This biographical reference source has 152 essays on a wide variety of American dissidents who promoted causes or opposed government or social policies during the twentieth century through the present time. The people chosen for examination were active in movements for the rights of African Americans, women, the disabled, labor, ethnic groups, the gay community, and Native Americans. Other activists were involved with the environment, peace, politics, religion, social justice, and political prisoners. The dissidents may represent various strains of the political and social left, such as Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and Anna Louise Strong, or the right, such as Lyndon LaRouche, Phyllis Schlafly, and Rush Limbaugh. Among the key players in the movements for civil rights, there are essays on James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Bobby Seale, Betty Friedan, Alice Paul, Barney Frank, Harvey Milk, Yuri Kochiyama, and Russell Means. Other subjects include anarchists Ferdinando Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, women’s health advocate Margaret Sanger, socialist Charles Steinmetz, singer Pete Seeger, comedian George Carlin, labor activist Lucas Benitez, and human rights leader Eli Wiesel. Some individuals who became known in recent years for their activities are Al Franken, Glenn Beck, and Bradley Manning.

It is possible to find biographical information in other sources on all of the persons highlighted in this work, but this encyclopedia is valuable for its well-written, concise, and objective overviews of each dissident’s life and contributions to the causes that they worked for or represented. Also, this work is up to date with many references to books, articles, and web sites from recent years and key references from previous decades. Some essays include a photo of the subject. There is a general bibliography in volume 2, a list of persons by their subject of activity, and a subject index. Each essay of approximately 2,000 words is written by one of the eight contributors, with most written by the editor Kathlyn Gay. Compared with the Encyclopedia of American Activism, 1960 to the Present (ABC CLIO, 1998) the new work covers a broader time period and is focused only on biography. American Social Leaders & Activists (Facts on File, 2002) is more narrowly focused than American Dissidents and it covers the entire period of American history in one volume. The selection criteria and emphasis of the works differ. For example the 2002 work above has articles on civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and peace activist Staughton Lynd, but neither appears in American Dissidents except in essays on other people. Lynd is not even mentioned in the index. Of course the new work has many entries for people who do not appear in the 2002 work. Certainly the index in American Dissidents could be improved, but some users will be using the searchable, digital version of the work thus lessening the importance of the index.

This work is recommended for adults and students in secondary and undergraduate school.