Robert S. Kramer is Professor of History at St. Norbert College where he has taught African and Middle Eastern history since 1989. He first visited Sudan in 1986-87 and has been following it closely since then. During this time he has written numerous articles and book chapters on Islam and Muslim societies in Africa and also produced a book, Holy City on the Nile: Omdurman during the Mahdiyya. He was already a co-author of the third edition of this book.Robert A. Lobban, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Rhode Island College, where he served as Director, Program of African and Afro-American Studies. He, too, has written extensively, including co-authoring the second and third editions.Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and was Director of General Education at Rhode Island College. Like her husband, she is an old Sudan hand, and has visited frequently and written extensively, this including co-authoring the second and third editions.

Since the third edition was published, the Republic of Sudan has been partitioned, leading to the independence of the Republic of South Sudan in July 2011. As a result of this major development, this dictionary has been greatly expanded to include much new information on political parties, militias, towns and cities, and the civil war, among many other topics. In addition, new maps, charts, illustrations, and tables have been added. Authors Kramer, Lobban, and Fluehr-Lobban are experts active in the Sudan Studies Association. They deserve commendation for trying "to project a Sudanese point of view to avoid or minimize Eurocentrism; where Sudanese judgments differ we have tried to present multiple and sometimes contradictory views."Similar to the other titles in Scarecrow's historical dictionary series, this work primarily includes A-Z entries covering people, politics, social issues, institutions, and events. In addition, it features maps (of uneven quality), an extensive chronological time line, and an unannotated bibliography. A very brief bibliographic essay provides evaluations of some useful sources. Especially helpful is the much lengthier introduction on the history of the country from the advent of Islam through postindependence. For coverage of much earlier times, see Lobban's Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia. A recurring problem with Scarecrow's historical dictionaries is that the entries do not cite any sources, making it very difficult for students and researchers to do follow-up research. Nevertheless, this is an outstanding ready-reference source providing hard-to-find information on one of the most important countries on the African continent.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.