The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia

Gr 9 Up–The first four volumes of this alphabetically arranged set are a collection of articles describing the events and history of various U.S. crimes and punishments, from the Salem Witch Trials to the Enron scandal. Each book contains a complete alphabetical listing of the set's contents. Volume One also offers a chronology from 1275 to 2012 and a reader's guide that groups the one- to four-page articles into broad categories such as biographies, crimes, legal documents, the history of the criminal justice system, most dangerous cities, and court cases. The signed articles feature topical subdivisions, are enhanced by black-and-white, informatively captioned photos, and conclude with cross references and further readings. Volume Five presents primary-source materials dating from 1609 to 2011. These include documents relating to a Plymouth Colony adultery case, Nat Turner's jailhouse confession, and Nixon's presidential pardon. This volume concludes with a thorough glossary, a resource guide, and an index for the entire set. While not an absolutely necessary purchase, the set could be useful where social issues are part of the curriculum.—Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS