This accessible, alphabetically organized dictionary manages to impart a great deal of information on the Australian Aborigines in relatively short entries. Topics include significant people; places; cultural topics; and general categories as well as political and activist organizations and political acts and movements. Related entries are noted in bold within the body of the entry, with see also information in ... Read morecapital letters at the end of some entries. The volume begins with an informative introduction, which is followed by a note on orthography, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, and a detailed chronology. The bibliography, which rounds out the dictionary, is lengthy enough to require a table of contents and introduction. Arranged in rough subject groupings, it lists books in 4 main areas ("Reference Works," "Ethnography and Anthropology," "Thematic Works," and "Works by Indigenous Writers"), which are then further subdivided into 22 more discrete categories. This readable, informative book provides an excellent starting place for anyone seeking insight into the history of Australia's indigenous population. More introductory and less narrowly focused than The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture (2000), this is a sound purchase for most college and university collections.
Booklist
This reviewer would highly recommend this dictionary from the series. It is a well-written history of the Aborigines that updates their history through 2010.
American Reference Books Annual
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