Like other sets in the UXL history series for middle school through high school, each volume in this new offering--Almanac, Biographies , and Primary Sources-- may be purchased separately. A set index is also available. The Almanac consists of 8 chapters, approximately 60 black-and-white photographs, sources for further study, a time line, a glossary, and an index. The first four chapters focus on England, where the first phase of the Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) was dominated by the coal-driven steam engine and textile machines. The last four chapters focus on the second phase, which occurred mainly in the U.S and continental Europe, from 1850 to 1940, and was driven by the internal combustion engine and electricity.The 25 essays in Biographies provide biographical information with an emphasis on each person's contribution or impact on the Industrial Revolution. Personages include economic philosophers (such as Karl Marx and Adam Smith); innovators (Henry Ford, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney); financial giants and robber barons (Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller); crusading journalists (Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell); and unionizer Mother Jones. More than 50 black-and-white photographs complement the text together with further reading, a time line, and index.Primary Sources offers 27 full or excerpted documents, speeches, or testimony from the period. The documents are arranged in four thematic chapters with each entry including an introduction, Things to Remember while reading the document, definitions of difficult terms, and a follow-up of what happened after the document was published. Among the documents are excerpts from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations and Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, letters from Luddites, newspaper accounts regarding the telegraph, and an excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court decision Northern Secu rities Co. v. United States, 1904. Forty black-and-white photographs, sources for further reading, a time line, and an index round out the Primary Sources volume. This is an excellent adjunct to American and world history units and classes on economics and labor movements. The primary documents meet the needs of student researchers. Recommended for school and public libraries.

Gr 6-10-A straightforward, useful resource. Almanac gives a good overview of how the periods from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment and changes in economic theory created the environment for the industrialization to occur. Other chapters discuss the advent of machines such as the steam engine, power loom, and internal combustion engine; the stages of the Industrial Revolution; and offer an excellent summary of the social and political changes that resulted. The authors also consider the role of the computer in modern life and discuss how some societies are now experiencing the rapid socioeconomic changes associated with the Industrial Revolution. Biographies gives accounts of 25 international figures including Adam Smith, Mother Jones, Samuel Gompers, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Cyrus McCormick, and Karl Marx. Excerpts from some of the most significant and controversial documents of the period are included in Primary Sources: The Sadler Report of 1833 (testimony by children of their experience as laborers in England); 19th-century Luddite criticism of the new technologies; and Adam Smith's laissez-faire economic philosophy as defined in An Inquiry into the Natures and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Background information for each document is provided and its impact on society is examined. The set includes helpful sidebars, time lines, and a glossary along with average-quality, black-and-white photographs and reproductions. Each volume includes its own index; a paperback cumulative index is also available. Students and teachers will appreciate how information is pulled together in this coherent source.-Madeleine G. Wright, New Hampton School, NH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.