20th Century Pop Culture

The 20th century will be remembered for many things -- not least as the era in which American popular culture evolved to take a hold on the world. Written by a leading pop culture expert, the book charts the ebb arid flow of the most exciting cultural trends of the last 100 years, beginning with the birth of popular culture -- the first moving pictures and movie stars, the first mass-produced goods, the first dance crazes -- and leads the reader on a journey through the century as each of the various elements burgeoned, and developed, to become a massive influence on all aspects of 20th-century life. The various strands of pop culture are chronicled on a year-by-year basis, providing a diary of modern history from a unique standpoint. Significant news events of the day are also examined, with explanations of how they helped shape America, and the rest of the world.

Covering everything from ragtime to rap, from Woodstock to the worldwide web, from Sinatra to South Park, and from pogo sticks to Playstation, Twentieth-century Pop Culture is as fast-moving, colorful, and varied as the century it covers.