Features

• A stunning achievement, this five-volume reference is a comprehensive compendium of statistics from more than 1,000 sources recording the numerical history of the United States.
  
• Long awaited, this thorough revision reflects thirty years of new scholarship since the previous edition (1975).
  
• Expanded coverage on social, economic, and political topics arranged in 39 chapters.
  
• More than 37,000 data series, a tripling of the number in the previous edition.
  
• Dozens of new topics included: American Indians, slavery, outlying areas, poverty, non-profit organizations, race and ethnicity, and the Confederate States of America, to list a few examples.
  
• Provides a topically organized, easy-to-use guide to the statistical outpouring of government bureaus, private agencies, and the academic literature.
  
• Expanded documentation authored by nationally recognized experts includes critical evaluations of sources and methods.
  
• Self-documenting presentation of the data with full source citations, and extensive technical documentation provided on the same page(s) for ease of reference and in-library photocopying (8.5-by-11 page format).
  
• Each chapter is preceded by introductory essays that review the quantitative history of their subject, provide a guide to the sources, and offer expert advice on the reliability of the data and the limits that might be placed on their interpretation.
  
• Extensive references to the scholarly historical literature as well as to statistical sources.
  
• Approved successor to the previous editions published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  
• An impressive work of collaborative scholarship; more than 80 scholars contributed their efforts and expertise to assemble and document the data, to write the introductory essays, and to raise the funds needed to support their work.
  
• Fully cross-referenced and indexed.
  
• Essential for reference rooms and reference libraries.
  
• Serves as an historical supplement to the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
  
• Written for the non-expert with definitions, background information, and illustrations of the use of data.
  
• More than 170 figures, including numerous graphs and several maps.
  
• Includes many topical timelines indicating events relevant to the interpretation of the data.