Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet

ABC-CLIO published Grossman's first edition of this encyclopedia in 2000. In addition to adding the cabinet officers of the two presidents since then, this edition reorganizes the entries by presidential administration rather than by department and expands the appendixes to provide more contextual information about the cabinet secretaries. Grossman has authored a number of encyclopedias covering subjects such as the Persian gulf war, the civil rights movement, capital punishment, the Native American rights movement, and political corruption in America. For each of the 55 presidential administrations, there are historical snapshots for each year that include major events and an introductory essay describing the cabinet. An approximately two-page entry on each cabinet secretary follows describing the person's life prior to entering the cabinet, an overview of his activities in the office, then his life after leaving government service. Each essay also includes a list of references for cited materials. There is an extensive bibliography but not a list a suggested readings for each entry. BOTTOM LINE This well-constructed and well-written encyclopedia would be an asset to academic and large public libraries. Although there are added materials in the second edition, the first edition should be sufficient for most libraries that already own.—Ryan Johnson, Univ. of Mississippi, Oxford