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THE LIST OF LISTS
MILLENNIUM - CENTURY - DECADE - YEAR |
Millennium Poll Winners
The results are in. Amazon.com customers have chosen their favorites of the millennium in
books, music, and video. Wide-ranging and well-balanced, the lists include works by
Shakespeare, Stephen King, and Ayn Rand; music by the Beatles, Mozart, and Miles Davis;
and films such as The Wizard of Oz, The Godfather, and Star Wars. (It bears noting that
the Bible received the most votes among books, but we had to leave it off our list because
it was not written within the past 1,000 years.) We’ve also compiled tallies for the
top author, musical artist, and director, based on the total votes each received for their
various works. Dig deep and enjoy!
The Best Books of the Century
What becomes a classic most? Convening in the literary equivalent of a smoke-filled room,
Amazon.com's editors haggled over the 100 finest fiction and nonfiction titles of the
century. Some months later, they emerged with a delicious--and judicious--mix of great
books.
The Best Music of the Century
The past hundred years of recorded music have seen enormous changes brought on by
technology, evolving tastes, and new musical styles. Amazon.com's Best of the Century
music lists were chosen by our editors with an ear toward innovation, lasting influence,
and cultural impact.
The Best Videos of the Century
From nickelodeon to movie house to multiplex, boob tube to big screen, movies and TV have
conveyed this century's most galvanic mass entertainment. Amazon.com's editors have
selected the Best of the Century to mirror the artistry, technical innovation, and
cultural change witnessed over these 100 years.
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| BOOKS ABOUT THE 20TH CENTURY |
LIFE
: Our Century in Pictures
by Richard B. Stolley (Editor), Tony Chiu
(Editor) / Hardcover - 423 pages (October 1999) / Bulfinch Pr
It's not just a grab bag of 770 arresting, touching,
scary, funny, alternately famous and unfamiliar images. It tells a semi-coherent story by
breaking up the century into nine "epochs," each introduced with a brief essay
by a leading intellectual light (David M. Kennedy, Paul Fussell, and Garry Wills do
especially well). |
ESPN
SportsCentury
by Michael MacCambridge (Editor), Chris Berman, David Halberstam
(Introduction) / Hardcover - 288 pages
(September 1999) / Hyperion
David Halberstam's introduction sets the tone for this
sweeping look at the players and moments that have defined athletic competition in the
1900s: "Throughout the century," he observes, "sports ... served as a
remarkable reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation--its diversity, its
hungers, its excesses, its rank commercialism." Attractive, comprehensive, and
neatly designed, ESPN SportsCentury is a classy tribute to the sporting achievements of
the last 100 years. |
The
Century
by Peter Jennings, Todd Brewster / Hardcover -
624 pages / Doubleday
TV tie-in, TV coauthor: these don't guarantee a book will
circulate, but this lavishly illustrated survey of the twentieth century--coauthored by
ABC News anchor and senior editor Jennings and longtime Life reporter (now contributing
editor) Brewster--should attract attention in most readers. A companion book to 27 hours
of television to be broadcast on ABC or the History Channel this year. |
20th
Century Day By Day: The Ultimate Record of Our Times
Hardcover - 1540 pages (November 1, 1999) / DK Publishing
This lavishly illustrated book is difficult to put down--not surprising,
when each turn of the page reveals gems such as "Model T ready to roll" (August
1908), "Empire State Building is world's tallest" (May 1931), "Ingrid
Bergman says she's no saint" (August 1949), "Sinatra and Mia are wed; go to
London" (July 1966), and "Pompidou Center: factory or museum?" (February
1977). , The 20th Century Day by Day is a beautiful book, perfect for browsing, that will
thrill any history buff. |
Life Millennium: The 100 Most Important Events and People of the Past
1000 Years
by Robert Friedman (Editor), Life Magazine (Editor) / Hardcover: 196
pages / Bulfinch Press;(1998)
What an interesting topic! Unfortunately, however, the list of the top
100 people of the millennium
seems distorted by misunderstood patriotism. |
Millennium
Year By Year: A Chronicle of World History from AD 1000 to the Present Day
Hardcover - 888 pages Limited edition (September 1999) / DK Publishing; ISBN: 0789446413
Here is a great book to commemorate the millennium...a retro view of the
last 1000 years! It tells the history of the last thousand years in the form of modern
newspaper articles. The articles cover everything from military history, political
changes, and scientific discoveries to cultural milestones and obituary notices. This
lavishly illustrated book is difficult to put down--not surprising, when each turn of the
page reveals tiny gems of history. This is a beautiful book, perfect for browsing, that
will thrill any history buff. |
National
Geographic Eyewitness to the 20th Century
by National Geographic / Hardcover - 400 pages
(1999) / Natl Geo. Society
Experience 100 years of monumental change from the unique
perspective an organization that contributed to, witnessed, and documented it all, in this
lavishly illustrated, one-of-a-kind family reference. 600 photos. This is a rich
compilation of photographs, essays, and timelines, breaking the 20th century up into
decade-long sections such as "The Age of Big Business" (1900 to 1909) and
"Challenging the Establishment" (1960 to 1969). |
Century
Makers : One Hundred Clever Things We Take for Granted Which Have Changed Our Lives over
the Last One Hundred Years (OUT OF PRINT - LIMITED
AVAILABILITY)
by David Hillman, David Gibbs / Hardcover - 216 pages (1999) / Welcome Rain
The selection of items depicted to represent everyday stuff that we take for
granted is very insightful. Further, and most interesting, are the strange facts behind
the creation, development, and mistakes that led to these incredible inventions.
