BEATLES photo that catches all four of them with their eyes in between blinks. That seemed to be a poor choice by the editors of this book. |
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| "an interesting and accessible history" | 2004-04-28 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| "The Century" is a large coffee table style book that covers the history of the 20th century. While 600 pages can contain a fairly large amount of text, there are many events that can be deemed important enough to be covered in a history of the 20th century. There are enough events that 600 pages quickly fills up and many things that could be covered in detail can only be glossed over, and some things are only given a passing mention. This is to be expected. Every major world event that happened in a 100 year period cannot be adequately covered in a 600 page book (it would take two or three times as many pages to even come close). What is needed is a filter. The filter, as I see it, is two-fold. First, since this book is intended primarily for an American audience, the world events are seen through American (or perhaps just "Western") eyes. The events that are covered the most are those that directly impact America. The second filter is that events are covered that may not directly impact America, but they are so big and so iconic that to dismiss them would be folly. So, what we do have covered is the American 20th Century, and the biggest world events that indirectly impact America. By no means is this a condemnation of the book. The topic of the 20th Century is simply too broad to cover every event of importance. This is not an in depth history, but rather a well written survey of the 20th century. It is a jumping off point for a reader to find something that is interesting and decide to read more about a given topic (segregation, the Berlin Wall, McCarthyism, etc). In every chapter, and touching most of the major subjects, there are personal testimonies written by people who actually lived through the events. This gives a personal look at what could be abstract history. When I finished this book I was glad that I had read it. I find history surveys interesting because they give the bigger picture of what was going on. The text in this book flows smoothly and it is an easy and interesting read (though time consuming). |
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 "An American Pop Diary of the 20th Century" | 2000-05-21 |
| - Reviewed By dgarrett15 |
| While a nice compilation, this is clearly history for the casual student (or those gearing up for a date with Regis or a game of Trival Pursuit). The book is nostalgic not scholarly. While thought provoking in places it clearly presents the 20th Century in typical American style... by sound bite and snap shot. The volume is long on highlights, celebrity and sensational events and short on analysis or cultural milestones in music, art, exploration, literature, and science. This book certainly fills a niche (coffee table, middle schooler strugging to get a handle on mom and dad's past, etc.) but Jennings would do well to leave history to the historians. Readable, entertaining, but don't pack it to college. |
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| "The Century is Outstanding!" | 2000-04-05 |
| - Reviewed By rebeccasreads |
| Only newspeople, skilled & versed in the panoply of daily life, could have brought together such an intelligent and, sometimes humorous saga of the past raucous, riotous & rich century. With sepia toned photos of Suffragettes, politicians & events the first years come right back at you with first-hand accounts of going to war, prohibition, the first plane flight in front of the White House. The last hundred years have been recorded in photographs, first black & white & then color from selling refrigerators to napalming jungles, from Sputnik to the Challenger & so it goes. An absorbing collage of reminiscents, facts & photos. Very well done & one heavy book! |
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| "Keeps this mother of 2 up late reading!" | 1999-01-30 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| Although I am only 150 pages into this book, and must write that I find it truly fascinating. This is the stuff that put this thirtysomething, full-time mother of two-under-two to sleep in high school World History class, but now keeps me up reading until 1 o'clock in the morning! I enjoy the form in which it is written - not like a history textbook, but like Peter Jennings is telling me how it was. I also find the individual testimonials highly interesting - these people saw and felt it happen! For those readers wondering why the Titanic sinking, the Armenian massacre, and the Hindenberg disaster were omitted, the answer lies in the introduction. These events, though news-worthy and long-since remembered, did not "force an evolution", Americans are not different because it happened. While the OJ trial was a tabloid circus, and people are now ashamed at how much attention they paid to it, the event definitely caused Americans to change the way they view the law, the media, and the other race (black of white and white of black). Historically worthy individuals, like Amelia Earhart, and singular events, such as John Lennon's death, may not get mention in this book if it did not affect change or shape the century in some significant way. In the 150 pages that I have read, you will see how Charles Lindberg's historic flight brought 4.5 million people to the streets for a parade and caused investors to pour money into the airplane industry so that air travel later became possible for all of us. Miss Amelia did not do that. I trust that I am not too enthusiastic about this book prematurely, but in the short amount that I have read (and I believe that it is a book that can be read cover-to-cover - not just a coffee table decoration), I would recommend it to anyone a rusty on their history who is interested in gaining a little insight and knowledge on how this century evolved. |
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 "Bias?" | 1999-01-15 |
| - Reviewed By hrire |
| The book contains some good stuff, but it forgets to mention one thing -- the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 by the Turkish government when 1.5 to 2 million Armenians were tortured and killed. I wonder what Jennings was thinking. Maybe he got some favors from the Turkish government which until now refuses to recognise what it did. |
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| "More Than A History Book!" | 1998-12-14 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| If the authors had waited a few more years to write this book they would have lost many eye witnesses, which give this historic book perspective. The personal accounts, interviewed one-on-one by Peter Jennings, make The Century stand out among other history books. Real reporting, four years in the making, almost 100 years of history...your coffee table will be naked without it! --Beth Jannery, author of Shut the Hell Up: 101 Reasons to Appreciate Your Life, Government & Society Today! |
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