So many of the reference works reviewed here suffer from haphazard entries which reduce their value. In contrast, this Dictionary (more accurately, an encyclopedia) is a model of thoughtful distribution. Whatever the subject-Germany, NATO, intelligence and espionage-you can count on the most important topics being present. More than that, the definitions are crisp and to the point; they read as though written by humans, not computers.
Unfortunately, the human factor is also the Dictionary's weakness-for it's politically skewed. Politicians popular with liberals get treated with kid gloves (Jimmy Carter is praised as "widely respected" for his post-White House years) while those unpopular on the Left get much rougher handling (Richard Nixon is dismissed as "a virulent anti-Communist" and Dean Rusk's defense of the war in Vietnam "so ruined his personal credibility and popularity" that no "major institution" wanted him and he had to settle for a position at the University of Georgia). Along similar lines, Shafritz et al. call the PLO and Habash's PFLP "guerrilla" groups, while Begin's Irgun and Shamir's Stern groups get described as "terrorist."
Such political bias pervades the Dictionary, rendering nearly useless what would otherwise be an excellent volume. Indeed, there's something particularly obnoxious-and nineteen-ninetyish-about authors attempting to further their own agenda under the cover of a reference work.
