mcilvaine.p65 452 College & Research Libraries September 2000 Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 Eileen McIlvaine This article follows the pattern set by the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M. Winchell more than fifty years ago and continued by Eugene Sheehy. Because the purpose of the list is to present a se­ lection of recent scholarly and general reference works, it does not pre­ tend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works is provided at the end of the articles. Code numbers (such as BC567) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books, 11th ed. (Chicago: ALA, 1996). Philosophy Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century Brit­ ish Philosophers. Ed. John W. Yolton, John Valdimir Price, and John Stephens. Bristol, Eng.: Thoemmes Pr., 1999. 2v. (xxiii, 1,013p). £550 (ISBN 1­ 85506-123-6). The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century Brit­ ish Philosophers grew out of the need to give some sort of recognition to many authors who contributed to philosophi­ cal thought in the eighteenth century but have been hitherto ignored, having been overshadowed by the “very great intel­ lectual richness of the century” (Introd.) represented by Locke, Hume, and Smith. Chronologically, the dictionary covers from John Locke (1632–1704) to Dugald Stewart (1753–1828); geographically, it encompasses the British Isles and pre­ 1776 colonial North America. Subjectwise, the dictionary focuses on authors who made contributions to the history of ideas or who “represented a non-specialist reader ’s notions about the way human beings perceived and responded to the sensible (or immaterial) world.” The dictionary aims to give readers “a glimpse of an author’s life, ideas and con­ tribution to the history of thought and philosophy.” Some one hundred scholars have participated in the making of the dic­ tionary. Primary research was conducted on many now-obscure writers, reading, analyzing, and summarizing original texts. The dictionary consists of some six hun­ dred entries on philosophers and anony­ mous philosophical works. A typical en­ try includes a brief biography, a discussion of the subject’s philosophical works, and a bibliography of philosophical writings by the subject, other works by the subject, and published secondary sources. A name index concludes the work. Eileen McIlvaine is Head of Reference in Butler Library at Columbia University; e-mail: mcilvain@columbia.edu. Although it appears under a byline, this list is a project of the reference depart­ ments of Columbia University Libraries and notes are signed with the initials of one of the following staff members: Barbara Sykes-Austin, Avery Library; Mary Cargill, Anice Mills, Robert H. Scott, Junko Stuveras, Sarah Spurgin Witte, Butler Library; Olha della Cava, Lehman Library; Elizabeth Davis, Mu­ sic Library; Alysse Jordan, Social Work Library. 452 mailto:mcilvain@columbia.edu Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 453 Suitable for research collections in the fields of philosophy and the humanities, in general.—J.S. Religion Contemporary American Religion. Ed. Wade Clark Roof. New York: MacMillan Reference, 2000. 2v. $225.00 (ISBN 0-028649-28-1). This collection of more than five hundred articles draws on the talents of well over two hundred established scholars to pro­ duce an impressive overview of popular religious belief and practice from 1965 to the present. As its editor emphasizes, the object of treatment here is “popular reli­ gious culture, pulling together beliefs, practices, ideas, symbols, traditions, move­ ments, trends, organizations, discourses and major leaders” (Introd.). The result is an excellent guide to the whole range of phenomena that constitute contemporary American religion with its mix of tradition­ ally established faiths, traditions from other parts of the world that have gained new prominence through changing immi­ gration patterns or new waves of conver­ sion in this country, and newer cults and systems of belief. Along with profiles of individual religious denominations, tradi­ tions, and organizations are extensive bi­ ographies of key leaders and discussions of major festivals, key theological and doc­ trinal issues, and general religious con­ cepts and treatments of broader social de­ velopments that have significant religious aspects, such as the civil rights movement, abortion, or home schooling. The cover­ age is indeed quite comprehensive. One would be hard pressed to find any signifi­ cant religious tradition or prominent reli­ gious figure in late twentieth-century America who is not at least touched upon in these pages. Each essay, which can range in length from a brief entry to as much as three or four pages, provides a basic intro­ duction to its subject, along with a few key citations to additional literature on the topic and, typically, numerous cross-ref­ erences to related articles elsewhere in the encyclopedia. A detailed index at the end enhances access to the material. This is an excellent work that any ref­ erence collection dealing with religion in America will want to acquire. And al­ though works of this kind, with a “con­ temporary” focus, are fated to grow dated before the passage of too many years, it seems likely that its solid, comprehensive coverage will ensure its continued value as a record of the diversity and complex­ ity of the religious scene in America at the end of the twentieth century.—R.H.S. Literature Oxford Companion to Crime and Mys­ tery Writing. Ed. Rosemary Herbert. