# Time Life books... reliable references?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 10, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518 "2004-05-10T21:01:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518/1 "2004-05-10T21:01:59Z")

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I have aquired about half the WWII books from the Time-Life series. Lots of good pics, and a ton of information.

However, they are fairly old. I was wondering how they stack up as references.

Is the information in them still reliable?

Are they acceptable references for school papers and the like?

Thanks for the dope, folks!

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**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518/2 "2004-05-10T23:39:08Z")

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I used 'em as references in high school, and no one said boo to me. I suspect college professors might get a little snobby about it, but last I heard, the facts about World War II hadn’t changed so much as to make them obsolete. There are better sources, sure, but they’re not bad.

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518/3 "2004-05-11T00:05:46Z")

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I loved the Science and Nature ones when I was a kid.

I still have _Matter_ and _Energy_ (from the Science series), and _Early Man_ (Nature Series). The last one, especially, is obsolete, but I still keep them around for sentimental reasons.

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-life-books-reliable-references/244518/4 "2004-05-11T00:08:29Z")

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I have the whole Time/Life “This Fabulous Century” series, published in the early 1970s, and find them to be excellent and reliable sources.

Sadly, Time/Life now publishes Unsolved Mysteries, UFOs and Ghosts, and similar bollocks.