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Since their inception with New York's Crystal Palace Exhibition in the mid-nineteenth century, world's fairs have introduced Americans to “exotic” pleasures such as belly dancing and the Ferris Wheel; pathbreaking technologies such as telephones and X rays; and futuristic architectural, landscaping, and transportation schemes. Billed by their promoters as “encyclopedias of civilization,” the expositions impressed tens of millions of fairgoers with model environments and utopian visions.Setting more than 30 world’s fairs from 1853 to 1984 in their historical context, the authors show that the expositions reflected and influenced not only the ideals but also the cultural tensions of their times. As mainstays rather than mere ornaments of American life, world’s fairs created national support for such issues as the social reunification of North and South after the Civil War, U.S. imperial expansion at the turn of the 20th-century, consumer optimism during the Great Depression, and the essential unity of humankind in a nuclear age.
I used this book in an online college course that I'm currently teaching. I like the fact that it is short and to the point (since it's often like pulling teeth trying to get undergraduates to read anything), with a great many images. It gives a good clear overview of various world's fairs while also delving a bit into how exhibits were interpreted/read by visitors. It was a great book to teach with since it gave such a clear and concise overview, that I was then able to supplement with numerous primary sources. Students told me that they found it easily understandable and also that they appreciated having a less expensive book to buy (always something to keep in mind when you're choosing books to assign to students). Additionally, I found that my students were able to have some very good discussions based on this text. In particular, the issue of how some exhibits further justified racism sparked quite a bit of meaningful dialogue among my students.