In this fast-paced information age, how can Americans know what's really
important and what's just a passing fashion? Now more than ever, we need
a source that concisely sums up the knowledge that matters to Americans
-- the people, places, ideas, and events that shape our cultural
conversation. With more than six thousand entries, The New Dictionary of
Cultural Literacy is that invaluable source.
Wireless technology. Gene therapy. NAFTA. In addition to the thousands
of terms described in the original Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, here
are more than five hundred new entries to bring Americans' bank of
essential knowledge up to date. The original entries have been fully
revised to reflect recent changes in world history and politics,
American literature, and, especially, science and technology. Cultural
icons that have stood the test of time (Odysseus, Leaves of Grass,
Cleopatra, the Taj Mahal, D-Day) appear alongside entries on such varied
concerns as cryptography, the digital divide, the European Union,
Kwanzaa, pheromones, SPAM, Type A and Type B personalities, Web
browsers, and much, much more.
As our world becomes more global and interconnected, it grows smaller
through the terms and touchstones that unite us. As E. D. Hirsch writes
in the preface, "Community is built up of shared knowledge and values --
the same shared knowledge that is taken for granted when we read a book
or newspaper, and that is also taken for granted as part of the fabric
that connects us to one another." A delicious concoction of information
for anyone who wants to be in the know, The New Dictionary of Cultural
Literacy brilliantly confirms once again that it is "an excellent piece
of work . . . stimulating and enlightening" (New York Times) -- the most
definitive and comprehensive family sourcebook of its kind.
