The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684806444 ISBN 13: 9780684806440

Publisher: Charles Scribner & Sons, 2000

Synopsis

Each volume in this series presents original scholarly biographies of more than 500 notable Americans. Articles range from 1, 000 to 6, 000 words, contain a photo of the individual, and provide a concise summary of achievements. Also detailed wherever possible, are family members; educational background; names of spouses and marriage and divorce dates; addresses of residences; and cause of death and place of burial. Among those profiled in Vol. 4: Ron Brown, Jeffrey Dahmer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Clement Greenberg, Burl Ives and Richard M. Nixon. Each volume contains cumulative occupation and birthplace indexes.

About this title

From Library Journal

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.

Review

"Biographical profiles are presented for some 300 Americans, as well as a few foreign nationals who spent significant time in the United States. They reflect the diversity of American society, with attention given to celebrities and scientists, politicians and educators, authors and industrialists, and many others, even criminals (whose misdeeds are reported with a welcome lack of sensationalism)...The profiles are generally sympathetic to their subjects, but even handed in their treatment of individuals' strengths and limitations, achievements, and failures...Close attention appears to have been given to making entries more meaningful to the high school and college students who are the most likely frequent user of this series...The overall writing style is clear and readable, and the source lists accompanying each profile will direct readers to further information. This series is appropriate for high school, college, and university reference collections."
-- "ARBA (American Reference Books Annual)" 2002

Edition details

• Publisher: Charles Scribner & Sons
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0684806444
• ISBN 13: 9780684806440
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 649
• Editor: Jackson Kenneth T., Markoe Karen, Markoe Arnie