ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ N ov e m b e r 2000 / 945 N e w P u b l i c a t i o n s George M. Eberhart Between the Lines: The Mystery of the G iant G round D raw in g s o f A ncien t Nasca, Peru, by A nthony F. Aveni (2 5 7 pages, Ju n e 2 0 0 0 ), e x p lo re s the orig in o f th e s e h u g e g e o g ly p h s in th e P eru v ia n co astal d esert, from the straight tracks that ap p arently served as pilgrim age trails, to the a cre -siz e d m o n key s, hum m ingbirds, spiders, and g eo m etric sh a p es that form a gigantic m yth ograp hic them e park b etter v isible to the god s in the air than to any­ o n e o n t h e g r o u n d . I n t r i g u i n g l y , a rch a eo a stro n o m er Aveni finds little evi­ d e n ce fo r d e lib e ra te co sm ic alignm ents, w hich g o es against the th eo ries o f N asca grande dam e Maria Reiche. $39-95. University o f Texas. ISBN 0 -2 9 2 -7 0 4 9 6 -8 . The Dante Encyclopedia, ed ited by Richard Lansing (1 ,0 0 6 p a g es, April 2 0 0 0 ), co n ta in s nearly 1 ,0 0 0 e n ­ tries w ritten by 144 noted sch olars from 12 cou ntries, m aking it the p rem ier En­ g lis h -la n g u a g e r e f e r e n c e s o u rce on D ante. B e sid e s e n trie s o n g e n e ra l to p ic s (authority, ju stice, num er­ ology, tran slatio n s), there are en tries o n all the m ajor c h a r a c te r s o f th e D ivine Comedy, D a n te ’s oth er w ritings, his fam ­ ily, the m ysterious B e a tr ic e , D an te co m ­ mentators, and sources. Som e sen se is even m ade o f the o b scu re G u e lf-G h ib e llin e ri­ valry. N um erous w o o d cu ts and ste e l e n ­ gravings a cco m p an y the text, alon g with diagram s o f the structure o f hell and pur­ gatory, a ch ro n o lo g y o f the p o e t’s life, a list o f p o p e s to 1334, a co m p reh en siv e list o f m usical settings o f the Com m edia, and an in d ex o f Italian and Latin p ro p er nam es in D a n te ’s w orks. Com p Lit w ill n e v er be G e o rg e M . E b e rh a rt is s e n io r e d ito r o f Am erican Libraries; e-m a il: geb erh a rt@ a la .o rg th e sam e. $ 1 7 5 .0 0 . T a y lo r an d F ra n cis. ISBN 0 -8 1 5 3 -1 6 5 9 -3 . Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States, by R obert J . K elly (3 5 8 p ag es, May 2 0 0 0 ), is by n o m eans co m ­ p re h en siv e, b u t it d o es attem pt to allo t a g re a te r am o u n t o f s p a c e to n o n -Ita lia n groups su ch as the C h in ese Triads, C olom ­ b ian drug cartels, M ex ican and Latino o r­ g anizatio ns, Russian em igres, and Ja m a i­ ca n p o sses. Entries co v e r individuals, or­ g a n iz a t io n s , a n d s la n g te r m s . $ 5 9 .95- G reen w oo d . ISBN 0 -3 1 3 -3 0 6 5 3 -2 . French Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Pulp F i c t io n , b y J e a n - M a r c Lofficier and Randy Lofficier ( 7 8 7 p a g e s , S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 ), fills in a lo n g -n e - glected biblio grap hic gap in th e stu d y o f F r e n c h -la n - g u ag e s c ie n c e -fic tio n and fantasy literatu re, a g enre with v en erable roots and in­ n u m e ra b le b r a n c h e s . T h e authors have covered all the b a s e s in en o rm ou s detail: Part 1 review s film, TV, ra ­ d io , a n i m a t i o n , c o m i c b o o k s , and grap h ic no vels; Part 2 co vers literature from the Middle Ages ( C hansons degesté) to the p resent. In clu d e d are interview s w ith a n i­ m ation d irecto r R ené Laloux and co m ic ­ b o o k artist M o ebiu s, 500 illu strations o f co v ers and stills, and a 2 8 0 -p a g e d ictio ­ nary o f F ren ch , B elg ian , and Q u é b e co is authors w ho are un deservedly little-know n ou tside their re sp ectiv e co u ntries. $ 9 5 .0 0 . M cFarland. ISBN 0 -7 8 6 4 -0 5 9 6 -1 . The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935- 1997, th e CD-ROM Ed itio n , e d ited by G e o r g e G allu p J r . (re le a s e d May 2 0 0 0 ), co ntain s all 25 v o lu m es o f p o ll results in the Gallup Poll A nn ual Series, a cu m u la­ mailto:geberhart@ala.org 946 / C&RL News ■ N ov e m b e r 2000 tive index with hyperlinks to the results and answ ers to questions brok en out by selected demographics. T h e single W indow s-com pat- ible disc also includes chronologies o f events that may have influenced public op inion and b rie f analyses o f selected issues. $495.00. Scholarly Resources. The G en e alo g ist's V irtu al Library, by T ho m as Ja y K em p (2 6 8 p ag es, April 2 0 0 0 ), serv es as a guide to h isto rical b o o k s and oth er m aterials that have b e e n