Two of the most prominent magazines ever published in the United States have borne the name of Life, each vastly different in style and content but both unique mirrors of the tastes and images of their respective eras. The first, published from 1883 to 1936, offered polished humor and satire, and was renowned for the "Gibson Girl" (and "Gibson Man") illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson that embodied the standards of the turn-of-the-century young sophisticate. As this magazine foundered in the 1930s, publishing mogul Henry Luce purchased, for $96,000, its "name and good will" for his own Life, a slick, photo-oriented magazine published weekly from 1936 to 1972 and less frequently thereafter. During the peak of its influence from the 1940s through the 1960s, this second Life, a visual companion of sorts to Time, Luce's weekly newsmagazine, exalted the art of photojournalism to unprecedented levels by offering a graphic snapshot of American manners and...