Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, & Africa

Offering a thoughtfully prepared resource for high school-level students and above and for general readers, this four-volume set focuses on various aspects of history, economy, political organization, religion, daily life, conflicts, health, government, and arts and sciences in each geographical area under consideration. Each volume is devoted to a region: the Middle East (v.1), Africa (v.2), east and southeast Asia (v.3), and south, central, and west Asia. Each was brought together by its own volume editor, but the format is consistent. An introductory essay is followed by b&w regional maps, a reader's guide, and a chronology; and each volume concludes with a glossary, resource guide, country statistics, and its own index (the fourth volume contains the master index). Entries are signed and include cross-references and references. Within each volume, organization is in three chronological sections (e.g. prehistory to 1200, 1200 to 1900, and 1900 to the present)--and within each section, entries are sequenced alphabetically. The editors are experts in the respective regions and are affiliated as follows: Andrea L. Stanton (emeritus), Peter J. Seybolt, and Carolyn M. Elliott (all three: U. of Vermont); and Edward Ramsamy (Rutgers U.). Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)