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 1999. xxiii, 535p. $49.95 (ISBN 0-19-507239-1). LCCN 99-21182. This single-volume reference work “will serve … as a companion to the enjoyment or study of the crime and mystery genre” (Introd.), concentrating on works pub­ lished in English since the beginning of the genre, which is marked by The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). Although the selec­ tion of the entries is more focused on the British scene, the book shows the interna­ tional nature of the genre, including some non-English-speaking authors who have been translated into English, such as Georges Simenon, the Maj Sjöwall and Per Walhöö team, and Matsumoto Seicho, to name a few. In addition to the entries on notable non-English writers, it contains a history of the development of the genre in continental Europe, China, and Japan. Biographical entries are provided for 149 “iconic authors” who are defined as “ground breaking in their time, highly influential, or hugely memorable.” This category includes writers of a wide vari­ ety of styles, from Poe to P. D. James. A typical entry is rather short: the prolific Agatha Christie, for example, is given only two pages. Famous fictional charac­ ters, “giants or archetypes of the genre,” from Dupin to Dalgliesh, also are honored by a separate entry. They number eighty- five in all. Mycroft Holmes has a twenty- line entry, whereas his more famous brother occupies a page and a half. Many entries have a short bibliography, and all 454 College & Research Libraries September 2000 are signed. There is a useful general bib­ liography under Reference Works. Some American readers may disagree with the editors’ selection of authors and their characters. Mickey Spillane, Robert Parker, Sara Paretsky, and Amanda Cross and their characters are treated with their own entries, but some very popular and respected contemporary writers, such as Liillian Jackson Braun and Elizabeth Pe­ ters, appear only within other headings, such as Animals and Archaeological Mi­ lieu. A comprehensive index traces a number of notes on authors not found under their names in the main section. Recommended for libraries with gen­ eral collections or where courses on de­ tective fiction or popular culture are taught.—J.S. Innes, Christopher. Twentieth-Century British and American Theatre: A Critical Guide to Archives. Aldershot, Hamp­ shire: Ashgate, 1999. 316p. $84 (ISBN 1-85928-006-8). LCCN 98-29265. This guide should be more properly titled “a critical guide to archives of selected individuals.” There are 175 collections (arranged alphabetically) from among the hundreds involved in modern British and American theater. The long, useful intro­ duction explains the selection process: only publicly available material was in­ cluded (found in more than a hundred archives in North America, Europe, and Great Britain), which eliminated many currently active people, and the authors excluded collections with only minimal amounts of material. The introduction explains that current research in the theater is moving away from “text-based criticism to the analysis of performance.” Thus, the collections described were selected because they con­ tained significant material relating to per­ formance style. Each entry has a brief summary of the individual’s significance and a description of the holdings in vari­ ous archives, with the useful editorial comments clearly indicated. State photo­ graphs in Gorden Craig’s collection at the Bibliothèque Nationale, for instance, are “highly evocative” (p. 74), and letters by Granville-Barker “give insight into dra­ matic aims” (p. 112). Clearly, compiling this guide has been a long process. Though the work was published in 1999, a note on the papers of Clare Booth-Luce mentions a set re­ stricted until 1997, with no indication of their current availability. There is a list of archives but, unfortunately, with no ad­ dresses, and the Mander & Mitchenson Collection is listed in Beckenham, North America. Individual plays mentioned in the entries are indexed by title, but there is no name or collection index so it is im­ possible to look up an archive to see what collections it has. Despite these few drawbacks, this is a unique approach to theatrical material and should be very useful in larger the­ ater collections.—M.C. Games Parlett, David Sidney. The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford: Univ. Pr., 1999. 386p. il. $45.00 (ISBN 0-19-212998-8). LCCN 99-229056. This is a companion volume to Parlett’s Oxford Guide to Card Games (1990; BK129). Although it aims to update and replace, to some degree, the History of Chess (1913) and the History of Board Games Other Than Chess (1952) by H. J. R. Murray, its pri­ mary aim is “to present an historical sur­ vey of positional board games, but ex­ tending the story to modern and proprietary games” (p. 7). The book covers board games from all times and all areas of the world, from the royal game of Ur, considered the oldest complete set of a board game, to computer chess. Although this work is not meant to be the book of rules, it is inevitable that it includes some basic rules of the game. The games are divided into four catego­ ries: race games, space games, chase games, and displace games. The nine­ teenth and final chapter is devoted to “Today’s Games” that “advance or ex­ pand on a traditional idea.” The interna­ tional family of chess games and their variants are discussed in two chapters. Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 455 Numerous illustrations and diagrams are included to make it easier to under­ stand the game discussed. Bibliographic notes accompany each chapter, and there are a detailed general index and a separate game name index.— J.S. Music International Dictionary of Black Com­ posers. Ed. Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. Chi­ cago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999. 