Commonly called Berbers in English, the original inhabitants of North Africa refer to themselves as Imazighen, meaning ‘free people.’ Having been of consequence to nearly every major Mediterranean empire since the ancient Egyptians, the Berbers have a long but often understudied history and presently are relegated to minority status in the numerous modern countries they inhabit. This work delves into the important people, places, events, and other aspects of Berber politics, culture, and religion across the centuries. The second edition comes 11 years after the first, and the author, anthropologist Ilahiane (Iowa State Univ.), has added 139 entries and expanded and/or revised many of the previous ones. Furthermore, he added several new appendixes to assist in contextualizing Berber history, language, culture, and religion. Other features include more than 20 maps, a chronology, and a nearly exhaustive bibliography that comprises roughly a third of the book. The Berbers' struggle for cultural rights and equality has been resurgent in recent years, making gains in North Africa since the Arab Spring, and this edition covers these events. This work is highly recommended for collections without earlier versions, and the substantive additions make it worthy of consideration for collections that possess the first edition.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates and above; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Like the first edition (and most other dictionaries in this series), its strength lies in providing concise overviews of the entries it lists. Of course each entry can be expanded into a much larger and fuller entry, but that is not this work’s intent. Instead its entries are heavily cross-referenced, and it provides an extensive thematic bibliography for readers interested in further research. Since the previous edition, several new entries (roughly a third of the new edition) have been added, existing entries have been rewritten for clarity, and the appendix has been expanded. The chronology and list of abbreviations have been enlarged to reflect changes since the first edition. While the bibliography of the first edition was impressive, the second edition adds many more references for scholars to consult. The dictionary is still directed to the nonspecialist, with the introductory essay and appendixes helping to frame the work.

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