The 1940s from World War II to Jackie Robinson (Decades of the 20th Century in Color)

Gr 5-8-It's once over lightly for two pivotal decades of American history, with Feinstein hitting the "triumphs, tragedies, fads, and fashions." Taking a popular-culture approach, each book begins with a look at "Lifestyles, Fashion, and Fads," followed by arts and entertainment, sports, and then politics, with science, technology, and medicine coming last. The events of the 1940s and 1950s lend themselves to a lively treatment here, with black-and-white photographs appearing throughout. The books are visually exciting, and the texts are clear and vigorous. The author has created effective and appealing introductions to these important decades, but students doing reports will need to look further for sufficient information on specific events. The "A Cultural History of the United States through the Decades" series (Lucent) offers greater depth on these periods, and is also splendidly illustrated with photographs.