2v. (xxxi, 1,273p.) il. $270 (ISBN 1-88496-427-3). LCCN 99-214303. Produced under the auspices of the Cen­ ter for Black Music Research at Columbia College, in Chicago, this major work pre­ sents information and critical assessments on the work of 185 composers, including twenty-one women, who reside in loca­ tions around the world. Aside from the commonality of their African heritage, the composers chosen represent two groups: composers of music for the concert hall, and composers in popular and vernacular musical forms and styles. For both groups, having a substantial corpus of work in commercially published or recorded form provided the basis for inclusion. Composers in the Western classical tradition comprise almost 50 percent of the entries. This high percentage repre­ sents the editor ’s attempt to correct the traditional marginalization of classical music by black composers in the concert hall. Without this policy, the number of composers in the vernacular traditions would have overwhelmed the selection. A few nineteenth- and early twentieth- century composers are included because of their historical or cultural importance. The editor’s introduction informs us­ ers on criteria and organization. The in­ troduction is followed by the Alphabeti­ cal List of Entries, which presents the en­ try names in the order of their appear­ ance in the text. Each name is accompa­ nied by titles of a few musical works, but without explanation, although most ap­ pear to be compositions for which the composer is best known. And the listing, Composer Names, Pseudonyms and Vari­ ants, provides cross-references to the name variants; there are no additional cross-references in the body of entries. Each entry begins with summary bio­ graphical information organized into categories (education, teaching career, military career, honors/awards, commis­ sions, etc.), along with a photograph or other relevant illustration. Comprehen­ sive lists of works, or selections for pro­ lific composers, organized by medium, follow in an alphabetical arrangement, with publication and/or recording infor­ mation, date of composition, year of pre­ miere, performing instructions, and other pertinent information. A bibliography of writings on the composer and a bibliog­ raphy of writings by the composer pre­ cede a listing of principal archives that house major collections or significant in­ formational files on the composer. A critical essay on the composer and up to four essays on the composer ’s work provide an interpretive critique fleshing out the preceding information. The essays were contributed by 105 scholars who, along with institutional affiliation, list of publications, and subjects of their essays, are listed at the end of the second volume. Other than the critical essays, the in­ formation was prepared by the Center for Black Music Research, drawing on its own database and working with the com­ posers (where possible), national biblio­ graphic databases, performing rights or­ ganizations, scholarly union lists, and so on. The combination of the center ’s re­ search and informational role and the scholarly and analytical perspective of the essays has created an important reference work for a significant body of compos- ers.—E.D. Art Frazier, Nancy. The Penguin Concise Dic­ tionary of Art History. New York: Pen­ guin Reference, 2000. 774p. $60 (ISBN 0-670-10015-3). LCCN 98-56089. In timely contrast to the comprehensive publishing program of the Grove Dictio­ nary of Art (see below) is this “concise” dictionary of art history, itself almost eight 456 College & Research Libraries September 2000 hundred pages long. But the description is nevertheless accurate, for despite its seeming length, the entries, which num­ ber two or three per page in double col­ umns, are succinct as well as wide-rang­ ing. There is a certain seductiveness in this brevity that leads the reader to wander through the dictionary’s pages with plea­ sure and pick up interesting knowledge along the way, even if the original pur­ pose had been merely to identify one date or definition in a work encompassing entries by artist, school, style, medium, period, movement, foreign term, and theme, among others. This book is the work of a single au­ thor who begins each artist’s entry with a quote either by the artist or about the artist by a commentator. Dates, national­ ity (all Western), medium and school (or period, if an artist), and discipline (or pro­ fession, if a critic, collector, historian, pa­ tron, or person or organization otherwise associated with the visual arts) are listed directly under the name. All entries in­ clude capitalized cross-references within the text and references to specific works of art, literature, and scholarship. There are no illustrations. Topics cover a range of study likely to be encountered in undergraduate survey courses in Western art, which makes this book a recommended purchase not only for academic art libraries, but also for stu­ dents themselves, who may not always be in a position to access the Dictionary of Art Online from home or dormitory. Although longer than the Oxford Dictionary of Art (BF90; new ed. 1997), which this work most resembles, the Penguin Concise Dictionary of Art History has fewer entries and lacks the chronological, thematic, and institu­ tional appendixes of that volume. How­ ever, it does have a detailed index that in­ cludes individual works of art and ties to­ gether all the locations of cross-references throughout the text. A six-page bibliogra­ phy is provided, as well.—B.S.-A. Grove Library of World Art: Grove Encyclopedias of the Arts of the Americas, edited by Jane Turner. London: Macmillan; New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 2000. 