The Sixties in America, Vol. 3

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Students researching this tumultuous period will find clearly presented entries that sketch the events, people, organizations, scientific advances, and popular culture of the sixties. The generally brief articles are alphabetically arranged and written chiefly by academic contributors. Each one begins with a brief summary that explains the significance of the event, person, film, etc., in the context of the cultural, social, and/or political climate. See-also references follow all entries. Well-chosen black-and-white photos enliven the text on nearly every other page. Valuable appendixes cover such topics as major legislation and important Supreme Court decisions and provide statistics and a time line of science and technology. An extensive, up-to-date bibliography and a mediagraphy listing electronic materials, videos, and Web sites conclude the set. Unfortunately, the appendixes are not indexed. American Decades, 1960-1969 (Gale, 1994) provides comparable coverage in one volume, but the bibliographies lack the variety of resources found here. Libraries experiencing a high demand for materials on this subject will find this set valuable.-Douglas Wooley, Brooklyn Public Library, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Arranged in encyclopedic form, this three-volume set divides its coverage like the evening news: for every hard-edged article about the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, or advances in science and technology, there is a light-hearted piece on hairstyles, or a musician, or a popular film or television show. The 554 entries range from 250-word articles on subjects such as Olympic track star Billy Mills to 3,000-word surveys of topics such as the Cold War. B&w photos remind the reader of events such as the moon landing and the Charles Manson murders; leaders such as Martin Luther King, C<'e>sar Ch<'a>vez, and George McGovern; movies like and ; and organizations and movements such as the NAACP, the environmental and feminist movements, and the Peace Corp. For students and general readers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)