What Everyone Should Know about the 20th Century
By Dr. Alan Axelrod and Charles Phillips
Adams Media Corporation, 1998-Reprint - 352 pages

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because it reflected political, economic and technological changes / revolutions that have occurred in the past century. At the end of the day I found myself consumed by the book and wanting to read beyond what my eyes would allow me to do (late night reading!)

The book, at 352 pages, is deceptively small since each page is not a 6.72 x 5.58 in dimension. However, I spent a good 12-14 hours reading the book to completion as the book doesn't present pictures and tables as "filler."

If you want to learn about the most recent century this is a good book for you to read. If you want to read some good history books predating the 20th century I highly recommend 2 of Isaac Asimov's books, Chronology of the World and Chronology of Science and Discovery.

Some of the events mentioned in this book, just for reference are:

• Hitler and Germany
• Mao and his revolutions in China
• Technological innovations such as air conditioning which have caused huge changes to population movements and building construction.
• The discovery of penicillin.
• The invention of plastic.
• McNamara & The Diner's club - the first credit card.
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Martin Luther King
• Woodstock

The book was truly interesting for those who simply want to get a better grasp of what an amazing century it truly was. Think about this...The automobile, plane and highway system weren't around before this century. Just think about the implications that those three items have had on your life and business as we know it, on a country and global basis.