Educational and witty and extremely good visual design. |
20Th-Century
Dreams
by Nik Cohn, Guy Peellaert /Paperback - 224 pages (999) / Knopf
Who introduced Babe Ruth to Albert Einstein, and why? Who
was privy to the pact between Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray, the romance of the
artist formerly known as Prince and Princess Di, and the fate of Marilyn Monroe? Not only
is Peellaert and Cohn's extravagant and provocative fantasy amusing, it provides a welcome
antidote for the rash of more portentous end-of-the-century roundups. |
Great
Events of the 20th Century
by Time Magazine (Editor) / Hardcover - 192 pages (April, 1998) / Time Life
As usual, Time editors mounted a nice compilation of 20th century events
with great prose and fabulous photographs from Time´s archive. |
Icons
of the 20th Century: 200 Men and Women Who Have Made a Difference
by Barbara Cady / Hardcover - 418 pages (1998) /
Overlook Press
Who becomes a legend most? For more than two years, a
panel composed of such arbiters of culture as Leo Castelli, Rita Dove, Bruce Jenner, Joyce
Carol Oates, Daniel Schorr, Gay Talese, Pierre Trudeau, and Eli Wallach pondered that
question and came up with a list of the 200 most important icons of the 20th century.
One can hardly think of a better way to take stock of the dramatic events,
advances, and--arguably--declines that have shaped the human experience over the past 100
years. |
People's
Century: The Ordinary Men and Women Who Made the Twentieth Century (OUT OF PRINT - LIMITED AVAILABILITY)
by Godfrey Hodgson, P. Smith (Editor) / Hardcover - 640 pages (April
1998) /
Times Books
This companion volume to the twenty-six-part PBS documentary is a journal of
our age. It tells a tale of ten tumultuous decades - not from the towering vantage point
of princes and presidents but from the modest perspective of ordinary people who found
themselves swept up in dramatic events of historic proportions. Thousands of personal
recollections have been blended into a powerful narrative and enhanced by photographs,
vivid illustrations, and detailed maps. |
People
of the Century
by Dan Rather / Hardcover - 448 pages (1999) /
Simon & Schuster
This is the century that split the atom, probed the
psyche, spliced genes, and cloned sheep. Plastic, the silicon chip, and rock-and-roll were
invented. Airplanes, rockets, satellites, televisions, computers and atom bombs were
built. Traditional ideas about logic, language, learning, mathematics, economics, and even
space and time were overthrown and radically refashioned. Presenting the one hundred most
influential leaders, artists, intellects, and heroes who shaped history. |
20th
Century Revolutions in Technology
by Edward Nathan Singer / Hardcover - 435 pages
(May 1997) / Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
This book is as fine an overview of science and
technology as one is going to find . A fine book on its own . However it really shines as
a reference work when reading other more detailed (confusing !) books on specific subjects
in the sciences. You will find many interesting tidbits as well as enough information that
you will want to read it again.
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WEB SITES DEDICATED TO THE
MILLENNIUM - CENTURY - DECADE - YEAR |
20th Century
Inventions
How an explosion of inventions changed our lives in the 20TH Century. A ThinkQuest
Project.
(URL: library.thinkquest.org/21798/data/tqmainsite/alphabet/)
The Most Important 20th Century Invention Survey Results
The Lemelson-MIT Program, polled 300 high school
students and 300 of their parents to ascertain which inventions of the past century they
believed to be the most significant.
(URL: web.mit.edu/invent/www/index99.html)
Millennium
Into 2000: A TIME Photo Essay.
(URL: www.time.com/time/reports/millennium/index.html)
100 Years...100 Movies
To commemorate the first 100 years of American moviemaking, the American Film Institute
has embarked upon an unprecedented celebration—AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movies.
(URL: www.AFI.com)
Newseum's
Stories of the Century
The survey's contentious results suggest as much about how survey voters see themselves
today, poised on the brink of a new millennium, as they reveal about how the nation sees
the past 100 years. Some 36,000 people cast ballots in Stories of the Century: The Nation
Votes, sponsored by USA WEEKEND and the Newseum, the interactive museum of news. Both news
and history, it turns out, are in the eye of the beholder.
(URL: www.newseum.org/century/finalresults.htm)
Interfaces: The Century's Top 10
The world we experience is increasingly defined by the intermediaries
between us and our machines. Betcha can't make it through the day
without using all 10.
(URL: www.technologyreview.com/Hardware/wtr_11992,294,p1.html?PM=GO)
Millennium
CNN Perspectives Series
(URL: www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/millennium/)
Person of the
Century
From Time magazine.
(URL: www.time.com/time/time100/poc/index.html)
Milestones of the Millennium
100 chosen by the History Channel.
(URL: www.historychannel.com)
ESPN End of the
Century
Sports highlights for the last 100 years.
(URL: espn.go.com/endofcentury/index.html)
Individuals of the
Century
One century, 100 remarkable people.TIME has profiled those individuals who — for
better or worse — most influenced the last 100 years. They are considered in five
fields of endeavor; Leaders & Revolutionaries, Artists & Entertainers; Builders
& Titans; Scientists & Thinkers and Heroes & Icons.
(URL: www.time.com/time/time100/index.html)
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