The Digital Age

Gr 6–10—Each volume of the textbooklike series begins with the same foreword, expounding bombastically on varying views of history, from the Puritans' "city upon a hill" to nihilism, before stating its intent that students understand the present by examining the past. This is followed by a pithy time line of pivotal events for the title's topic before an introduction that lays out the basic facts or defining characteristics. The first four chapters chronicle the event or era in fairly dense text using primary and secondary sources and quotes (cited in endnotes), while chapter five examines the modern-day impact and legacy. Captioned photos and paintings appear occasionally, while sidebars providing further detail on certain ideas occur more frequently. Maps and diagrams are large and colorful but many are lacking clarifying information; in Pearl Harbor, a map titled "Japanese Expansion 1895ndash-1938" only shows which areas of East Asia were controlled by the Japanese, French, U.S., and British, but there is no illustration of how the expansion grew over the time frame. A list of important people, suggestions for further reading, and a research-worthy index are included. While this series does not cover new ground, Digital Age is worth purchasing, as it is very current; the other volumes could be considered to fill holes in middle and high school collections.—Rebecca Dash Donsky, New York Public Library