Isaac Asimov Presents from Harding to Hiroshima

Reminiscent of Frederick Lewis Allen's Only Yesterday, this readable volume makes the assumption that everything that happens is history. Thus Boardman, an advertising executive, covers not only such major events as the stock market crash of 1929, the Depression and World War II, but also matters of lesser consequence like women's hemlines in the '20s, '30s and '40s and happenings in the worlds of books, theater, movies, business and sports. There are accounts of the funeral of Rudolph Valentino, the first Academy Awards, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, the consecutive-games record of Lou Gehrig, the building of Hoover Dam, the repeal of Prohibition and life on the home front during World War II. A lively, entertaining book. (January 25)