Century: One Hundred Years of Human Progress, Regression, Suffering and Hope

Unlike any other book you may encounter, the sheer physical presence of Century is unique. With 1,120 pages and 1,072 images, this monster volume offers an informative, nostalgic, intimate and monumental insight into the last 100 years.

Century is a history of the twentieth century told in photographs. More than any other, the last century was one of unforeseeable advances, discoveries and victories as well as unanticipated atrocities and suffering, and it was the first century to have been entirely documented by the camera. Thus the chronological sequence of images takes us on a journey through the trenches of the First World War, the virgin flight of the Wright brothers, the rise of unspeakable political regimes, the antics of Buster Keaton, the odyssey into outer space, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Culled from sources all over the world, the photographs are immediate and thought-provoking. They depict people and events, both famous and unknown, from the worlds of politics and war, art and invention, culture and social history. Selected for their ability to tell the story in a dynamic way, some iconic images do make an appearance but most of the photographs are refreshingly unknown, even to the most jaded among us.

Accompanied by extended historical background information for every single scene depicted, as well as evocative contemporary literary and political quotations, Century is as much a historical education as an enlightening visual display of familiar and unknown times.

For those of you who experienced much of the twentieth century, this book will jog your memory and serve rather like a guide to a territory that you once explored, but will never be able to visit again. For those who did not, it will help you understand and appreciate the people and events that made us who we are today, making it a book for every household.

Conceived and edited by the former picture editor of London's Sunday Times Magazine, Century is the culmination of Bruce Bernard's thirty years' work in the industry.

"Open Century at any point and it is instantly, relentlessly gripping." San Francisco Chronicle

"Huge and hugely impressive." New York Daily News

"With a photo in nearly every one of this volume's 1,000 pages, this must undoubtedly be the most comprehensive visual account yet of the past century." Kirkus Reviews

"Century is a stirring way to see the 20th century out and welcome in the 21st." Entertainment Weekly

"The book's elegant design and crushing size is sure to turn anyone over ten into a couch potato." New Yorker

"This enormous, austerely beautiful volume lets its pictures tell the story — and they?re up to the task." People

A history of the 20th century told in photographs, this monster volume offersan informative, nostalgic, intimate, and monumental insight into the last 100years. Approx. 1,100 duotone & color photos.

A visual history of the 20th century, the photographs in this volume cover events which range from the hard history of politics to new inventions, the arts, society and fashion. The images have been drawn from international agencies such as Life, Magnum, Picture Post and Stern.