Choice Review

Bernard Grun, a musicologist, and Wallace Brockway, an experienced creator of encyclopedias, translated Werner Stein's Kulturfahrplan, and added content relevant to the English-speaking world for the first edition of Timetables, published in 1975. The fourth edition includes material from 4500 BCE to 2004; the new entries are simply included at the end of the text of previous editions. The information is listed by year in seven columns labeled "History, Politics," "Literature, Theater," "Religion, Philosophy, Learning," "Visual Arts," "Music," "Science, Technology, Growth," and "Daily Life." The column format is beneficial because it allows users to place information within a historical context. The index is excellent and makes the work extremely usable. Although many of the entries are for specific people and events, others are included for more general subjects such as billiards, potatoes, and television. While brief, the information is sufficient to serve as a starting point for further research or to simply answer a trivia question. This work is an excellent chronological tool, and should be found in all libraries. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. S. E. Morris Purdue University