The first volume of ABC-CLIO’s five-volume series on the world’s ethnic groups, Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia contains descriptions of 104 ethnic and national groups in Europe. Adopting an inclusive definition of ethnic group, this work includes indigenous peoples without states (Saami), dispersed minorities (Roma), distinctive regional populations (Bretons), and nationalities (Danes). Excluded are populations not considered ethnically (San Marinians) or linguistically (Bavarians) distinct.

To be included in this work, according to the “Methodology” section, ethnic groups have to have both a historic homeland and a continued presence in Europe, and have a minimum population of 20,000. This latter criterion allows for adherence to publisher guidelines for approximately one hundred entries.

The twelve-page “Introduction” discusses ethnicity, nationalities, and nation-states in the context of Europe, and reviews historic and current trends, including the immigration of non-European populations.

Arranged alphabetically from “Abazin” to “Welsh,” the signed entries range from a single page for “Manx” to eight pages for “Russians,” with an average of four to five pages. Entries contain “a capsule summary of a group followed by an account of origins and early history, cultural life, and recent developments” (vii). The individual essays are interesting and accessible to the general reader. One learns of the “hard bread” and “soft bread” cultural boundary in Finland and of the nearly 150 liters of alcoholic beverages consumed yearly by the average German. For readers not accustomed to thinking of Georgia and portions of the Russian Caucasus as Europe, this volume will be a useful primer on groups such as the Abkhaz and Ossetians, whose political struggles continue.

Entries conclude with a list of one or more sources for further reading, primarily in English; however, four works listed in the eight-item bibliography for “Slovenians” are in Slovenian. Given that the series is geared to “a general readership in terms of language and presentation” (x), the inclusion of suggested readings in Croatian, Slovenian, and Turkish seems to be a contradiction.

Additional information can be found in sidebars, which are also signed. While primarily on ethnic groups such as “Irish Tinkers/Travelers” and “Turks in Central and Western Europe,” sidebars also address topics as varied as “Srebrenica” and the “European Union Policy on Minorities.”

The occasional stock photo depicts, for example, Cossacks on horseback and a Swedish girl celebrating St. Lucia Day, as well as, inexplicably, Ashkenazim in Jerusalem. A better use of illustrations would have been the inclusion of maps, especially for Russia and Georgia, where the reader may be unfamiliar with the Abazin, Abkhaz, Adyghs, Ajarians, and Avars.

This work concludes with a contributor list of eighty-nine international scholars, a geographical index, and an adequate but no-frills general index with few ‘See also” references.

There is overlap with Carl Waldman and Catherine Mason’s two-volume Encyclopedia of European Peoples (Facts on File, 2006), which contains more than 600 entries (one paragraph to several pages in length) covering European peoples from ancient times (Vikings) to the present (Norwegians: nationality). Useful features of the Waldman and Mason work include timelines, maps, a list of alternative names, and language tables; none of which appear in the Cole volume. For extensive essays on Rus and Slavs as well as contemporary ethnic groups, Waldman and Mason would be the logical choice. For more up-to-date coverage of ethnic groups continuously occupying Europe, Cole would be the more useful. Unlike Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of European Peoples excludes Georgia, suggesting that the two works define Europe differently.

Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia is recommended for public and academic libraries, especially those that lack Encyclopedia of European Peoples.