"This unique work analyzes urban America in a series of 547 signed articles. Biographical articles include Jane Addams, Marion Barry, Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lewis Mumford, and Lincoln Steffens, while topical entries cover mass transit, social welfare, residential construction, mill towns, and boom towns. Others deal with religious, racial and ethnic topics such as Shaker villages, Native Americans, African-American towns, and African Americans in cities. A bibliography follows each article, and the book concludes with an extensive 9-page selected bibliography on urban America. This work provides a comprehensive view of the colorful past of American cities and discusses current problems faced by modern cities and suburbs. Large public, college, and university libraries will find this a very useful tool".--"Outstanding Reference Sources : the 1999 Selection of New Titles", American Libraries, May 1999. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.

With many contributors and a significant number of entries, Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs details selected major cities, suburbs, people, places, concepts, contemporary issues, history, and development of urban America. Topics range from problems typically associated with urban life such as crime, pollution, and congestion to the arts and humanities, social concerns, religion, infrastructure, key individuals, and economic issues.