The 2000s in America

Despite its strained conceit that history divides neatly into ten-year periods, the "Decades" series offers a uniquely deep cross-sectional view of our country's politics and popular culture from (so far) the 1920s on. This newest entry is no exception. More than 400 alphabetically arranged articles present information on topics ranging from "Arcade Fire," "Desperate Housewives," and "Blagojevich, Rod" to "Religion and Spirituality in the United States" and "War on Terrorism." Each article opens with a pithy identifier and a capsule summary, closes with a reading list, and, in between, lays out significant facts or incidents with, where relevant, analytical comments such as impact statements for each case listed in "Supreme Court Decisions." Some articles also feature a sidebar or a murky black-and-white photo. Along with a superfluous separate index for the latter, the third volume includes lists of the decade's major films, awards, scandals, and other noteworthy items, plus an extensive time line and a skimpy subject index. As even that index only appears in Volume 3, though, and none of the volumes have a complete table of contents, readers in need of quick or broad access will find the online version (which comes free with purchase of the print set) easier to use. Moreover, "America" in the title really means "United States" (though Canada gets an occasional nod), and as even the broadest topics are covered in five pages or fewer, the level of detail varies immensely from article to article.