AROUND THE WORLD IN 1776

Time lines have a reliable fascination and a state-of-the-world report on 1776 is an obligatory and probably inevitable preparation for the bicentennial. Boardman does his best to keep the operation readable, adding a good portion of eccentrics and curiosities to his roster of international notables and events. Nevertheless, this is still little more than an annotated list of statesmen, artists, inventors, etc., mixed in with thumbnail definitions (e.g., mercantilism) and a broad overview of the Enlightenment, enlightened despotism, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England, the slave trade in Africa, and colonialism in India and Latin America. Altogether an impressive feat of compilation, but while it might serve for incidental reference or browsing, the format is more likely to swamp students with facts than to open any new global vistas.