The 1910s from World War I to Ragtime Music (Decades of the 20th Century in Color) [Library Binding]

Stephen Feinstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Overviews of U.S. history, broken down into "Lifestyles, Fashion, and Fads"; "The Arts and Entertainment"; "Sports"; "Politics at Home and Abroad"; and "Science, Technology, and Medicine." 1990s offers sufficient information about the Clinton scandal without becoming salacious. Other topics include terrorism, Desert Storm, and dot-coms. Highlights from 1910s include immigration, World War I, racial tensions, and the growth of labor unions. Feinstein deftly weaves details of popular culture into the larger picture of American culture and politics as well as the world stage. Black-and-white photographs lend immediacy to events now past and convey the energy of life in America. Extensive captions supplement the texts well. Similar treatments for younger readers include Michael V. Uschan's The 1910s (Lucent, 1998) and Judith Condon's The Nineties (RSVP, 2000).
Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Publisher: Enslow Publishers; Revised edition (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766026310
• ISBN-13: 978-0766026315
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,691,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Very biased, negative portrayal of American history, August 15, 2008

By 

Grandma (NH, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The 1910s from World War I to Ragtime Music (Decades of the 20th Century in Color) (Library Binding)

The single most exciting thing about The 1910s: From World War I to Ragtime Music is the title of the book. Stephen Feinstein's writing is choppy, about what I would expect from a fifth grade research paper, and he jumps from one topic to the next with little or no transition. In 55 pages of text & pictures about a decade that includes the fall of the Russian Empire, the First World War, the Russian Revolution and so much more, Feinstein chooses to spend 3 full pages on boxing and another full page on a horse race.

In his haste to cram in as much as possible, Feinstein frequently mentions things he never bothers to either explain or illustrate. Thus he speaks about the hobble skirt and the suffragette suit, but the accompanying illustrations show neither. He devotes an entire paragraph to Marcel Duchamp's painting "Nude Descending a Staircase", but no illustration is provided.

Worst of all, the book is very slanted. Almost every time he mentions white Americans he first applies the adjective "racist" and most of the events that he includes in the book reflect this belief. Often inappropriate for school aged children, this book includes pictures of KKK members from the 60s and states that Jack Johnson, a black boxer, "displayed the kind of talent most African Americans longed for. He flaunted his talent and his controversial relationships with white women, to the disgust of many racist white Southerners."

There are no positive events associated with white Americans or America as a nation in this book other than the founding of the Girl Scouts by Juliette Gordon Low. (The illustration is of someone else.)

All in all, not a series we will be using in my classroom.