2v. In progress. Contents: Encyclopedia of American Art before 1914 (688p. il. $250 (ISBN 1-884446-03-5). LCCN 99­ 41596); Encyclopedia of Latin American & Caribbean Art (782p. il. $250 (ISBN 1-88446-04-3). LCCN 99­ 41595). These two volumes are the first to be pub­ lished in the ambitious continuation of the 34-volume Grove Dictionary of Art (1996) and Grove Dictionary of Art Online, a Web version inaugurated in 1999. The Encyclo­ pedias of the Arts of the Americas are the first of six projected print series encompass­ ing the art of Asia, Africa, Australia, Eu­ rope, and the ancient world, in addition to the Americas, which will include forth­ coming titles on American art after 1914, American Indian, pre-Colombian, and Canadian art. As with the online version, reviewed here in March 2000, these regional volumes update the articles produced for the dic­ tionary by their original authors, with edi­ torial staff taking on the task of updating the bibliographies by consulting the online Bibliography of the History of Art (BF43) and Art Abstracts (BF41) databases. New biog­ raphies, which include thirty California artists in the North American volume and twenty-five artists in the Latin American & Caribbean volume, are further enhance­ ments, as are hundreds of new illustrations in both black and white, and color. Coverage and scope follow the pattern of the original dictionary, albeit organized here on a regional basis, to include pa­ trons, collectors, and writers as well as artists, building types (skyscrapers make their appearance in this North American volume), cities with substantial artistic traditions (e.g., Havana and Medellín in the Latin American & Caribbean volume), and trends, influences, and art forms unique to the periods and places covered in these volumes. For libraries subscribing to the online version, the Grove Library of World Art is still a necessary acquisition. Although all of the textual revisions present in the print Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 457 series are eventually incorporated into the online version (revision dates are at the top of the online articles), it is the images that make up the major difference in the two formats. Each has different illustra­ tions: the entry under Frederick Law Olmsted in the North American volume has crisp reproductions of park plans for New York; Brooklyn; Riverside, Ill.; and Boston. None of these, nor any external image links, are provided in the online version. The McKim, Mead, and White article has three photographs in the book and fourteen links in the online database. Ofelia Rodríguez’s Landscape with Red Live Tree is referred to in the online text, but not illustrated there, as it is in color in the printed Latin American volume. It ap­ pears that both formats will continue to complement each other, one providing expanded means of access and function­ ality (it is now possible to search by date in the online file, for example) and the other offering the reliability of clear illus­ trations incorporated into the text. The series continues to be a welcome addition to Grove’s program of art reference pub- lishing.—B.S.-A. Political Science Binning, William C., Larry E. Esterly, and Paul A. Sracic. Encyclopedia of Ameri­ can Parties, Campaigns, and Elections. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1999. 467p. $99.50 (ISBN 0-313-30312-6). LCCN 98-46810. This encyclopedia of American elections and campaigns tries to provide a bal­ anced, instructive approach to the topic. Its definitions range from the elementary to the complex in order to “provide jour­ nalists, teachers, students and citizens with a comprehensive guide” (Introd.) to the specialized language of contemporary American politics. Entries are typically brief and arranged alphabetically with cross-references to related entries. Nearly all entries are followed by a short bibli­ ography of books and articles for further reading. A useful appendix listing presi­ dents, vice presidents, and party control of Congress from 1789 to the present is followed by a selected bibliography and an index. Topics are weighted toward contempo­ rary terms and issues. The Contract with America is defined, as is gender gap and its effect on the 1996 presidential election. Also included are brief biographies of major political figures, both historical and contemporary, as well as explanations of Supreme Court cases that have affected elections and campaign finance law. The longest section, under the term Elections, briefly details each presidential election and campaign held from 1788 to 1996. This encyclopedia’s strengths are in its accuracy, the bibliographies at the end of entries, the brief biographies of contem­ porary political figures such as Tip O’Neill, and its coverage and clear expla­ nation of the many Supreme Court cases that have had an impact on the political process. However, in its attempt at neu­ trality, the book fails to convey some of the context within which American poli­ tics exists. Entries for people such as Newt Gingrich and Lee Atwater lack critical aspects of the drama and intrigue sur­ rounding these figures. Safire’s New Po­ litical Dictionary (1993. CJ127) is a better choice for vivid descriptions of political terms such as gerrymander and dark horse. But the most glaring oversight in this encyclopedia is the lack of any mention of women politicians. There is only one main entry for a woman—Susan B. An­ thony. Certainly, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, Barbara Jordon, Eliza­ beth Dole, and Patricia Schroder, to name just a few contemporary politicians, are worthy of mention.—A.M. Sociology Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histo­ ries and Cultures. Garland Reference Library of Social Sciences, 1002, 1008. New York: Garland, 2000. 2v. Contents: Lesbian Histories and Cultures. Ed. Bonnie Zimmerman. lvi, 862p. $140.00 (ISBN 0-81531920-7). LCCN 99-045010; Gay Histories and Cultures. Ed. George E. Haggerty. xlvii, 986p. $140.00 (ISBN 0-81531880-4). LCCN 99-040905. 