Since the first world's fair in London in 1851, at the dawn of the era of industrialization, international expositions served as ideal platforms for rival nations to showcase their advancements in design, architecture, science and technology, industry, and politics. Before the outbreak of World War II, countries competing for leadership on the world stage waged a different kind of war—with cultural achievements and propaganda—appealing to their own national strengths and versions of modernity in the struggle for power. World's Fairs on the Eve of War examines five fairs and expositions from across the globe—including three that were staged (Paris, 1937; Dusseldorf, 1937; and New York, 1939-40), and two that were in development before the war began but never executed (Tokyo, 1940; and Rome, 1942). This coauthored work considers representations of science and technology at world's fairs as influential cultural forces and at a critical moment in history, when tensions and ideological divisions between political regimes would soon lead to war.

Truman's book is a detailed account of one of the most famous world's fairs ever held, the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He discusses the planning stages of the fair, the creation of the White City, and the various exhibits and events that took place during the six months it was open. With numerous illustrations and photographs, this volume is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the history of world's fairs or the cultural significance of the Columbian Exposition. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This encyclopedia contains individual histories of each of the nearly 100 World's Fairs and expositions held in more than 20 countries since 1851. This is a thorough revision and updating of the book originally published as A Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions in 1990. The new entries include essays on the world's fairs to be held in Zaragoza, Spain, in 2008 and in Shanghai, China, in 2010. Many of the original essays have been revised and expanded. Topics covered include goods, tourism, nationalistic competition, architecture, art and culture, and "exhibition fatigue." Each fair history has its own annotated bibliography which provides, when possible, the location of relevant primary sources and comments on the quality of secondary sources. Appendices cover the Bureau of International Expositions, fair statistics, fair officials, fairs that did not qualify for inclusion, and fairs that were planned but never held. The book includes a foreword (and appendix) by Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, the secretary general of the Bureau of International Expositions.

The wealth of information in this collection should be mined for generations by social scientists and historians of science, technology, and industry. It not only introduces the literature to the scholar, but provides a guide to a varied range of exposition publications.

Excerpt from World's Fairs From London 1851 to Chicago 1893: Illustrated With Views and Portraits and Containing Authentic and Official Information of the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, and All Previous World's Fairs World's Fair New York 1853, Main Building World's Fair Dublin 1853, Main Building Wo'rld' Fair Munich 1854, Main Building 1 World's Fair Paris 1855, main Building World's Fair London 1862, Main Building World's Fair Paris 1867, General View World's Fair Vienna 1873, General View World's Fair Philadelphia. 1876, Ground Plan World's Fair Philadelphia. 1876, Main Building World's Fair Philadelphia 1876, Art Building World's Fair Paris 1878, U. S. Section. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.