AMERICAN CENTURY, VOLUME III, 1945-1965

I didn't know, or had forgotten, that U.S. forces once saved Ho Chi Minh's life. I didn't know, or had forgotten, that the FBI sent Martin Luther King, Jr., evidence of his sexual dalliances with a note suggesting that the great Civil Rights leader might escape scandal, if he killed himself. There are diamonds in the sand. There's also a lot of sand, and you'll notice. Unless, of course, a line like, "Thus began America's long commitment to China . . ." quickens your heart. Ira Claffey reads manfully, although he doesn't do voices, but then you get a lot of voices in a hundred years. Snatches of music at the end of each side of each tape are meant to set the mood. Tom-toms, for instance, open the section on Native Americans. But often the choices seem generic. The volume from which this text is extracted features 900 photos. Guess how many of these we see? Coffee-table books don't great listening make. B.H.C. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 99]