Salem Press

		A worthwhile purchase for high-school, college, and public libraries, especially those already owning other titles in the series.

Booklist - American Library Association - Booklist is ALA's official review source for current materials worthy of consideration for purchase by small and medium-sized public and school libraries. The full text of Booklist's review of Great Lives from History: The 18th Century is reproduced below.

Booklist March 2006

Great Lives from History: The 18th Century, 1601-1700. 2v. Ed. by Larissa Juliet Taylor. 2006 1,193p. illus. indexes. Salem, $160 (1-58765-276-5). 909.7092.

Comprising the fifth installment in the Great Lives series covering more than 3,300 lives in total, this set contains 353 essays on 355 major figures, including 48 women. Some of the essays appeared previously in Dictionary of World Biography (1998-1999) and Great Lives from History (1987-1995).

From Fanny Abington, an English actor to Count von Zinzendorf, a German religious leader, each essay varies in length from 1,500 to 3,000 words and provides a brief summary of the highlighted person's importance followed by their birth and death (if appropriate) data. The major portion of the essay covers the figures early life, life's work, and importance in history. Following each essay are annotated further reading suggestions, cross-references to essays on related individuals, and reference to related articles in the companion publication Great Events from History: The 18th Century (2006).

The set is quite comprehensive. Each volume begins with a pronunciation key and a list of the contents of both volumes, followed by a list of the maps and sidebars, and maps of the world's major regions. In volume 2 are several appendixes: "Rulers and Heads of State" by geographic location; a chronological list of entries in the volumes; a list of articles by category index, from Archaeology to Women's Rights; and list of articles by country or region. The set concludes with an indexes of people and subjects.

Users will find easy access to major eighteenth-century figures in a variety of fields across all regions of the world. A worthwhile purchase for high-school, college, and public libraries, especially those already owning other titles in the series.

- Carol Harless