Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years [Hardcover]

Editors of Life (Author)

Book Description

Series: Life (Life Books) | Publication Date: September 20, 2005

There has never been another period of time to compare with the last 100 years. From the Auto Age to the Computer Age, from Lindenberg to a man walking on the moon, our world has been an endless wellspring of unparalleled drama. Using their trademark brilliant photography and informative writing, the editors of "Life" have assembled a fascinating, engrossing volume that captures the happenings and the characters who have fleshed out this saga, names that will live through the ages: FDR and JFK, the Babe and Elvis, Einstein and Martin Luther King. And, of course, the likes of Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. This is a volume certain to entertain today and for generations to come.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Life (September 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932994106
• ISBN-13: 978-1932994100
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.8 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,289 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

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some dubious choices, but fun to look at, August 28, 2006

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years (Hardcover)

"100 Events" might better be titled, "100 20th century mostly-American events that LIFE has pictures of." Nothing wrong with that of course, but it would make for a more accurate title.

The book unfolds in classic LIFE format, with full page and double-page layouts of famous events. Some are truly momentous and have potential world-wide historical impact. The discovery of the structure of DNA will affect the way human beings heal, diagnose and even propagate. Dr. Christian Barnard's first heart transplant in 1967 also changed the way we see the human body - less as a unity than as an array of interchangeable parts. The dropping of the atomic bomb dramatically changed the nature of warfare and the way that all nations must learn to relate. And the walk on the moon in 1969 was a technical achievement that truly did astound the world and perhaps even paved the way for an end to the Cold War.

But Marilyn Monroe modeling a bikini? The Yankees acquiring Babe Ruth? Louis Armstrong? Madonna? The U2 Incident? Even the 1969 Woodstock music festival is a questionable choice.

Whatever.

The pictures are fun to look at. The events may spur debate. Which 100 would you choose? LIFE could have done worse.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Picture Tells A Story, February 2, 2006

By 

Reading Fan "Romans 8:1" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years (Hardcover)

There is a shot of Hitler primping in his open car before an adoring crowd, just soaking up the adulation. There is three-mile island ominously sitting in the dark with red lights (like Christmas lights) outlining it, and perhaps previewing the nuclear meltdown that occurred there in the late 70's. There is Dolly, the cloned sheep, looking at herself in the mirror, as amazed as we were at that time. There is a young Fidel Castro screaming into the microphone as he took over Cuba. There is the bus load of passengers reading about the Kennedy assassination at the same time, the disturbing headlines all facing the camera. These are just samplings of the great work that Life did.

Life was good at taking the right photographs at the right time.

This book is a good one, even if you only look at the pictures.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, January 9, 2007

By 

Roberta D. Stavole "Roberta" (Northfield, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years (Hardcover)

I purchased this book as a Christmas present for my uncle and aunt. They are both retired, and love to read. They immediately opened it up, and lots of wonderful family memories came into the conversation. It now sits on their coffee table.