Review: "Over 10 years in the making, American National Biography is a fascinating study of the people who have shaped the United States. Why replace the Dictionary of American Biography instead of merely updating it through supplements? Because the editors include new scholarship and people who were missed in the original, especially women and ethnic minorities. Numbering 24 volumes and containing 17,500 entries, the work offers readable, informative, and critical biographies for each subject, the location of their papers (if they exist), and selective bibliographies. Excellent indexes--subject, contributor, place of birth, and occupation--enhance use. This is an outstanding set that will be heavily consulted for many years to come."--"Outstanding reference sources 2000", American Libraries, May 2000. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA

Told more as stories than history lessons, the biographies in American National Biography, Supplement 2 recount the tales of all the different people who shaped America--leaders, composers, entertainers, entrepreneurs, writers, scientists, and outlaws. Each one written by an expert in the field and masterfully woven together to present the most accurate and up-to-date information, the entries bring forth a powerful narrative of America's past and some of the most important figures that went into its formation.As the second in a series, iSupplement 2r includes a fascinating miscellany of 450 lives, ranging from 19th-century eccentric Joshua Abraham Norton who died in 1880, to President Reagan and Rodney Dangerfield, who died in 2004. Supplement 2 includes hundreds of figures of note from the past not included in the original edition of the ANB or Supplement 1.New biographies not in the original set as well as articles first published in the ANB Online are included in the Supplement. The result is hour after absorbing hour spent exploring the literary worlds of Ken Kesey and Eudora Welty, the music of Tito Puente and Perry Como, numerous statesmen and politicians and many, many others.With over 500 new listings, bibliographies after each entry, and a cumulative revised index of occupations and realms of renown, Supplement 2 continues the ANB tradition of bringing the people who have meant so much to this country to the forefront.Visit www.anb.org for more information

American National Biography is the first new comprehensive biographical dicionary focused on American history to be published in seventy years. Produced under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies, the ANB contains over 17,500 profiles on historical figures written by an expert in the field and completed with a bibliography. The scope of the work is enormous--from the earlest recorded European explorations to the very recent past.

Told more as stories than history lessons, the biographies in American National Biography, Supplement 2 recount the tales of all the different people who shaped America--leaders, composers, entertainers, entrepreneurs, writers, scientists, and outlaws. Each one written by an expert in the field and masterfully woven together to present the most accurate and up-to-date information, the entries bring forth a powerful narrative of America's past and some of the most important figures that went into its formation.As the second in a series, iSupplement 2r includes a fascinating miscellany of 450 lives, ranging from 19th-century eccentric Joshua Abraham Norton who died in 1880, to President Reagan and Rodney Dangerfield, who died in 2004. Supplement 2 includes hundreds of figures of note from the past not included in the original edition of the ANB or Supplement 1.New biographies not in the original set as well as articles first published in the ANB Online are included in the Supplement. The result is hour after absorbing hour spent exploring the literary worlds of Ken Kesey and Eudora Welty, the music of Tito Puente and Perry Como, numerous statesmen and politicians and many, many others.With over 500 new listings, bibliographies after each entry, and a cumulative revised index of occupations and realms of renown, Supplement 2 continues the ANB tradition of bringing the people who have meant so much to this country to the forefront.Visit www.anb.org for more information

One of the most colorful and controversial figures in American intelligence, Herbert O. Yardley (1889-1958) gave America its best form of information, but his fame rests more on his indiscretions than on his achievements. In this highly readable biography, a premier historian of military intelligence tells Yardley's story and evaluates his impact on the American intelligence community. Yardley established the nation's first codebreaking agency in 1917, and his solutions helped the United States win a major diplomatic victory at the 1921 disarmament conference. But when his unit was closed in 1929 because "gentlemen do not read each other's mail," Yardley wrote a best-selling memoir that introduced-and disclosed-codemaking and codebreaking to the public. David Kahn de-scribes the vicissitudes of Yardley's career, including his work in China and Canada, offers a capsule history of American intelligence up to World War I, and gives a short course in classical codes and ciphers. He debunks the accusations that the publication of Yardley's book caused Japan to change its codes and ciphers and that Yardley traitorously sold his solutions to Japan. And he asserts that Yardley's disclosures not only did not hurt but actually helped American codebreaking during World War II.

In the 1870s, Gus Hornsby spread the game of American football around the world like an evangelist and helped establish it in the U.S. heartland. Hornsby seemed destined for greatness as a journalist, inventor, explorer and entrepreneur. His arrogance, greed and an intractable gambling addiction, however, drove him to criminality and cast him into obscurity. But this public ruin led to his greatest accomplishment in prison: personal redemption. Surprisingly, Hornsby's meteoric rise and fall intersected with towering influencers of the time, including the women and men who would pioneer the "first-wave" feminist movement in the United States. This book explores their unexpected connections and interweaves their stories--along with details of the first American football game in the Midwest--to reveal elements of a pivotal moment in American history, both in feminism and sports. More than a biography of a person, it is a story about America--brash, imaginative and seemingly limitless in resources and creativity, but overly self-assured and wildly reckless.

The present volume collects eighteen essays exploring the history of ancient Near Eastern studies. Combining diverse approaches—synthetic and analytic, diachronic and transnational—this collection offers critical reflections on the who, why, and how of this cluster of fields. How have political contexts determined the conduct of research? How do academic agendas reflect larger social, economic, and cultural interests? How have schools of thought and intellectual traditions configured, and sometimes predetermined, the study of the ancient Near East? Contributions treating research during the Nazi and fascist periods examine the interpenetration of academic work with politics, while contributions dealing with specific national contexts disclose fresh perspectives on individual scholars as well as the conditions and institutions in which they worked. Particular attention is given to scholarship in countries such as Turkey, Portugal, Iran, China, and Spain, which have hitherto been marginal to historiographic accounts of ancient Near Eastern studies. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Selim Ferru Adali, Silvia Alaura, Isabel Almeida, Petr Charvát, Parsa Daneshmand, Eva von Dassow, Hakan Erol, Sebastian Fink, Jakob Flygare, Pietro Giammellaro, Carlos Gonçalves, Katrien de Graef, Steven W. Holloway, Ahmed Fatima Kzzo, Changyu Liu, Patrick Maxime Michel, Emanuel Pfoh, Jitka Sýkorová, Luděk Vacín, and Jordi Vidal.

Celebrating the vast breadth and scope of Black excellence, Make Your Own History shares success principles exemplified by 120 Black unsung heroes who have blazed trails throughout American history. One hundred and twenty Black leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs share their wisdom and experience across the centuries in Make Your Own History, an inspiring collection of exemplary Black voices—past and present, familiar and unsung—which have the power to guide us today. Make Your Own History gathers together motivational quotes, historical contexts, and enlightening precepts from Black trailblazers spanning the eighteenth century to the present. These insights encompass twelve central themes: courage, self-discipline, compassion, perseverance, teamwork, integrity, industriousness, self-reliance, optimism, purposefulness, civility, and faith. These vigorous virtues will: *Deepen your courage through journalist Ida B. Wells’ strategic activism in the face of professional and personal peril . . . *Fuel your perseverance through tennis superstar Serena Williams’ journey to 23 Grand Slam singles titles . . . *Spark optimism through poet Langston Hughes’ work as an artistic and intellectual catalyst for the Harlem Renaissance . . . Through these perspectives and so many more, Make Your Own History serves not only as an uplifting historical resource, but also as a spiritual road map for the life-long journey of purposefully setting and meeting personal goals. These pioneers are more than historic examples of Black excellence; their unique lives highlight universal truths that will inspire all readers to achieve great success and make their own history.