From Booklist
The entries are short, a page or two in length, and end with suggestions for further reading. The "Topic Finder" in volume 1 indicates the range of coverage--there are entries grouped under "Academic Freedom and Education," "Campaign Contributions," "Criminal Procedures," "Laws," "Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court," "Property Rights," and "Wartime and Terrorism," to name just a few broad topics. Among the timely entries one will find are Airport searches, DNA testing, Electronic eavesdropping, Hate crimes, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, and Ten Commandments: Posting. Numerous entries cover people, from John Locke to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg to John Ashcroft, who have helped frame the debate about civil liberties in one way or another. Cross-references are found throughout the encyclopedia. The lengthy introduction discusses the history of American civil liberties from its roots to the twenty-first century. In addition to the "Topic Finder," the first volume contains a case index. Appendixes at the end of the third volume include a few primary documents, a chronology of important civil liberties milestones from 1215 to 2004, and an extensive bibliography. Some entries are accompanied by black-and-white illustrations.
No other reference source truly duplicates this set, which is recommended for high-school and undergraduate collections and public libraries as good introductory material. Diana Shonrock
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