The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought

There has been a spate of encyclopedias published in the last few years focusing on Africa: Oxford University's Africana and Encyclopedia of Africa, Gale Cengage's New Encyclopedia of Africa, and Routledge's Encyclopedia of African History are all similar in scope, with a focus on history. But in this distinctive set, Irele and Jeyifo (both at the African and African American studies department at Harvard) seek to provide a broad view of African thought from the continent and its diaspora in the Americas and Europe and attempt to cover all that has contributed to its world view, including historical figures, philosophers, literature, social movements, and religion. Two hundred contributors offer about 350 signed, alphabetically arranged entries, all of which are followed by bibliographies and accompanied by a few black-and-white illustrations. Volume 1 also has a list of all entries, while Volume 2 includes a topical outline of the entries under 12 headings (e.g., Philosophy, Politics and History, Social Sciences, and Social Issues). BOTTOM LINE Although a reader could argue with the content of individual entries (the entry on "Abolitionism" focuses almost entirely on Great Britain and ignores the course of the movement in the United States), the well-researched and readable content along with the attractive layout and quality binding will entice scholars to purchase their own sets. Highly recommended for academic libraries supporting African, African American, or philosophy studies.—Rosanne M. Cordell, Indiana Univ. Lib., South Bend