Letters of the Century

by Lisa Grunwald

Encapsulating the people, places, events and trends that shaped our nation during the last 100 years, this book arrives in time to be a major gift book of the season. Beautifully illustrated and produced, it offers more than 400 letters from both famous figures and ordinary citizens, creating an extraordinary chronicle of our history and an essential volume for any family library. A collection of fascinating letters by Americans, famous and obscure, chronicles a century of life in the United States, from Mark Twain's side-splitting, hilarious letter of complaint to the head of Western Union, to an ecstatic letter from a young Charlie Chaplin upon receiving his first movie contract, to Einstein's warning to Roosevelt about atomic warfare, and a young Bill Gates begging hobbyists not to share software, so innovators can make some money, as well as Mark Rudd's "generation gap" letter to the president of Columbia University during the student riots of the 60s. "Immediate and evocative, let