Bookshelf

In Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All (Crown, $25), James B. Twitchell uses an art historian's approach to showcase his collection of the most memorable and persuasive pitches of all time. "[These ads] may not make you gulp, but they did change the way we swallowed information about the world around us," writes Twitchell.

From the legendary huckster P.T. Barnum to such campaigns as Revlon's revolutionary Charlie woman, The Marlboro Man, Absolut's plays on packaging and Michael Jordan's nearly synonymous relationship with Nike, Twitchell depicts advertising throughout the 20th century. He deftly leads the way behind the seeming simplicity of the ad toward understanding the more complex social and economic issues surrounding the product and its message within the context of its day.