The Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans. [signed] [first edition]

This oversized (10 x 12), profusely illustrated book offers encyclopedic treatment of the African American experience from African origins to present-day social and economic realities. In addition to the printed text, which is written at the high-school level, the book contains numerous photographs, diagrams, and charts. But what distinguishes the work from similar sources, such as the Encyclopedia of Black America ( LJ 5/15/81), is its 65 informative and clearly drawn maps. Prepared by Mattson, an experienced cartographer, the maps emphasize historical trends (e.g., "African Americans in the Wild West," "Plantations of the Ante-Bellum South," "Pre-Civil War Slave Economy"), while others furnish contemporary demographic data ("African American Families in Poverty, 1989") and distribution information ("Location of African American Newspapers"). Occasional factual errors mar the book. For instance, the now-discredited story that black surgeon and blood bank pioneer Charles Drew bled to death in 1950 because an all-white hospital refused to admit him is repeated as fact. Nevertheless, the atlas will be a valuable addition to school and public library reference collections.- Kenneth F. Kister, Tampa, Fla.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.