The non-fiction book that I chose for my webpage is Picture History of the 20th Century-The 1970s by Tim Healey. This book provides a photographic historical timeline of 10 years of the world in 20 categories, spread out over 48 pages, with each section accompanied by a few paragraphs of informative text. To see this much recent history telescoped in a single book makes it easily and immediately understood. The book uses direct, informative language. This is highly appropriate for the teenage audience that the book is directed towards, for example, "Lasers also came into wide use. A laser is a device that produces a beam of intensely pure light." (Page 20, paragraph 2, lines 10-12.)
The Shakespearean quote "All the World's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances" from As You Like It relates to the book in the sense that the decade of the 1970s housed the rise and fall of many significant people, places, and cultural phenomena. For example, Richard Nixon's fall from grace after the Watergate scandal which resulted in his resignation. This shows that even a world leader has but a brief moment in the light. Juxtaposing Nixon's decline were the feminist movements that took place in many democratic countries, particularly in the U.S. and Britain. Although women had the right to vote in these countries, they were still not treated as equal to men, and were far too often discriminated against for being themselves. Through countless demonstrations and rallies, these women succeeded in changing the law when an Equal Rights Amendment banning discrimination due to gender was passed by the Senate in 1972. Women triumphed further throughout the '70s by having America appoint its first female generals in 1970, legalizing abortion in the U.S. in 1973, and Britain's first women Prime Minister being appointed in 1979.
Cover of Book
