Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, 2nd ed. Edited by Harold E. Selesky. Detroit, Mich.: Charles Scribner’s Sons Thomson Gale, 2006. 2 vols. 1380 p. $230.00. ISBN 0-684-31513-0.

To begin research on a particular event, place, or person, students can use this new edition to read more than 1,700 entries reviewed and updated from the landmark “Boatner” edition of 1966 as well as new articles including “African Americans in the Revolution.” Front matter includes the Thematic Outline organizing the 800 longest entries into 20 categories such as “British Political Leaders,” “Naval Engagements,” and “Foreign Relations.” Most of the signed articles are short ending with a brief bibliography and “See Also” references. Some black and white reproductions of portraits and line maps illustrate the text. For events, dates are given. For persons, their birth and death dates are given, their importance such as signer, or French volunteer, or Loyalist officer. Appendixes include the signers of the Declaration of Independence, their state, their birth date and place, their age at signing, and their age at death; the Delegates to the Continental Congress, Members of the British Cabinet, General Offices of the Continental Army, and British Regiments. A page of calendars from 1775 through 1783 will help students see which day of the week the quotation was made, and a 57-page bibliography completes the book. While the print is small, it is not difficult to read and the information should be of interest to most average high school students as a starting point for more indepth research. It should replace the previous edition should you have it, or you could recommend its use for comparison with the original “Boatner.”