The African American National Biography

by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, L.H. Moore, Lawana Holland-Moore, et al.

The African American National Biography presents history through a mosaic of the lives of thousands of individuals, illuminating the abiding influence of persons of African descent on the life of this nation from the arrival of Esteban in Spanish Florida in 1529 through to notable black citizens of the present day.

Available initially as a handsome eight-volume set containing over 4,000 entries written and signed by distinguished scholars,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195160193
• ISBN13: 9780195160192
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 5568 Pages
• Weight: 3.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 10.5" x 16.0"

Customer Reviews

The definitive African American biographical dictionary

The African American National Biography comes close to its promise - a single, definitive source for biographical information about every significant African American. Each of more than 4,000 entries include citations for further reading and obituaries, where available. Many also include photographs. The entries themselves are well written, and long enough to explore the lives in detail. There are two significant problems, however. Many entries have already become dated, and in the process, lack critical biographical information. For instance, the entry on Sam Gilliam fails to mention his 2005 retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the massive accompanying catalogue. That catalogue is the most detailed look at his life and work. This may be related to the considerable amount of time it has taken for this work to be published. The binding of this set is glued, not sewn. For a title that retails for $100 a volume, and that will be heavily used in public libraries for the next couple decades, this is simply unacceptable. I'm sure that I'll be sending my library's copy off to the bindery in five or ten years at the most. If not for the above issues, I'd give this title five stars. I just hope that the second edition, these issues are resolved.