Martin Gitlin's Baby Boomer Encyclopedia is a fun read, especially if you fall into one of the categories that the Library of Congress has supplied as one of the subject headings for this work: “Middle-aged persons—United States—Encyclopedias.” Gitlin's stated purpose was “to broadly encapsulate the generation” (vii) and to “[inform] later generations about their Baby Boomer parents and [to give] Boomers insight into their generation.” (vii) With nearly one hundred entries, there is a lot of information to support these goals. Under the entry for “Games” (77) are descriptions of chicken fights and red rover. The TV show M*A*S*H has an entry, as does Ronald Reagan. The entire book is a short trip (see also “LSD” (119–20)) down that well-worn path, Memory Lane. Entries are generally at least a page in length, although some are longer. Most entries have at least two citations for “further reading.” A brief chronology opens the encyclopedia beginning with the end of World War II in 1945 and the birth of the first babies of the baby boom in 1946 and continuing through 2010 when the first baby boomers reached retirement age. An alphabetical list of entries is provided at the beginning, as is a topical list. Topics include “Arts and Culture,” “Events,” “Family,” “ Music,” and “Politics and Activism,” among others. Scattered black and white photographs provide illustrations.

As with any encyclopedia of this nature, there is always the problem articulated by Bob Seger: “So much more to think about / Deadlines and commitments / What to leave in, what to leave out” (Against the Wind, 1980). Gitlin indicates that he chose topics “based on relevancy to the generation as a whole” (vii). This is understandably a huge task and will, perforce, be rather hit or miss. At only 231 pages, it is nearly impossible to be completely comprehensive. However, while there are essays on various topics such as “Aging” (3), “Career Changes” (23), and “Marriage and Infidelity” (131) there are rather conspicuous absences. The Cold War is mentioned in passing but doesn't get its own entry. If worried parents coupled with school children practicing what to do when “the Big One comes” didn't shape the baby boomers, what did? Steve Martin, the Monkees, I Love Lucy, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Flintstones, and the campus shootings of 1970 are among the many notable gaps. The selections seem to reflect the author's personal preferences, less than a sense of scholarship. Happily, the “Space Race and Moon Landing” (178–80) made the cut, but Neil Armstrong does not merit his own entry.

The Baby Boomers Encyclopedia provides an interesting way to pass an afternoon and is useful to look up information on what may have been favorites for a reader, but other works are more useful to the reference collection. The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Tom and Sara Pendergast (St. James, 2000), and the Salem Press's titles The Fifties in America (Super, 2005), The Sixties in America (Singleton, 1999), and The Seventies in America (Super, 2006) are all good alternatives. These are multivolume sets and, as such, have more scope and depth. The ten-volume set American Decades, edited by Vince Tomkins (Gale, 1994–) is another good choice for information for researchers looking for information on those “middle aged persons” and the baby boom generation. Recommended as a supplemental purchase for most libraries or only for private collections.