75 Years: The Very Best of ‘Life’

Founded in 1936 by Henry Luce “to eyewitness great events,” Life was a popular weekly then monthly magazine whose claim to fame lay in its stable of extraordinary photographers, who included Robert Capa, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Yousuf Karsh, and a generous selection from their work is provided here. Life’s photographers offered up-close looks into politics, popular culture (especially Hollywood; featured are shots of the very young Marilyn Monroe and Steve McQueen), as well as of natural and manmade wonders. At times, Life’s photographers got remarkably candid shots of celebrities, such as Ed Clark’s of JFK playing peek-a-boo with his infant daughter, Caroline, and Milt Green’s of Elizabeth Taylor shortly after she underwent brain surgery. Sullivan and his team have culled the Life archives and wisely chosen to present photos and informative (and sometimes whimsical) captions topically rather than chronologically, including “17 From the Battlefield,” “6 Faces of the Poor,” and “5 Best Kids Photos.” Their only questionable decision was to print barely distinguishable miniatures of all of Life’s covers, which feature a significant number of now obscure and forgotten figures. Still, this romp through three-quarters of a century, via what might be termed America’s scrapbook, also contains some important history and revealing trivia. (Nov.)