Life's America

School Library Journal

Post-World War II America was uniquely depicted in the major media publication of the era, Life magazine. Historian Kozol explores the concept of domesticity portrayed in Life's imagery as a political and social ideology of the 1950s and 1960s. Using ``gender, sexuality, race, and class as frames of analysis,'' Kozol argues that the magazine presented an idealized white middle-class view of what was actually a multicultural society plagued by racist and discriminatory attitudes. Her positions are well reasoned and aptly supported by the selected photographs. The discussion of Life's influence on photojournalism and the photojournalist tradition as a whole is exceptionally well done, offering a welcome perspective on the history of the era. Highly recommended for academic photography, photojournalism, and history collections.-Kathy Anderson, Indiana Ctr. for Global Business, Indiana Univ., Bloomington