Encyclopedia Of World War I - 9781851094202

This five-volume reference is thoughtfully prepared and will be useful to a wide audience. Although not made apparent at the publisher's website, the set is published in two nearly identical print editions: the present work and the "student" edition (ISBN 1-85109-879-8). Buying both would be redundant. The differences seem to be page design (two columns in the non-student edition; one column with wider margins in the student edition); variations in the contents of the fifth "documents" volume; and some illustration variations. Each of the first four volumes begins with a section of 16 b&w maps; another 17 more specific maps are embedded in the entries, and a fair number of adequately reproduced b&w photos also support the text. V.1 also begins with four general essays overviewing WWI's origins, outbreak, the war itself, and its legacy. Following are alphabetically arranged entries pertaining to political, social, and military activities and profiling significant people in all of these arenas. Each entry is signed and includes references and cross references; length varies from a few paragraphs to many pages. The fourth volume contains supplementary material (a chronology, a glossary, and an essay on historiography). Rounding out the set, volume 5 presents 195 documents arranged in chronological sections, each document introduced by the volume's editor, Priscilla Roberts (history, U. of Hong Kong). General editor Spencer is a retired military history professor, formerly affiliated with Virginia Military Institute, and a seasoned author and editor. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)