People of the Century: One Hundred Men and Women Who Shaped the Last One Hundred Years

Millenniumism is upon us: the editors of Time magazine and CBS News have amassed an engaging, if mostly predictable, overview of the most important women and men of the past century. Though there are a few questionable choices (why, for example, is Pope John Paul II included, when John XXIII is not? Why does Richard Rodgers make an appearance here and not George Gershwin? Where is D.W. Griffith? Elvis? Frank Lloyd Wright?), generally the selections make sense--even Bart Simpson as Number 99. The writing and opinions mostly range from the reverent (William F. Buckley on Pope John Paul II or Peter Gay on Sigmund Freud) to the fawning (Peggy Noonan on Ronald Reagan). But every now and then the collection offers a pleasant surprise: Salman Rushdie presents an unromantic view of Mohandas Gandhi and Indian history that is filled with surprising facts; Reeve Lindbergh deals forthrightly and honestly with the isolationist and anti-Semitic views of her father, Charles Lindbergh. Other entries avoid the thorny issues: Lee Iacocca downplays Henry Ford's anti-Semitism and his union busting, although Iacocca's view is balanced somewhat by Irving Bluestone's astute piece on Walter Reuther, which features a photograph of the labor leader bloodied by Ford's goons. Lavishly illustrated, this is a fin de si cle coffee-table book, but not a comprehensive history. (Nov.)