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Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present. Edited by Nicholas J. Gull, David Gulbert, and David Welch. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2003. ISBN 1-57607-820-5. Photographs. Illustrations. Index. Pp. xxi, 478. $85.00.
The editors of this encyclopedia have produced a comprehensive one-volume work containing more than 280 entries and over 100 photographs and illustrations. The A to Z entries are written by 85 authorities and cover a broad range of "propaganda" topics, including essays on concepts and techniques as well as those covering significant individuals, institutions, geographic areas, and time periods. Each entry contains a list of sources and is cross-referenced to other articles. Generally, the entries in period propaganda are more detailed and analytical than the biographical ones. As a source for definitions and the historiography of the subject, the work is valuable.
Perhaps one of the most valuable entries in the book is the essay on the evolving definition of propaganda. Taken together with...