Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
Editor/Author: Junius RodriguezPublication Year: 2007
Publisher: M.E. Sharpe
ISBN: 978-0-7656-1257-1
Category: history
Image Count: 104
Book Status: Available
Examines every effort to end slavery in the United States and the transatlantic world. It focuses on massive, broad-based movements, as well as specific incidents, events, and developments, and pulls together in one place information previously available only in a wide variety of sources.
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This ambitious new three-volume encyclopedia from distinguished reference publisher M. E. Sharpe has taken a systematic approach to the study of emancipation and abolition with the lofty goal of examining "every effort" to end slavery in the United States and the transatlantic world. If editor Junius Rodriguiz has not succeeded in that monumental task, his effort has surely provided a comprehensive and valuable reference work for interested readers of the topic and students of American history. Written from an approach that assumes that the transatlantic world has common characteristics that transcend regional differences, the encyclopedia provides a unique and in-depth examination of broad-based movements, significant figures, and important events over the struggle to end slavery in one exhaustive reference tool.Organized alphabetically, the encyclopedia's nearly 450 signed articles focus primarily on emancipation efforts and abolition movements in the United States and provide cross-references and bibliographies. Contributors include a distinguished group of more than 100 international scholars. Articles are informative and interesting and written in a style that will appeal to secondary and undergraduate students. Useful features of the set include an introduction and overview of the topic, maps, a topic finder, and a generous supply of high-quality illustrations and photographs. One of the encyclopedia's best features is the inclusion of a wide variety of primary source documents covering personal accounts, papers, legislation, court cases, newspaper editorials, speeches, and many others. No A-Z encyclopedia will please everyone, but Rodriguez's editorial choices have given organization and direction to an immense and complicated undertaking. His work will serve as the definitive reference encyclopedia on the topic for years to come, and as such, it is highly recommended for all school and undergraduate collections.
Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World -
Over the past decade Rodriguez has been one of the most prolific editors of encyclopedias concerning slavery in the New World (e.g., Slavery in the United States, CH, Nov'07, 45-1237). This three-volume set enters a crowded field of recent works on the general topic of slavery, as well as emancipation and abolition, including the Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition, ed. by P. Hinks and J. McKivigan (CH, Aug'07, 44-6591), and M. A. Klein's Historical Dictionary of Slavery and Abolition (CH, Sep'02, 40-0056). Nonetheless, this work does offer unique content, and its nearly exclusive focus on the 17th-19th centuries differentiates it from the other, broader sources. Furthermore, the third volume comprises nearly 100 primary documents of various sorts, including sermons, legislation, and editorials; no similar offerings appear in the other works. The encyclopedia's roughly 450 lengthy entries are arranged alphabetically. For readers unfamiliar with the subject matter, a "Topic Finder" lists entries under helpful headings such as "Feminist Abolitionists" and "Slave Rebellions and Rebel Leaders." The first two volumes are illustrated, and all three have a substantial cumulative index. The chronology is a bit sparse, but an extensive bibliography rounds out the text. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic and large public libraries; lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers and general readers. -- B. D. Singleton, California State University--San Bernardino
Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
