Encyclopedia Of The Modern World: 1900 To The Present

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An encyclopedia that declares it will cover "the full extent of world history since 1900," as this one does on the back cover, has taken on a gargantuan task. It is difficult to avoid merely scratching the surface of a broad range of topics while still blanketing a century of history all over the world. This publication, an updated and expanded edition of the one-volume Facts On File Encyclopedia of the 20th Century (1991), takes into account landmark world-changing events that have taken place in the interim: war in the former Yugoslavia, the formation of the European Union, China's emergence as a major economic and industrial power, and the events of September 11, 2001, in the U.S. Entries are organized alphabetically and cover major figures in politics, sports, and the arts, ranging from Osama bin Laden to Tiger Woods to Ansel Adams. Other entries cover international affairs, politics, philosophy, religion, landmark court cases, art, and popular culture. Examples include Brown v. Board of Education, Existentialism, Globalization, Islamism, MTV, Surrealism, and Watergate. Specific works of art are also covered, from paintings to novels and plays. Individual countries and political parties receive their own entries as well. Black-and-white illustrations, maps, and artwork are sprinkled throughout the volumes. Country entries contain a chronology of important dates and events in chart format. With such a broad range of topics covered, entries tend to be informative but also cursory in nature and frequently only about a paragraph long. Although entries contain cross-references, they are not followed by lists of further reading, and the bibliography in the last volume contains only 20 items. Volume 3 also contains the detailed index. A fairly lengthy new entry describes the growth of the Internet, one of the important changes in the world since the 1991 version of the encyclopedia was published. Although Encyclopedia of the Modern World: 1900 to the Present is still a convenient quick-reference source, one can't help but think that students, researchers, and even librarians may be more likely to conduct a quick Internet search to locate the kind of information contained here. Tosko, Michael