Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History

Gr 9 Up—This authoritative set analyzes the evolution of the political terrain of the United States from the 1500s to 2009. Since each of the alphabetically arranged volumes concentrates on a particular era, students can track the constants and vicissitudes of a variety of topics and their relevance to politics: civil rights, constitutional dilemmas, elections, policy-making, and persons. Articles are accompanied by a smattering of black-and-white historical prints, photos, and political cartoons, often poorly reproduced. Most of the signed pieces run from one to four pages, and are authenticated by comprehensive bibliographies and suggestions for further reading. Given the input of dozens of scholars, the earnest tone and polished style of the writing is remarkably uniform. Controversial material is covered with impartiality. For instance, in the section of the "September 11, 2001, Attacks" article covering the Bush administration's response, rather than stating opinions as facts, the author uses phrases such as "Many argued that…." Volume one contains a set table of contents; each volume contains a reader's guide that organizes subject matter alphabetically and provides page numbers, and a cumulative index.—Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Library, NC