From Library Journal
These two works significantly update the reference literature for the American War of Independence. Blanco, author of The War of the American Revolution: A Selected Bibliography of Printed Sources ( LJ 2/1/84), has assembled 800 entries written by 125 scholars that cover the war's significant participants, events, and other aspects that shaped the period. Especially good are the thematic essays on such topics as tactics, the war on the frontier, and the involvement of women, African Americans, and Native Americans. All entries are well written and are based on recent scholarship. Maps appear with some entries illustrating movements of the British, French, and American armies, and a glossary defines terminology. From this encyclopedia, one sees the American Revolution as a worldwide conflict. While Blanco illustrates the war's totality, Purcell presents an overview of 1500 British, loyalist, patriot, French, German, Polish, African American, and Native American men and women who participated in the conflict. Coeditor of The World Almanac of the American Revolution (Pharos Bks., 1992), Purcell presents a nice collection of brief, well-written biographical sketches covering the well known (Washington, George III, etc.), the lesser known, and the unknown soldiers, politicians, and civilians. Most entries include bibliographies, and 200 drawings will illustrate the final work. Both books nicely complement each other through their dissimilar approaches to the Revolutionary period, and they also update Mark Mayo Boaster III's Encyclopedia of the American Revolution ( LJ 9/15/66). Larger libraries, especially those with significant American and military history collections, need both works, while smaller institutions should consider the Blanco book for its wide coverage of the conflict.
- Stephen L. Hupp, Capital Univ. Lib., Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Stephen L. Hupp, Capital Univ. Lib., Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
