Oxford University Press American National Biography: 24 volumes

American National Biography is the first new comprehensive biographical dictionary focused on American history to be published in more than 60 years, and it is the largest reference project ever undertaken by OUP-USA. In chronological scope, the ANB ranges from the time of the earliest recorded European explorations up to the very recent past. The approximately 17,500 historical figures who are profiled come from virtually all walks of life. The ANB is destined to be the standard reference work of its kind well into the twenty-first century. Review A monument of historical scholarship. These biographical narratives, well-written and riveting, often read more like character sketches than dry, dusty history.--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard University The time has come for a fresh look at event-making men and women of the American past. The American National Biography...will be a work that every library must have and every scholar will yearn to own.--Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., City University of New York A once-in-a-lifetime publishing project. How lucky we are that it has reached such high standards in excellent scholarship, imaginative coverage, and intelligent commentary.--Joyce Appleby, President of the American Historical Association A significant event in American cultural history....It is the collective biography of the American people...and as such should be available in every school, university, and public library in the country.--Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University (Emeritus) [A]n impeccably edited work that aims at the highest standards of balanced historical perspective and scholarly accuracy.-- New York Genealogical and Biographical Record [A] masterpiece of scholarly distillation....American National Biography Online (ANB Online), with sophisticated search capabilities, learned but lively articles, internal cross references, up-to-date bibliographies, and links to external web resources, represents the benchmark for online scholarly reference tools. Erudite but accessible, this stellar scholarly undertaking is for anyone from the informed general reader to students from middle school on up.-- Library Journal netconnect With its coverage of people excluded from [Dictionary of American Biography] and its updated treatment of many others, ANB is an esential addition to the reference collection of any large public and academic library, even if the library already has DAB on its shelves.-- RBB/Booklist Although written to a high standard of scholarship, American National Biography is designed for the general reader. The writers and editors have sought to make each entry as clear as possible, yet have managed to do so without dumbing things down....The range of subjects is truly dazzling....Depth is not sacrificed to breadth....[A]n invaluable reference tool [that] is also likely to induce compulsive browsing.-- Wall Street Journal Not since putting a man on the Moon has an American organisation undertaken such an ambitious logistical project....These volumes are an absorbing panorama of the long, colourful American parade....[T]he essays are well-written and entertaining [and] the pages are strewn with little nuggets....[I]ts publication is indeed something to celebrate.-- The [London] Sunday Times American National Biography...offers a single, authoritative, current resource of high quality; a first resort that should find a place on the shelves of every aademic and public library-- CHOICE The editors have, in fact, set aside the older DAB and created an altogether new work....Nearly 40 per cent of the figures in the new ANB--6.802 persons--did not appear in the original DAB or its supplements....[T]he design of the ANB's editors to shorten the longer entries and lengthen the shorter ones was eminently wise....Carl Becker's article on Benjamin Franklin [in the DAB] remains a graciously written gem. Yet Leo Lemay's essay on Franklin in the new ANB, though shorter, is more