Working Americans, 1880-1999

Library Journal

Following Derks's Working Americans, 1880-1999. Vol. 1: The Working Class (LJ 7/00), this second volume in a proposed multivolume set shifts its focus to the history, occupations, homes, and lifestyles of the middle class. The approach is, however, the same: Derks analyzes several families decade by decade using a variety of sources--government surveys, social worker histories, economic data, family diaries and letters, newspapers, and magazine features. This second volume, whose 76 family profiles cover a wide variety of occupational and ethnic backgrounds across America, examines such issues as income, expenses, life at home, life at work, life in the community, and so forth. Each chapter covers one decade and includes an economic profile, historical snapshots, news profiles, articles from local media, and illustrations from popular materials of the period. Like its predecessor, this volume includes a detailed table of contents, index, and bibliographical references but no traditional footnotes. It complements other works, such as Melvin Williams's The Black Experience in Middle Class America (Edwin Mellen, 2000) and Stuart Blumin's The Emergence of the Middle Class: Social Experience in the American City, 1760-1900 (1989). Both engaging and informative, this well-written volume will enhance the study of the middle class and social history.--Edward G. McCormack, Univ. of Southern Mississippi Lib., Gulf Coast Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

This is the second volume in a three volume set, the first of which encompassed the working class; the third will cover the upper class. Improvements over the first volume include an index, making this compendium more useful as a reference, and a discussion of how the author has defined the middle class. Each section deals with a decade and comprises cartoons, advertisements, posters, and photographs of families, workers, and working conditions, as well as portions of magazine articles and quotations, interspersed with information about significant events of the decade and bits of social and economic information. In addition, Derks (whose credentials are not stated) has written fictional family profiles (76 in all)<-->composites intended to represent the financial and social situations of families from an array of ethnic groups and occupations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)