This highly readable book covers 1,576 authors from the ancient classical world, the UK, Ireland, other commonwealth nations, the US, with 287 authors from additional nations. Two columns on 528 pages. Each entry includes a brief outline of the author's life, list of principal achievements, and resources for further reading. Thorough and reliable, as a great place to start it beats Wikipedia. You might look up one author and then find yourself just reading. Like new. HarperCollins. 1993. Hb, Dj. USED. $17.00