The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four social studies textbooks recently under consideration for use by the Memphis (Tennessee) City Public Schools. The textbooks, chosen at random, are: "World Geography: A Physical and Cultural Study" (de Blij and others, Scott Foresman, 1989); "A History of the United States" (Boorstin and others); "Economics and Making Decisions" (Kourilsky, West Publishing, 1988); and "Government in America" (Hardy, Houghton Mifflin, 1990). Each of the textbooks was examined critically in five areas: (1) readability level; (2) number of concepts presented and subsequent concept development; (3) development of a problem solving sequence of material assessing cause and effect, testing hypothesis, and drawing conclusions; (4) analysis of the six levels of questions via Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain; and (5) type of evaluation. Overall the study determined that the four textbooks only partially developed the qualities for which they were evaluated. A 21-item bibliography is included. (DB)