Thorough, but by necessity, selective, this revision of the 1974 edition includes entries for 1,000 Americans who have made significant historical or cultural contributions to American life. Most of the subjects are deceased, but there are entries for living presidents, writers, Supreme Court justices, and others. More than 80 biographies have been added to this edition and hundreds revised to make this the most current, comprehensive, one-volume dictionary of American biography in print. Each entry is divided into two parts. The first is a chronological, objective description of the person's life, providing facts and dates. The second part is an essay written by a prominent scholar who specializes in the period or subject. This second part of the entry is what makes the Encyclopedia of American Biography unique compared with the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography (1995) or The Concise DAB (1990). The in-depth analysis provides a context in which to evaluate the subject's place in American history. Each essay is completed with a citation to a book that the author thinks is the best to consult for more information on the subject. Several small annoyances with the work exist: there is no single list of the contributors, and there is no other means of access to the main entries--it would have been helpful to have an occupation index. With its reasonable price and the evaluative nature of the entries, the Encyclopedia of American Biography should provide for every library a nice bridge between the short, fact-based biographical dictionary and the longer monograph.
|
Linear Mode
