Covering the period from the seventeenth century, when trade between the United States and Latin America began, to the present, this historical dictionary provides information on the people, organizations, institutions, and events associated with the United States' presence in Latin America. Entries on people include those who visited and lived in Latin America, including sea captains and merchants, explorers, filibusters and adventurers, military officers, missionaries, government officials, businessmen, anthropologists and scientists, diplomats, and writers. Entries on organizations include business firms, missions, colleges, and naval and military bases.

The volume includes some 1,200 entries, arranged alphabetically. Additional features include a short chronology and an appendix listing of chiefs of United States diplomatic missions. Access to the material is provided by an appendix listing of subjects by occupation and a full subject index. Sources of additional information are given both at the end of entries and in a bibliographical essay.

Shavit's historical dictionary addresses the critical need in academic libraries for reference sources that provide undergraduate and beginning graduate students of American foreign policy with introductory information on the persons, events, and institutions that have influenced US relations with other nations. . . . a useful dictionary. "Choice"

Contact between the United States and Asia began in the 17th century when several Americans went to India as employees of the East India company. A myriad of sea captains and merchants, missionaries, consuls and diplomats, travelers, journalists, businessmen, engineers, naturalists, educators, and authors and artists followed, establishing a gamut of relationships between the United States and Asia. This volume provides, in alphabetical format, information about those individuals, institutions, and events that most affected the relationships between the United States and Asia. The dictionary focuses on individuals who contributed in a significant way to U.S.-Asian relations, especially those who left a written record of their experiences. The book covers all countries of Asia, except those of the Middle East, which are in a separate volume by Shavit.

Shavit has succeeded in making the information highly accessible as well as comprehensive. The front matter includes a list of abbreviations, place names, and a chronology. A short introduction then leads into the dictionary itself. References at the end of each entry note whether the subject is covered in general biographical dictionaries and list books and articles on the subject. A system of asterisks cross-references people, events, and institutions that have their own entries in the dictionary. Two appendixes--a list of the chiefs of American diplomatic missions to Asia from 1843 to 1989, and a list of individuals organized by profession and occupation--are added handy reference materials. A bibliographical essay and index complete the book. This impressive new historical dictionary is a useful reference guide for any student of American relations with Asia.

... aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts. . . . recommended for most libraries. "Choice"

Contacts between the United States and Africa began in the seventeenth century when American slavers arrived on the West African Coast. They were quickly followed by a multitude of colonists, traders, missionaries, soldiers, diplomats, engineers, scientists, authors, artists, explorers, and hunters, among others, as well as a range of American institutions, societies, and businesses.

This unique reference work provides in one alphabetical format a resource on more than 700 people, organizations, and events that have affected the relations between the United States and Africa from the 1600s to the present. The focus is primarily on those individuals and organizations that were actually in Africa and that have left written or visual records of their stay. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography of major sources, including information on existing manuscript material; a useful index completes the text. Of special interest to scholars of African studies, world history, American foreign policy, and colonialism, this comprehensive reference tool will be a valuable aid in understanding American involvement in Africa.

This historical dictionary covers the period from the eighteenth century, when the United States began trading with Russia, to the present. It includes entries, arranged alphabetically, on events and policies, summit meetings and treaties, people, organizations and institutions, and businesses involved in the gamut of U.S. relations with Russia and the Soviet Union. Each entry includes references, and the book also includes a chronology, appendixes, and a bibliographical essay.

This historical dictionary brings together information about the people, institutions, and events that brought the United States in contact with the Middle East and have played a significant role in shaping our relations with the area from the eighteenth century to the present time. The author's introduction presents an historical review of the role Americans and American institutions have played in the region. Entries include persons who have actually been in the Middle East, particularly those who left notable written or visual records; organizations and institutions that operated in the Middle East; and events that occurred in the area. Following a descriptive essay, each entry lists books and articles written about the subject, and where relevant, general biographical dictionaries in which the subject appears. Lists of abbreviations and place names, as well as separate bibliography and an index, are provided.

Public librarians do not usually see themselves as politicians. However, as decision-makers in an institutional setting, affected by a variety of pressures and conflicting interests, they are involved in politics in both the broad and narrow sense. Moreover, recent developments in the public library system have brought the librarian directly into the political sphere. Professor Shavit's study, the first major work on the subject in over 35 years, fills a major gap in scholarship on the public library in the political process and provides a detailed survey of the political context in which the modern library functions.

Shavit's book is an implementation analysis of the impact of federal aid on the organization and administration of state library agencies. He examines five state libraries in detail, supplemented by data from eight other states that have reported using federal funds for their libraries. Through the use of qualitative evaluation methods and unstructured interviews with the people involved, Shavit attempts to answer many of the questions surrounding his topic including implementation, the stimulus for institutional change, the extent of accomplishment with regard to legislatively mandated activities, how the agencies have been strengthened and improved, and the realistic expectations of the response to federal aid. Finally, he proposes recommendations for future policy regarding federal aid to public libraries and the role of state library agencies in relation to such aid.