Johnson, Dinah. All Around Town :The Photographs of Richard Samuel Roberts. Henry Holt, 1998. ISBN 0-8050-5456-1. $15.95. 32 pp. A 4+ NF Reviewed by Mary Warner If history excites you and you love to look at old photographs, this book is for you. All Around Town is a collection of photographs taken by Richard Samuel Roberts (1880-1936) in the 1920s and 1930s. Roberts chronicles African-American life in Colombia, South Carolina. The author has taken a unique blend of fact and speculation with the text to create interest in the old photos. The photos are nicely placed on well decorated pages with just the right amount of text to spark the imagination and let the photo tell the rest of the stories. Johnson has selected a variety of photos that both children and adults will find interesting. This is the perfect book for families learning about the past—getting excited about history and the realness of people gone before. They are just like us, with the same wants, needs, and desires, the same sorrows, joys, and passions of living. All Around Town is recommended for anyone who wants to take a tender journey to the South Carolina of the ’20s and ’30s and get acquainted with some of its people.
