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Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History — Print

"This encyclopedia is unique in its focus and integration of cultural and intellectual history of the United States in a single reference work. The editors...designed a work of original, scholarly essays that provide historical background, topical analysis, and contemporary historiography on major and minor themes in American cultural and intellectual history from the Colonial period to the end of the twentieth century...This encyclopedia reflects contemporary scholarship and interpretation, and the bibliographies that follow every essay cite key books and articles published mainly since 1980...A useful, detailed index to all three volumes appears at the end of Volume 3, and there are essays with illustrations and sidebars that highlight specific themes. Students and researchers seeking surveys of related and varied issues and trends in cultural and intellectual history in eight to twelve pages will find this encyclopedia particularly useful because the essays offer description, analysis, and leads to additional resources...None of the competing titles include the broad and deep coverage available in this new encyclopedia...This work is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries."
-- Reference and Users Services Quarterly (Spring 2002)

"This handsomely designed three-volume set, part of Scribner's American Civilizationseries, aims to present the everchanging character and rich variety of American thought and expression from the 1600s to the present.
Taken as a whole, this work covers an enormous amount of multidisciplinary material. With more than 220 essays in its three volumes, it succeeds admirably in its breadth of coverage. An alphabetical table of contents in addition to the chronological one and a well-organized index provide easy access points to the information. The entries are readable, informative, and scholarly, and the lengthy list of contributors includes an impressive cadre of historians, scholars, and museum curators.
A valuable resource for understanding cultural and intellectual issues, ideas, movements, and institutions in their historical context, this encyclopedia will be a worthwhile addition to academic reference collections."
-- College & Research Library News (March/April 2002)

"This unique encyclopedia ... includes a remarkable range of entries... This work is highly recommended for students and researchers seeking an overview of major issues in American cultural and intellectual history."
-- Library Journal (2002)

"Only every once and again, and that very rarely, does a reference tool come along that excites the senses while informing sentience. The Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History (EACIH) is one such tool. Each volume is an education in itself. Certainly home-school teachers will not want to be without this tool on the shelf. In fact, it is hard to think of any group (librarians, philosophers, and newspaper and magazine editors) who will want to be without these very fine volumes. ... what really makes EACIH a marvel is its painstaking evenhandedness--especially in the essays where rancor and disagreement seem ever ready to explode. In the essays on liberalism and conservatism, for example, care has been taken to let both sides make their case. The effect in plain--readers are left to draw their own conclusions. For students interested in intellectual history and philosophy (many colleges or universities require at least one such course) these volumes will prove a godsend."
-- ARBA (2002)

"An example of a focused topical encyclopedia, this is one of the best of its kind and follows another excellent Scribner's set, Encyclopedia of American Social History, also edited (in part) by Cayton and Williams. ...The 221 essays in these volumes will prove thought-provoking and valuable departure points for further study and reflection... This set should be used in connection with other sources. It is well constructed to provide the necessary referrals, with excellent bibliographies, cross-references, and a substantial index in the third volume. It should be acquired by academic libraries."
-- CHOICE (November 2001)

"...readers expecting a similarly excellent resource will not be disappointed...essays are accurate, scholarly, and interesting...Academic libraries and large public libraries will surely find this a very important resource, and a useful one."
-- Catholic Library World (October 2001)