Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll

I have spent the last six months reading this book out loud to my youngest son as he takes a class in Rock and Roll in American Culture.  It has been overall fun to read about rock and roll as a phenomenon and to learn that there are trends in music that are directly tied to social and economic trends.  This book, however, is less academic and more fan based.  There are multiple authors for different artists and eras in music, which leads to a highly variable book in terms of quality.  One thing that is consistent across the book was excellent photographs of artists and bands.  The performance side of the business was well represented and the changes that have become so prevalent in music were not going on in 1992 when the book was published.  I think this would appeal to the fan, but not someone who wanted to learn more about rock and roll overall.  It is a collection of chapters rather than a book tied together with an overarching story.