The Penguin International Dictionary of Contemporary Biography

The first edition of this incomparable classic was pronounced "very useful ... judicious and very browsable" by the Los Angeles Times. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer found it "hard to put down". Here are more than 6,000 crisp, clear, concise lives of twentieth-century notables from around the world, living and dead, who have made key contributions to every important area in politics, literature, the arts, business, sports, the sciences, and popular culture. The Penguin International Dictionary of Contemporary Biography sets each figure in critical and historical perspective, with bibliographies and an index of individuals by category and country.