The Cambridge Encyclopedia - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521444292 ISBN 13: 9780521444293

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

The outstanding single-volume Encyclopedia Completely revised and updated, this new edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia contains more accurate, authoritative and up-to-date information than any other book of its kind. More comprehensive · Over 36,000 entries including: · 6,000 biographical · 4,500 geographical · 15,000 topics · 10,000 Ready Reference More up-to-date · Over 1,400 new or totally revised entries · All recent political, economic, technological and environmental changes More user-friendly · Over 1,000 illustrations, diagrams, maps and panels · 85,000 cross-references · 16-page full-colour atlas More international · Over 150 specialist contributors from all over the world More facts and figures · 128-page Ready-Reference – packed with essential facts and statistics

About this title

Review:

Remarkably, the fourth edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia manages to improve on its impressive predecessors. This is no small feat when you take a look at some of the reviews previous editions have garnered: The Daily Telegraph declared that "the essential facts are instantly available ... better written, more concise and intelligent"; the Independent on Sunday felt that it is "as comprehensive as a single-volume encyclopedia can hope to be"; Time Magazine wrote of "Thousands of enlightenments"; and the Mail on Sunday purred about "a superbly organised reference book."

The editorial content is clear and wastes no words. It manages to be accessible without over-simplifying, to a remarkable degree. Take the entry on Aesop as an example. After a pronunciation guide, we read:

"(?6th-c BC) Legendary Greek fabulist. He is supposed to have been a native of Phrygia and a slave who, after being set free, travelled to Greece. The fables attributed to him are anecdotes which use animals to make a moral point and are, in all probability, a compilation of tales from many sources. The stories were popularised by the Roman poet Phaedrus in the 1st-c AD, and rewritten in sophisticated verse by La Fontaine in 1668." There are cross-references to "fable; Greek Literature; La Fontaine; Phaedrus."

The same clarity and economy are maintained consistently throughout the whole vast tome. And it is massive: there are about 40,000 "separately identified people, places and topics" with thousands of those useful cross-references to link entries together, a 24-page colour atlas section, and 800 black and white illustrations to back up the text. The book really does succeed in its aim of being a standard reference for "home, school, library or office," useful for both adults and teenage students. --David Pickering

Review:

."..clean, uncluttered, and usually informative. ...this is a remarkably accomplished piece of scholarship by diverse hands. For its asking price, no library should forgo its purchase." ARBA ."..Overall this is an authoritative, thoroughly modern, attractively printed compendium, bargain priced, which will make a timely addition to any library's shelf, and a useful home companion as well." Library Journal "Thousands of enlightenments....The reader can learn how a clock works, complete with line drawing; observe the anatomy of waves; examine a detailed cross section of the human heart; and follow the nitrogen cycle...generously scatters maps throughout the text and supplies thumbnail biographies of almost everyone worth knowing since Adam." Time "A valuable addition to reference collections." Wilson Library Bulletin "This is a terrific one volume, one-stop reference, handy when you need that particular fact right now and don't want to go any farther than the stack of books you keep by your desk....Completely revised and updated to be the most comprehensive single-volume encyclopedia available, this truly international tome provides a succint and readable guide to the facts, issues, events, beliefs, ideas, and achievements that constitute the sum of human knowledge." Amazon.Com

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0521444292
• ISBN 13: 9780521444293
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 1357
• Editor: Crystal David