Dictionary of American History 10 volume Set 3rd Edition by Stanley I. Kutler

This 2003 edition contains 4,400 articles, 1,200 photos, and 252 maps and includes 8,940 new topics and 1,400 rewritten articles. These cross-listed and newly-illustrated entries of 100-8,000 words are aimed at college students and reach into the future with a 1500-word essay on "9/11." Volume nine, a wonderful addition, contains archival maps and primary documents (with introductions) such as the anonymous story (c. 1745) of the league of five nations (Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas); an excerpt from Francis Grund's Americans in their Moral, Social, and Political Relations (1837); and Henry Ford's "Advice to the Unemployed in the Great Depression" (1932). Volume nine's other distinctive feature is a division of the Dictionary into chronological chunks that correlate entries, maps, and documents with relevant chapters in three Wadsworth textbooks: American Passages (2000), The American Past (2001); and Liberty, Equality, Power (2002). A six-page guide provides tips on historical research. The over 2000 contributors are from American academies. One caution: the dictionary does not contain biographical entries.

References such as the 1965 Encyclopaedia Brittanica or Scribner's Bicentennial-era Dictionary of American History (2d ed.) have inspired loyal readership for decades after their publication. Now in its third edition, the Scribner dictionary continues to grow, expanding from the six-volume first edition (1940) to the eight-volume second (1976) to a full ten. (Volume 9 consists entirely of original documents and period maps, while Volume 10 is an index.) The new set is 20 percent larger than the 1976 version, is illustrated for the first time with some 1200 photos and 252 maps, and employs more cross-referencing. But for those who cherished the second edition for its fluent writing and factual impeccability, the important question is whether the content has changed. For one thing, there are fewer articles (4,434 vs. 6,425 in the second edition), but many original entries have either been consolidated with others under different headings or, if they were pulled, been archived elsewhere.