Not so many pictures in this edition, but some excellent history writing especially on the 18th and 19th century (McPherson on the events around the Civil War especially). Not always complete on political history in the late 19th and early 20th century, but almost always excellent on cultural and social questions (could quibble on its characterization of 1920s fundamentalism and on other particular coverage) - especially the development of consumer society in the 20th c.