Part of Facts On File's A to Z of African Americans series, this volume deals with African American social reformers and political activists from the eighteenth century up to the present. Its intended audience is high-school students, undergraduates, and the general public.

The author includes 164 profiles, each one between one and three pages long, with Martin Luther King Jr.'s entry the longest at almost four pages. Other entries include Joseph Cinque, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, and Sojourner Truth. Rummel has written other biographical works, such as Langston Hughes (Chelsea, 1988) and Malcolm X (Chelsea, 1989).

The book begins with an introduction that provides historical context. The actual articles are listed in alphabetical order and include cross-references to other individuals profiled in the book. Fifty black-and-white photographs accompany the text. After each entry the author provides a list of further readings, and he has also included a general bibliography at the end of the work. There is a general index as well as one that lists individuals by year of birth and another by their main activities, such as abolition and education.

In clear, concise language, the author manages to write entries that strike a good balance between the personal and the public, briefly sketching backgrounds before delving into accomplishments and professional activities. One minor flaw is the fact that so many of the "further readings" listed after each entry are Web based; at least one Web site we checked was already out of date and inaccessible. This book is recommended for high-school, undergraduate, and public libraries. Although there are other works that discuss reformers from a particular era, no other work covers this 200-year span.RBB

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