Great Events: 1900-2001 (Great Events from History) 8 volume set

This set of well over 1,000 articles combines, revises, and supplements two previous Salem editions, The Twentieth Century: Great Events (1992) with its three-volume supplement (1996) , and The Twentieth Century: Great Scientific Achievements (1994) with its three-volume supplement (1997) . Each selected event 283 are completely new garners two to three pages, with a highlighted box providing an at-a-glance, who-what-when-where of the event. Appendices include a chronology, a list of articles by category (agriculture, physics, sports, food science, business, etc.) , and three indexes: geographical, biographical, and subject. A sampling of entries include Sikhs revolt in Punjab, O'Connor becomes the first woman on Supreme Court, Bridgestone apologizes for tires causing numerous deaths, Zsigmondy invents ultramicroscope, 9/11, US mint introduces Sacagawea dollar, and Abbott Labs introduce cyclamate. Tailored to the general library patron. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Read more Continue reading Read less FROM BOOKLIST
This set revises the publisher's The Twentieth Century: Great Events (1992) and supplement (1996) and The Twentieth Century: Great Scientific Achievements (1994) and its supplement (1997) . About 25 percent of the 1,000-plus articles are updated, and more than 200 articles have been added, offering a wide-ranging overview of events from 1900 until the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Arrangement is chronological. Each volume has a complete list of contents as well as a "Category Index" that lists entry headings alphabetically under more than 60 topics, such as agriculture or weapons technology.Each one-thousand-word article begins with a headline-style title that announces the event (e.g., "Allies Fight Turkey at Gallipoli," "Nepal's Crown Prince Murders His Royal Family") , followed by a sentence or two summarizing the event and its significance. A shaded box pinpointing the "What," "When," "Where," and "Who" of the event is followed by a more detailed description and a discussion of the immediate impact of the event as well as its impact over time. Black-and-white maps and photographs add value.

The last volume of the set offers a time line of each event, noting the category and the country or region involved. The "Geographical Index" lists selected articles under the names of more than 225 localities. The "Personages Index" is an alphabetical list of the more than 3,000 individual names that appear under the "Who" category in the shaded box of each entry. Finally, the "General Subject Index" includes all names in the "Who" boxes as well as anyone found in the article text.

It is debatable whether some events, such as "Pets.com Announces Withdrawal from the Internet," truly qualify as "great." Nevertheless, this well-organized set provides useful summaries for middle-school students and up and should be considered by every library that serves them. RBB
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