The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives - Hardcover

Beginning with the third volume, The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives (Vol. 1, LJ 2/15/99) has reduced the scope of its coverage from five to three years. Volume 3 contains biographies of 306 people who died between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1993, while Volume 4 features 313 individuals who died between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1996. Biographees "came from every race, ethnic group, socioeconomic class, and region of the United States" and made significant contributions to American life. Some were household names, others were known only to those in their professions, still others had obtained a certain notoriety. For example, these recent volumes profile actress Lana Turner, author Alex Haley, chemist Cyril Ponnamperuma, marathon swimmer Florence Chadwick, playwright Alice Childress, president Richard Nixon, religious leader David Koresh, and television personality Redd Foxx, among others. The biographees' major accomplishments are placed in historical and cultural context, and each well-written essay includes the usual biographical data as well as annotated bibliographies. Photographs accompany most entries. Each volume has a "Directory of Contributors" and indexes for occupations and subjects cumulative for that and previous volumes. This valuable, high-quality reference work is highly recommended for school, public, and academic libraries. Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Biographical information is always useful in libraries, and this contribution by the publishers of the "Dictionary of American Biography" is a very welcome one...The 306 people included in the book come from a wide variety of ethnic and racial groups and backgrounds, and their reasons for inclusion vary greatly. Their achievements have not all been positive, but they have been remarkable, even when they are not considered famous...Each signed entry provides a photograph, bibliography, and, where appropriate, information on the location of the biographee's papers. The quality of the writing ensures that the entries are not only informative, but entertaining, significantly more so than those in the competing work, the "American National Biography...Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives" is highly recommended for all types of libraries."
-- "ARBA (American Reference Books Annual)" 2002