This is a series of essays on the role and importance of LIFE Magazine from 1936 to 1972, when the magazine helped shape the American experience through its photostories and writing. The authors of the various essays probe the methods and roles that the magazine employed in reflecting and shaping attitudes about the rest of the world and our involvement in it (especially during the years of WWII), the atomic age, race and gender, and the changing society of the 1960's. I think my greatest surprise was the idea that American attitudes against homosexuality were relaxed and temporarily put aside during the WWII years, as evidenced by the songs, movies and advertising of the times. I don't entirely buy this idea, but the author does make a strong case, and the advertisement from LIFE on page 186 is particularly amazing for the times. Some of the articles are written in an ivory tower academese that blunted the impact of the ideas at times (in other words, parts of it bored me to tears). But whether the writing improved or I got used to it (probably both), by the end of the book I was fascinated, and looking forward to returning to my perusal of my LIFE collection, looking for examples of the authors' premises. My only other quibble is that for an examination of a photography magazine, the photos shown in this book are pretty sparse. ( )