458 College & Research Libraries September 2000 The scope of this work—assessing both the historical and current state of gay and lesbian culture in the United States and around the world—is daunting. Not only have the editors risen to the challenge by producing an eminently readable, schol­ arly encyclopedia of vast scope, but they also have shown themselves to be sensi­ tive to the independent, though naturally related, development of lesbian and gay studies by dividing the work into two volumes. In practical terms, this means that some general topics are covered in both volumes with the difference being the author ’s perspective, whereas some specific topics appear in one volume and not the other. With nearly a thousand entries in Les­ bian Histories and about seven hundred entries in Gay Histories, totaling about two thousand pages, the work is larger than comparable recent encyclopedias such as Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian En­ cyclopedia (1998) or Encyclopedia of Homo­ sexuality (1990. CC277). Included are the requisite entries on gay and lesbian individuals (including living persons), organizations, move­ ments, and concepts. But the real depth and breadth of the encyclopedia is re­ vealed in its treatment of broader topics covered in articles on countries and aca­ demic disciplines viewed through the gay and lesbian prism and in the exploration of topics that are not gay or lesbian by nature but, rather, have a gay or lesbian dimension. Consider, for example, the following entries at the beginning of the S section in Lesbian Histories: San Fran­ cisco, Scholars, Science Fiction, Self-De­ fense, Separatism, Slang, Social-Construc­ tion Theory, etc. Intended for students, scholars, and the general public, the encyclopedia is easily consulted through either the alpha­ betically arranged entries or the Subject Guide, which lists entries by topic. All entries are signed, contain cross-refer­ ences to related topics, and conclude with a bibliography. It is a rich, well-conceived, and professionally executed reference tool, appropriate for any library.—O.dC. Handbook of Family Diversity. Ed. David H. Demo, Katherine R. Allen, and Mark A. Fine. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2000. 460p. il. $59.95 (ISBN 0-19­ 512038-8). LCCN 99-15341. This volume promises to address the evolving nature of the family in the United States from a pluralist approach, acknowl­ edging that changing demographics con­ stitute embracing a more inclusive defini­ tion of the concept of the American family. The editors dismiss outmoded notions that the “white, middle-class, heterosexual” family is the norm, the standard by which to compare other types of families, or even the ideal family structure in the twenty- first century. The handbook is divided broadly into chapters that highlight major issues and controversies in the history of family di­ versity; gender dynamics; family struc­ ture and diversity; racial, ethnic, and cul­ tural diversities; class diversities; and applications for working with families. However, although the editors compe­ tently explore racial, ethnic, and cultural diversities across families, discussion of these types of diversity within families is a particularly weak area that will require further attention as scholars and practi­ tioners attempt to discover new methods of meeting the needs of the growing num­ ber of interfaith, multiracial, and multicultural families across the country. Other topics that deserve more extensive treatment are adoptive and foster fami­ lies, multigenerational families, and dis­ abilities in families. To its credit, the Handbook of Family Diversity is especially strong in its discus­ sions of family dynamics within single- parent families, stepfamilies, and lesbian and gay families, unlike previous refer­ ence works that attempted to paint a com­ plete picture of the family diversity mo­ saic. Its discussion of education, policy, and strategies for working with families in clinical practice also are insightful. In addition, this work features a useful in­ dex and a valuable list of references at the end of each chapter. Scholars and practi­ tioners alike will find this volume useful, http:library.�O.dC Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 459 thought-provoking, and a welcome ad­ dition to the current body of literature on family research.—A. J. Women’s Studies Lightman, Marjorie, and Benjamin Lightman. Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Greek and Roman Women: No­ table Women from Sappho to Helen. New York: Facts on File, 2000. 298p. il. $45 (ISBN 0-8160-3112-6). LCCN 99-20682. This book identifies some 447 women of the Greco-Roman world and provides ci­ tations to the classical texts where they are mentioned as well as citations to modern works about them. It is “intended for all those interested in ancient women, from the novice student to the general reader and scholar” (Introd.). The entries range from one or two paragraphs to several pages. At the back of the volume, an al­ phabetical registry provides a guide to the women in the book, an extended bibliog­ raphy of ancient and modern works, a glos­ sary of less familiar Latin and Greek terms, and an excellent index, where one can iden­ tify all the vestal virgins, for example, or women associated with the island of Crete. The dictionary is beautifully illustrated with ancient coins, although, unfortu­ nately, they are identified only by the like­ ness of the women and not by place of coin­ age or approximate date. Recommended for libraries of all sizes that support re­ search in the classical world.—S.S.W. History and Area Studies Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture. Ed. W. J. McCormack. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. 686p. il. $99.95 (ISBN 0-631-16525-8). LCCN 98-05572. W. J. McCormack has met his aim to pro­ duce not an encyclopedia but, rather, a companion to entertain as well as inform (Introd.). Where else would one find an article on Handel in Ireland or a list of Irish booksellers. Individual biographies are kept to a minimum for “there is little point in duplicating matter which can be found in—say—the Dictionary of National Biography.” Rather, people are treated more often under collective headings such as classicists, Nobel Prize winners, Guinness family, Abbey Theatre, librar­ ies, archives, and music performers: wind players. There is little treatment of the Scotch-Irish as such. Articles not written by the editor are signed. Many of the longer articles, for example, Abstraction, Belfast, George Ber­ keley, Geology and Morphology, Meth­ odist Church, and Parnell Family, have a bibliography. The index is fifty-four pages long and a welcome addition. Moreover, the volume ends with a Select Bibliogra­ phy of Recent Publications.