digitized and m ade a v a ila b le o n the W eb . N oth ing frag­ m en ted o r fo r s a le is in clu d ed . M ost o f th e m aterial c o n sists o f e ith e r fam ily h isto ries o r lo c a l h isto ries arrang ed b y state; o th er so u rc e s in clu d e ch u rch rec o rd s, c e n su s e s, m ilitary re c o rd s, p a ss e n g e r lists, and LC co u n try stu d ies. A CD -ROM disc a c c o m ­ p a n ie s the te x t fo r th o se w h o d o n ’t w ant to r e ty p e U RLs. $ 7 0 .0 0 . S c h o la r ly R e ­ so u rc e s. ISBN 0 -8 4 2 0 -2 8 6 4 -1 . A n o th er C D -R O M -and -text guide from SR is The Civil War on the Web (2 2 0 p ag es, O c to b e r 2 0 0 0 ), w h ich rates 95 o f th e b e st sites fo r c o n te n t, a e sth e tics, and n av iga­ bility, an d offers a list o f 3 0 0 m ore URLs fo r c o m p r e h e n s iv e n e s s . H ig h ly r e c o m ­ m en d ed as a re s e a rc h aid o n a to p ic that h a s sp o tty c o v e r a g e in so m e a re a s and ov erw h elm in g ly in a cc u ra te in form a tio n in o th ers. $ 5 5 .0 0 . Sc h o la rly R e so u rce s . ISBN 0 -8 4 2 0 -2 8 4 8 -X . The Germ an-Am erican Experience, by D o n H e in rich T o lz m a n n (4 6 6 p a g e s, J a n u ­ ary 2 0 0 0 ), rec o rd s th e ess e n tia l history o f A m e rica’s larg est eth n ic gro u p , from the legend ary first G erm an n am ed Tyrker, w ho v isited V in lan d w ith Leif E riksso n , to the “B e e r and Bratw u rst Su m m it” m eetin g b e ­ tw e e n G erm a n C h a n c e llo r H elm ut K ohl and P resid en t C linton in May 1 9 9 6 in M il­ w a u k e e . E sp e cia lly n o tew o rth y is th e p e ­ riod o f th e First W orld W ar, “the d ark est h o u r” in G erm an -A m erican histo ry, w h en a c o n c e r te d e ffo rt w as m ade to era d ica te ev eryth in g G erm an in A m erica (in clu d in g G erm an b o o k s and c o lle c tio n s in lib rar­ ie s). T olzm ann also d o cu m en ts G erm an in­ flu e n c e s o n A m erican farm ing, b u sin e ss, C hristm as cu stom s, e d u ca tio n a l m eth od s, m u sic, literatu re, and jou rnalism . A p p en ­ d ice s in clu d e a list o f p ro m in en t G erm an- A m ericans, a c h ro n o lo g y , G erm an p la c e nam es in th e U nited States, sister-city r e ­ la tio n sh ip s, and c e n su s data o n G erm an A m e r ic a n s fro m 1 7 9 0 to 1 9 9 0 . $ 2 4 .9 5 . Prom eth eu s. ISBN 1 -5 7 3 9 2 -7 3 1 -7 . Historic Figures of the Arthurian Era: Au­ thenticating the Enem ies and Allies of B ritain's Post-Roman King, by Frank D. R eno (346 pages, Ju n e 2000), expands the research presented in the author’s The His­ toric King Arthur (McFarland, 1996) and iden­ tifies historical figures and events that have b e e n o b s c u r e d by th e A v a lo n m ists o f Arthurian literary fiction. In this effort, Reno em phasizes that the battles the historic Arthur (Ambrosius Aurelianus, the son o f the Ro­ man co-em peror Constantius III and his Welsh concubine Ygerna) fought w ere struggles with various groups o f G erm anic p eop les in or­ der to establish a stable Celtic kingdom in the w ake o f the Roman withdrawal from Brit­ ain. T h ese en cou nters to o k p lace bo th in W ales and the English midlands to the east, as well as in Gaul and Brittany on the conti­ nent. As R eno writes at o n e point, “Nothing in the search for the historic King Arthur is sim ple,” and this is also true for this book, w hich is as scrupulously docum ented as it is controversial. It’s w ell worth a visit, however, since it does m uch to demystify the British Dark Ages. $39.95. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864- 0648-8. Hungry for Home, by Cole M oreton (288 pages, Ju ly 2000), is a heart-w renching, true story o f poverty and death in Ireland, this time o n on e o f the most picturesque yet deso­ late islands in Europe— Great Blasket, in the Atlantic o ff the D ingle Peninsula in County Kerry , w hose p eop le sp oke a pure dialect o f G aelic and had a k nack for elegant oral his­ tory. W hen young Seáinín Ó Cearna collapsed and died in 1946 on Blasket without access to doctor or priest, residents ap pealed to the governm ent for aid that never cam e. Two years later, they all abandoned the island their families had lived on since the 16th century and left for America. Moreton, a London jour­ nalist, tracked dow n descendants o f the fam­ ily in Springfield, Massachusetts, and p ieced tog eth er this tale o f a transition from the Middle Ages to m odernity. $23.95- Viking. ISBN 0-670-89207-6. ■ C&RL N ew s ■ N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 0 / 947