Thousands of authoritative articles on: Poets, playwrights, novelists, mythology, folklore, the Bible, artists, musicians, historical personages, etc.

Long recognized as the supreme reference on world literature, Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia is the single-most complete one-volume encyclopedia available for those with a serious interest in the subject. More than 10,000 entries explore all aspects of literature from around the world: biographies of poets and playwrights, novelists and belletrists; plot synopses and character sketches from important works; historical data on literary schools, movements, terms, and awards; myths and legends; and more. Completely revised and updated, the fifth edition continues to expand on the diversity of today's canon, with greater attention to traditions from around the globe. In particular, this edition brings new focus to the changing landscape of world religion and culture, as well as to accurate reflection of contemporary reexaminations and interpretations, such as those of the Ottomans, Olmecs, and Umayyads. For more than sixty years, William Rose Benét and the editors who succeeded him have upheld the level of quality that distinguished the original Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia. Like its predecessors, this new edition will teach and delight, illuminate and expound, and enrich the pleasure of reading in countless ways.

The American West is an evocative term that conjures up images of cowboys and Indians, covered wagons, sheriffs and outlaws, and endless prairies as well as contemporary images ranging from national parks to the oil, aerospace, and film industries. In addition, the West encompasses not only the past and present of the area west of the Mississippi but also the frontier as it moved across each of the fifty American states, offering the promise of freedom and a better life to pioneers and settlers in every era. This authoritative, comprehensive encyclopedia is a rich source of information about these many characteristics of the American West, real and imaginary, old and new, stretching from coast to coast and throughout the country's history and culture.

An encyclopedia designed especially to meet the needs of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.

Leroy Brown, aka Encyclopedia Brown, is Idaville neighborhood’s ten-year-old star detective. With an uncanny knack for trivia, he solves mysteries for the neighborhood kids through his own detective agency. But his dad also happens to be the chief of the Idaville police department, and every night around the dinner table, Encyclopedia helps him solve his most baffling crimes. And with ten confounding mysteries in each book, not only does Encyclopedia have a chance to solve them, but the reader is given all the clues as well. Interactive and chock full of interesting bits of information—it’s classic Encyclopedia Brown!