1930s: Images from the 20th Century

Images of the 20th Century

by Nick Yapp, Hulton Getty (Photographer), Konemann (Publisher)

1920s through 1970s

Genres: Photography, History, Art, Nonfiction, Art and Photography, Fashion

398 pages, Pasta dura

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Nicholas Yapp 1938-

Reviews

[P.J. MacNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were five books in this series and I bought four of them together from "Past Times" about 20 years ago (the fifth book, which I would have got for free - the 20s - was annoyingly sold out at the time and I still haven't got it). This review is for all of them. They are all about an inch thick (400 pages) and are almost square so they don't sit comfortably alongside your other books, but they are otherwise rather beautiful.

It's all about the photos here. All are black and white. There is text, but there isn't all that much of it and what there is comes in three languages (English, French, German).

Back in the 80s I dabbled with photography as a hobby, and I appreciate images just as much as I appreciate words, so I own a lot of books of this sort. This is basically a social and economic history told mostly in pictures. Sometimes clever and quirky, sometimes sombre and touching. Some famous people and famous events are included, but mostly it's just people living their lives, often in difficult circumstances.

My favourite picture in this particular book is on page 147. A deckchair attendant at Barry Island in 1937 prepares for a busy day. It's hard to believe there were ever so many deckchairs in the world.

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing photo collection.

[Chy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine.

The 30s was a dark decade and a lot of the photographs in here reflect that. It’s also not a decade that holds my interest so 2 stars for me.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le mie foto preferite:
Clark Gable prepares for his role


e Seance in Berlin, 1930

[Jenna]

This has a good collection of not just iconic images but also images of "ordinary people" such as in sections like "earning a living" which made this a much better documentary evidence for what life just looked like back then.

[Susan]

A lot of great photos, but they are shown with almost no context. I use this as a resource whenever doing presentations on the 1930's. Out of the hundreds of photos, I can always find 3 or 4 that illustrate a point I need to make.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An invaluable and trilingual font of historical information and reflection. There are some wonderful moments captured here!

Some of the captions are not so great.

**Note, there is some nudity to be aware of in case you are a prude or considering this for children.**

4.7 Stars

[Bistra Ivanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чудесна!

[Alessandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rich collection of journalistic photos of the 1930s from the Getty archives. It's an excellent visual resource, although it doesn't explain the context of the photos very well.

[Nancy Raines]

Decades of the 20th Century

[Suzanna Juby · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delight to flip through. If you're a fan of this decade, you need this book.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book of photos divided into thirteen topics. Mostly Euro retrospective of the 1930's, with captions in English, German and French.

[YHC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great depression ....tough time for suffering!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating