IMMIGRANTS

Part of the ``Travel Back Through Time with the Library of Congress'' series, these two U.S. history books draw upon the rich resources of a venerable institution for full color and b&w illustrations—vintage photos, engravings, posters, and memorabilia. Immigrants could actually stand alone as a history text, illuminating the American experience from 1870 to 1920 via the lives of its immigrants; the book's main defects are that the text seems written to fit the pictures, it uses an inappropriate (even irritating) present tense, and it adopts a ringing, patronizing tone of praise for the hard-working, long-suffering immigrants without delving into the complexities of their situations. Presidents is little more than a gorgeously illustrated trivia book; arranged by topic rather than chronologically, it skips blithely from one president to another, which may confound some less-informed readers. Perhaps due to its focus on individuals, it does, however, employ more arcane and interesting facts than the bland generalities found in Immigrants. Both books are pretty to look at but hardly profound. (Index) (Nonfiction. 8+)