Historical Dictionary of Sikhism

Louis E. Fenech is professor of South Asian and Sikh history at the University of Northern Iowa. His research concerns the history of the Sikh people and their tradition.W.H. McLeod (1932-2009) was professor emeritus of history at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. His area of expertise covered the Sikh tradition.

The third edition of this very informative historical dictionary adds considerable information to the earlier edition as well as presenting a wider array of varied opinions about Sikhism, a little-known and understood religious tradition in the United States. Building on his predecessor W. H. McLeod’s work, Louis Fenech presents a very usable volume, easily navigable and very informative. Following his preface, which discusses the volume as a whole and noting today’s new and critical scholarship in the field, Fenech provides a table of the 10 Sikh Gurus, a map, and an extremely detailed chronology from the birth of the first Guru, Guru Nanak, in 1469 to late December 2013. He then gives the reader a helpful introduction before launching into the dictionary itself, which is well cross-referenced and thus easy to manage. At the conclusion of the dictionary, Fenech provides an extensive bibliography of 79 pages introduced by a table of contents and its own descriptive introduction. The end result is an extremely helpful resource for students and researchers of religion, especially those wanting to know more about Sikhism. This volume should certainly be part of college and university libraries as well as larger public libraries. Indeed, church, divinity school, and libraries connected with interfaith or other religious organizations would benefit from its easy availability. Its clarity and usability mean it can serve even the curious middle school and high school students as they seek to learn about the world about them.