—E.Mc. Henderson, James D., Helen Delpar, and Maurice P. Brungardt. A Reference Guide to Latin American History . Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. 615p. il. $165 (ISBN 1-56324-744-5). LCCN 99-28766. This one-volume work offers a compre­ hensive overview of significant events in Latin America from the pre-Columbian era to the present. The book is organized into three parts. Part one is a chronology from 40,000 BCE to July 1999 arranged by both distinct years and historical periods: pre-Columbian, colonial, independence struggles, modernization, political pro­ test, revolutionary movements, democ­ racy, and neoliberalism. Emphasis is placed on events in the twentieth century. Part two is a topical chronology that de­ scribes historical events in more detail. It is divided into themes such as society, politics and government, economic devel­ opments, and culture. Part three is a col­ lection of some three hundred biographi­ cal sketches of key figures in Latin American history. Names listed in bold­ face throughout parts one and two indi­ cate inclusion of a biographical sketch in part three. Black-and-white maps throughout the text help define political and historical events in various eras. The book concludes with a selected bibliog­ raphy of books arranged to correspond to the thematic topics covered in the text. Finally, an extensive index lists the indi­ viduals included in the biographical sec­ tion in boldface type. http:Publications.�E.Mc 460 College & Research Libraries September 2000 Written by three professors of Latin American studies, the material is well written, readable, and informative. The authors have done an excellent job in or­ ganizing and arranging the text to pro­ vide the reader with easy access to a vast amount of historical information. This is a worthwhile resource for college and university libraries.—A.M. Lincove, David A. Reconstruction in the United States: An Annotated Bibliogra­ phy. Bibliographies and Indexes in American History, 43. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2000. 633p. $85 (ISBN 0-313-29199-3). LC 99-053148. This excellent bibliography, “the first comprehensive annotated bibliography of Reconstruction scholarship” (Foreward), annotates nearly three thou­ sand secondary works, including books, articles, and dissertations, on the Recon­ struction period in the South (1865– 1877). It is arranged by broad topic (his­ toriography, national policies, and regional studies) followed by sections on individual states. No single arrangement can satisfy every user. For example, those interested in Northern teachers working in the South will find much information in the section titled Aid and Education in the chapter on regional studies but must also use the detailed subject index to find all the local entries. But the ar­ rangement is logical, consistent, and un­ derstandable. The compiler also has included a chro­ nology of events, texts of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, citations to the various relevant acts of Congress, and brief descriptions of, and citations to, fed­ eral court cases. This is an exemplary ad­ dition to Greenwood’s sometimes erratic series and will be extremely useful in all academic libraries.—M.C. Sixties in America. Ed. Carl Singleton. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem, 1999. 3v. 907p. il. $315 (ISBN 0-89356-982-8). LCCN 98-49255. Historical Dictionary of the 1960s. Ed. James S. Olson. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1999. 548p. $95 (ISBN 0­ 313-29271-X). LCCN 97-2231. These dictionaries both treat the major events of the 1960s but are vastly differ­ ent in coverage and tone. Of the two, Six­ ties in America gives the broadest picture of the decade. It offers 554 signed entries ranging from brief, focused articles on subjects such as César Chávez and the Trieste Dive to nearly two hundred 2,000­ word surveys of topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Move­ ment, the Cold War, Vietnam, as well as surveys on communications, the economy, education, marriage and di­ vorce, science, medicine, and the space program. Entries are very well written with memorable black-and-white photo­ graphs on nearly every page. The survey articles are supported with some forty charts and graphs detailing the cost of liv­ ing, television viewing, and chronologies of medical and scientific milestones. All entries list cross-references and brief bib­ liographies of additional information. Appendices list major films by year, ma­ jor Broadway plays and theatrical awards, most-watched U.S. television shows, ma­ jor U.S. legislation, best-sellers and Pulitzer prize winners, popular music and notable songs, top-selling recordings, a science and technology time line, win­ ners of major events, a statistical look at the United States, and a time line. The appendices are extremely useful and even point up the only omission I could find: J. D. Salinger ’s stories are listed twice in the top five best-sellers for their year, and yet he is not included among the entries. The Historical Dictionary of the 1960s is ideologically quite different, and the au­ thor has an interesting view of the 1960s: “Few other eras in U.S. history have be­ gun with more optimism and ended in more pessimistic despair” (Pref.). The en­ tries are much shorter and are heavily weighted toward the Vietnam War (the author has published two other encyclo­ pedias on this topic), and include a great number of entries detailing different battles. Although there is considerable overlap with Sixties in America and many Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 461 of the articles seem impartial, there are some surprising editorial omissions. For example, there is no entry for school de­ segregation and, indeed, there are no en­ tries for education at all. There is an entry for Oral Roberts, but not for the Nation of Islam or the Black Christian Nationalist Movement. There is a brief entry for Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who successfully challenged compulsory school prayer, but her last name is misspelled throughout. Some of the entries seem incomplete. For example, the entry for New York Times Co. v. Sullivan begins: “The so-called Warren Court of the 1950s and 1960s justifiably earned its reputation as the most liberal Supreme Court in U.S. history. Its liberal point of view was particularly evident in civil liberties decisions …. [In this case] the Court ordered that public officials could not sue for libel unless they could prove that the publishing unit had made false reports with ‘actual malice.’ Whether the report was true or false was irrelevant” (pp. 330–31). This entry would have been more useful to students if it at least had identified Sullivan and given the back­ ground of the case. At one-third the cost of the other work, this dictionary is no bargain. Sixties in America, with its longer entries, photographs, and appendices, gives by far the better picture of the de- cade.—S.S.W. World War II in Europe. Ed. David T. Zabecki. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, 1254. Military History of the United States, 6. New York: Gar­ land, 1999. 2v. 1,920p. $175.00 (ISBN 0-8240-7029-1) LCCN 98-27981. Although one can hardly complain of a dearth of reference works on the Second World War, this new encyclopedia is a welcome addition to the literature. Pro­ duced by a team of more than 150 spe­ cialists from eight countries, it provides nearly comprehensive, concise, authori­ tative reference to the key events, indi­ viduals, issues, and organizations in­ volved in the European theater of the war. It also gives considerable attention to the causes and events leading up to the con­ flict, as well as to the postwar settlement and the Great Power tensions growing out of it. Although the primary emphasis is on military affairs, an impressive amount of attention also is paid to politi­ cal and social affairs. Within each of the six sections (social and political issues and events; leaders and individuals; units and organizations; weapons and equipment; strategy, tactics, and operational techniques; and battles, campaigns, and operations), concise, clearly-written articles ranging from one or two paragraphs to three or four pages provide comprehensive information on a broad range of topics arranged in alpha­ betical order. A brief bibliography of two or three key sources, usually in English, is appended to each article. Supplement­ ing this are five appendices: chronology; tables of comparative military rank; glos­ sary of acronyms, abbreviations, and for­ eign and military terms; Allied and Axis code names; and a select bibliography. A set of strategic maps is provided in each volume. As the preceding suggests, the strongest emphasis here is specifically on military history with much detailed sta­ tistical and other data on types of weap­ onry, troop strengths, etc. Most of the ar­ ticles are written in a manner accessible to a broad audience. This is clearly an authoritative and valuable reference. If one could have just one reference tool for the military history of the war, this would be an excellent choice, nor would it be a bad choice for more comprehensive coverage of the topic as well. As with any treatment of so vast a topic, of course, every reviewer will find some aspects or problems he or she would like to have seen treated in a dif­ ferent way. For example, it would be very useful to have an article synthesizing events in each country involved as an ac­ tor or victim in the war. Certainly, all the major players are present, but it would be convenient to be able to trace quickly the experience and situation of players such as Denmark, Belgium, or the Neth­ erlands. Moreover, although there is an admirable breath of coverage here, in­ 462 College & Research Libraries September 2000 cluding much more than is often found on East Central European affairs, insuffi­ cient attention is paid to affairs in the Balkans. An article summarizing the fate of the various components of Yugoslavia, or any mention at all of Bulgaria, would have been welcome. Lastly, the division of the book into sections appears to hinder rather than facilitate use, particularly given the absence of running heads. A single alphabetical listing probably would be easier. The latter problem is at least par­ tially offset by many cross-references and two indexes at the back of the volume. Clearly, this is an essential acquisition for any collection providing serious cov­ erage of the Second World War. It is cer­ tain to be valued by specialists as well as a more general readership.—R.H.S. Geography National Geographic Desk Reference. Washington, D.C.: National Geo­ graphic Society, 1999. 700 p. il. $40 (ISBN 0-7922-7082-7). LCCN 99-23549. Much more than simply a primer on ge­ ography, this handsomely produced ref­ erence work is an authoritative guide to the history of the planet, both physically and culturally. Its contents encompass a vast amount of information on a broad range of global topics presented artfully and with the full weight of the National Geographic Society’s imprimatur. Divided into four parts, the book be­ gins with a brief history of the science of geography and cartography and contin­ ues with discussions of planet formation, weather, landforms, and bioregions. Part III is devoted to human geography: how humankind’s interactions with the natu­ ral world throughout the millennia have led to modern civilizations. Individual chapters written by contributing geogra­ phers cover population, migration, and cultural, economic, urban, and political geography, as well as environment and society. Each part concludes with an an­ notated bibliography of sources for fur­ ther study. Part IV is a country-by-coun­ try description of the 191 independent countries counted in 1999 by the National Geographic Society “whose cartographic policy is to recognize de facto countries” (part IV Introd.). End matter includes a glossary, several pages of world maps, and an index. The book’s graphic design is both at­ tractive and engaging. Through the lib­ eral use of sidebars, graphs, photographs, and maps, the reader is presented with a lot of factual information without being overwhelmed by it. In a chapter on cul­ tural identity, for example, one can choose to read a sidebar on the evolution of Indo- European languages. Color graphics are used throughout to enhance the chapter texts, which tend to be brief. Intended for a general audience, the material is written in a clear, concise style. Because the text does not shy away from technical scientific terminology, a useful glossary helps translate terms such as aphelion, the point on the Earth’s ellipti­ cal orbit at which the sun is farthest from the earth. With its wide range of infor­ mation and up-to-date maps, this re­ source will be a valuable asset to both aca­ demic and public libraries.