New York Times on Critical Elections, Vol. 1
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\ School Library JournalGr 10 Up—History in the making, as recorded by one newspaper. The collection of news articles, editorials, op-eds, essays, letters to the editor, columns, and news analyses provides overviews of 6 congressional and 15 presidential elections from 1854 ("Renewal of the Slavery Agitation—The Nebraska Bill") to 2008 ("Obama Takes Oath, and Nation in Crisis Embraces the Moment"). The pieces, also available through the newspaper's website, are tied together by excellent commentaries that provide historical background and impart a solid understanding of the relevant era. Most of the articles are full text (excerpts are clearly labeled) and are signed. The chronologically arranged, double-column text features a variety of headline fonts, relative to the importance of the original piece. Content focuses on early contenders in a given race, primaries, party conventions, campaigns, presidential change due to assassinations, and changes resulting from midterm elections. A few black-and-white political cartoons, captioned photos, and charts of state-by-state popular votes add value. Typos that appeared in the original pieces have been corrected, but spellings now considered archaic remain. The reasons why specific elections were considered "critical" are not outlined, but criteria for determining general inclusion are listed. Also, it is unclear why the election of 1960 is discussed six pages before the September 1957 dispatch of federal troops to Little Rock, AR, and the Sputnik launch in October of that year. Overall, however, researchers will find this title useful in understanding 150 years of U.S. politics.—Eldon Younce, formerly at Harper Elementary School, KS\ \
