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Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. Edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton and Peter W. Williams. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. lxxviii + 2436 pp. $325.00/3 vol. set, cloth.
This hefty, three-volume encyclopedia is a superb resource for American cultural and intellectual and cultural historians. Well-written and beautifully illustrated, the 221 essays in this collection offer a fascinating introduction to the ideas, beliefs, and movements that have shaped America's past.
The first eight sections of the Encyclopedia, which are arranged chronologically, examine American history from the period of European settlement to the present day. Essays range from Barbara G. Carson's essay on "The Material Shape of Early American Life" (1:63-76), to Peter S. Onuf's explanation of "Federalists and Antifederalists" (1:177-86), to Clayborne Carson's study of the civil rights movement, "Race, Rights, and Reform" (2:123-32). The remaining nine sections of the volume examine cultural groups (for example, Irish Americans, gays and lesbians,...