—A.M. New Editions Homophones are words pronounced alike, but different in meaning and spell­ ing; homographs are words spelled alike, but different in meaning. Both are hom­ onyms. James B. Hobbs has gone through Webster ’s II and III unabridged dictionairies (AC13–AC14) and the Ran­ dom House unabridged, 2nd edition (AC12), to double the number of words included in this, the third edition of Ho­ mophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999. 318p. $32.50; 2nd ed., 1993. AC75). The volume now includes 7,149 homo­ phones and 1,469 homographs. Linguistics: A Guide to the Reference Lit­ erature, compiled by Anna L. DeMiller, has grown with this second edition to 1,039 entries published 1957 through 1998, with a few from 1999 (Englewood, Colo.: Librar­ ies Unlimited, 2000. 396p. $65; 1st ed., 1991. BD3). Of the five hundred new entries, about fifty are for Web sites. Selected Reference Books of 1999/2000 463 1999 saw publication of the final alpha­ betical volume of Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie (DBE) (Munich: Saur. 644p.). Band 11, just published in two volumes, contains the Nachträge and the Personnenregister, with cross-references to treatments in other articles as well as the main article (Munich: Saur, 2000. 1,323p. 398DM per volume). The compilers, Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi, of the first edition of the Dictionary of Imaginary Places re­ quested information on places not in­ cluded. There were enough responses and new entries to merit publication of a new edition (New York: Harcourt Brace, 2000. 755p. il. $40; 1st ed., 1987). The compila­ tion still is restricted to places in books and films that can be visited, which means no heavens, no hells, nor places of the future. The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (DDD), edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. Van der Horst (Leiden: Brill; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999. xxxviii, 960p. $95; 1st ed., 1995) “discusses all of the gods and de­ mons found in the Bible” (Introd.) be they Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Ugaritic, Syro- Palestinian, Persian, Greek or Roman and assesses the impact of contemporary reli­ gion on Israel and the Early church by fo­ cusing on those gods that actually left traces in the Bible. “The present thor­ oughly revised edition of DDD contains some thirty new entries, a host of addi­ tions and corrections to articles from the first edition, and important bibliographi­ cal updates” (Pref.). Archives of Russia: A Directory and Bib­ liographic Guide to Holdings in Moscow and St. Petersburg, edited and compiled by Patricia Grimsted, Lada V. Repulo, and Irina V. Tunkina (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. 2v. 1,490p. $275) is the up­ dated and much expanded English-lan­ guage version of the Russian title, Arkhivy Rossii (Moscow: Rosarkhiv, 1997). “Both editions are based on the Archeo-Biblio- Base data files maintained at the Federal Archival Service of Russia (Rosarkhiv)” (verso). Congressional Quarterly has revised and updated to 1999 its Guide to Congress with the fifth edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2000. 2v. 1,354p. il. $39.95). The arrangement and the reference material— glossary of terms, Constitution, rules, lists of speakers, committee chairs since 1947, members of Congress, 1789–1999—are much the same as the fourth edition (1991. CJ193), just updated. The second edition of African States and Rulers by John Stewart (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999. 420p. $75; 1st ed., 1988) is now arranged geographically rather than geopolitically and covers up to the end of 1998, including the chronol­ ogy. The appendices are interesting: A, a table of all African states as they exist to­ day showing the troubles that have af­ flicted them since independence; B, a list­ ing of colonial powers showing entities they possessed; and C, a chart showing the dates of admission to the United Na­ tions. The index is to rulers. The Encyclopedia of Native American Re­ ligions: An Introduction, by Arlene B. Hirschfelder, is updated and revised (New York: Facts on File, 2000. 390p. $65; 1st ed., 1992. BC567). According to the back cover, “in this edition, new or updated information has been included on such topics as national and state legislation …, religious rights in the military, sacred sites, sacred use of tobacco, and court cases involving the participation of non- Indians in Native American religious cer­ emonies.” Updated, too, is the bibliogra­ phy, Further Reading. Walford’s Guide to Reference Materials is now beginning an eighth edition with vol­ ume 1: Science and Technology, compiled by Marilyn Mullay and Priscilla Schlicke (London: Library Association, 1999. 687p. £135). Out of a total of 7,584 entries, seven hundred are new and many have been re­ vised. All formats are included. Subject ar­ eas of expansion include telecommunica­ tions, multimedia and digitization technol­ ogy, alternative medicine, sports medicine, and palaeopathology. Besides the Author/ Title and Subject indexes, there is an Online and Database Services index.