Working Americans, 1880-1999: The middle class

Book excerpt: This is the second volume in a three volume set, the first of which encompassed the working class; the third will cover the upper class. Improvements over the first volume include an index, making this compendium more useful as a reference, and a discussion of how the author has defined the middle class. Each section deals with a decade and comprises cartoons, advertisements, posters, and photographs of families, workers, and working conditions, as well as portions of magazine articles and quotations, interspersed with information about significant events of the decade and bits of social and economic information. In addition, Derks (whose credentials are not stated) has written fictional family profiles (76 in all)--composites intended to represent the financial and social situations of families from an array of ethnic groups and occupations. c. Book News Inc.