This lively collection of 154 outstanding photographs, selected from more than five million in the picture library of The New York Times, spans the twentieth century. Here, as in the Times itself, photography's gaze is omnivorous. Included are vivid pictures of both world wars; of presidents, mayors, dictators, and celebrities; of Beatles fans and Halley's comet; of victims and perpetrators, riots and disasters; of Bill Bradley on the court and Willie Mays sliding into home - and a great deal more.

Underlying them all is the gripping immediacy that makes news photography not only an indispensable presence in the daily paper but a vital part of history.