Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History

Aimed at students high school level and above, this three-volume set contains 221 essays arranged in eight chronological sections spanning early America to the Reagan era and somewhat beyond. Themes include the following: cultural groups, geography and cultural centers, urban centers, nature and the supernatural, political concepts, economics, social order and identity, the pursuit and exchange of knowledge, the arts and cultural expression, and finally, methods and concepts of history a section addressing intellectual constructs such as the history of ideas, biography, Marxist approaches, cultural studies, the social construction of reality, and Weberian approaches. The set features a lengthy (50 pages) but necessarily somewhat superficial chronology of political and cultural events, an alphabetical table of contents, and respectable bibliographies following each essay. Most of the 100 contributors are professors of history. Occasional b&w illustrations are included. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)