The Encyclopedia of New England [Hardcover]

"Finally, a book that defines New England. And it wasn't easy. Just released, this massive volume weighs as much as our cat. It includes 1.5 million words in 22 thematic sections, written and edited by hundreds of experts. "The Encyclopedia of New England" includes 1,300 entries on important people, places, events, ideas and artifacts, plus 500 illustrations and maps on a total of almost 1,600 pages.
Edited by Burt Feintuch and David H. Watters (both from UNH), this reference of New England culture includes an introduction by poet Donald Hall. New England, as you will soon see, is much more than white steeples, stone walls and maple syrup." (from Seacoast NH website)

This is a great reference but, unlike many others, it is not simply a list of things with discussion. It is written as a carefully woven story of New England. It is fascinating and wonderful to read.

With 2011 marking the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, it is somewhat fitting an overdue review of the 2005-published "Encyclopedia of New England" is being done now. The successful "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture" (1989) and the in-process "New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture" (24 vol., University of North Carolina Press, 2006-??) served as the inspiration for this regional work on the Yankee North.

The single-volume reference contains 1,300 alphabetically arranged entries that are grouped topically. Agriculture, Education, Gender, Geography and Environment, History, Images and Ideas, Politics, Religion, Sports and Recreation, and Tourism are some of the 22 section heads. Each section begins with an introductory essay by a leading specialist(s) in that field and a table of contents. After each entry is a brief bibliography. The nearly 1,000 contributing scholars and authors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including academics, journalists, independent scholars, and experts from museums, industries, and historical societies.

According to the editors, what makes "The Encyclopedia of New England" "the first comprehensive work of its kind" (xviii) is its examination of the region's cultural history in light of present-day realities. They encouraged the contributors to write about their assigned subject as it exists today, and included entries on such modern celebrities as media personality Martha Stewart and emerging cultural forms and practices such as abandoned farms and Cambodian immigrants.

With "lived realities" or "lived experience, historically rooted" as its mantra (xvii, xx), the work endeavors to explain when, why and how New England cultural transformations took place over time. Thus, effort was made to include all the people of New England, from its oldest inhabitants to its newest arrivals. The examination of the six states "requires a pluralist vision" (xvi) and must include the study of the relation between their fixed regional identity and their constant changes, so the editors believe.

The 1,596-page encyclopedia includes over 500 black-and-white illustrations, maps, and tables; a full index; extensive cross-references; and introductory material that includes a Foreword by poet Donald Hall and the article "How to Use This Book."

The strengths of "The Encyclopedia of New England" are many. Because of its thematic sections and table of contents in each, it succeeds in being exhaustive but not overwhelming. Although a challenge for the editors (xix), the placement of entries and illustrations in certain sections proved logical and helpful. For instance, the entry on abandoned barns is in the Agriculture section but is cross-referenced in the table of contents to the Ideas and Images section. The choice and variety of subjects covered is also commendable. Additionally impressive is the encyclopedia's breadth and depth of historical scope (pre-Pilgrims to post-New England decline of the mid-twentieth century) and inclusion of the wide variety of people and ethnic groups that have helped shape the region's culture; it seems no stone was left unturned. Lastly, the encyclopedia is relevant. It cannot be accused of being a boring history book.

With superb scholarship and fascinating facts and ideas, weight (about three pounds) and price are the book's only possible weaknesses. Maybe one day the publisher will offer a digitalized copy and for a lower price?

Authoritative and entertaining, this invaluable resource is highly recommended for the scholar-researcher, libraries (was named one of the best reference books of 2005 by "Library Journal"), the native or longtime Yankee, new residents to New England, and even for tourists visiting the area that is "both a prototypically American place and a unique place within America" (xvi).

It is more extensive and navigable than the New England volume (2004) in "The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Culture" series.