-". . . Readers will learn about fascinating discoveries from ancient times to the present in areas including economics, intellectual life, politics, spirituality, and recreation. Containing more than 500 documents the set was put together by a team of editors led by Morris (Albright Coll.) all of whom represent vast experience and knowledge in cultural studies. . . . High school students will find the set valuable for term papers and class projects. Libraries looking to expand their collections on civilizations and social history will want to add this to their collections. A good buy for high school and public libraries." —Library Journal

-"This thematically arranged, expansive reference work seeks to cover the much-treaded ground of primaryresource collections. What sets this attempt apart in a crowded field, however, is its subject matter: dailylife. Understanding what everyday life was like for the masses of humanity provides us with a level ofcontext and perspective not possible with a narrow focus on political elites. The current set attempts torectify this by presenting readers with a balanced social and cultural cross section of authors and subjectsspanning from the ancient Sumerians to the intellectual and social world of the present. Althoughdocuments from the greats—such as Hammurabi and Benjamin Franklin—still make the cut, the inclusionof a wide variety of sources and authors from around the world merits attention. Examples include a letterfrom one Egyptian official to another about travel arrangements for a Roman politician, an inventory of thehousehold goods and agricultural produce of one of Charlemagne's estates, and a poem written by aJapanese soldier in 1944. . . . Overall, this set is a great resource for high-school, public, and college libraries with substantial history collections as well as a valuable companion for libraries containing works from the publisher's Daily Life through History series." —Booklist, Starred Review