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Indexes Praised and Indexes Censured are extracted from Indexes Reviewed, a regular feature in The Indexer.
These extracts from reviews do not pretend to represent a complete survey of all reviews in journals and newspapers. We offer only a selection from quotations that members have sent in. Our reproduction of comments is not a stamp of approval from the Society of Indexers upon the reviewer’s assessment of an index.
Allen Lane: To have and to hold, by Philipp
Blom (274 pp, £18.99). Rev. by David Hughes, The Spectator,
24 Aug. 2002.
To my relief (and [Sir Hans] Sloane’s fury) Handel at the height
of his powers suddenly puts a buttered bun on a mediaeval manuscript
of untold worth. Handel’s name is not in the index.
Ashgate: The faith and fortunes of France’s
Huguenots, 1600–1685, by Philip Benedict (2001, 336 pp, $94.95).
Rev. by Paul Cohen, Sixteenth Century Journal, January 2003.
Given the volume’s hefty price tag, one might have wished for
more from Ashgate. The lack of a bibliography is to be regretted, particularly
given the coherence of the articles gathered here. The volume’s
index is strangely thin – it is curious that in a work that devotes
some 150 pages to early modern demography, terms like ‘plague,’
‘fertility,’ and ‘mortality’ do not figure in
the index.
Ashgate: George Ripley’s Compound of Alchymy
(1591), ed. by Stanton J. Linden (2001, 138 pp, $59.95). Rev. by
William C. Johnson, Sixteenth Century Journal, January 2003.
The eight-page index with which Linden concludes the volume is likewise
unreliable; although indexed items do appear on the pages indicated,
randomly selecting pages in the text, and then checking to see if all
the items on those pages were indexed, revealed that a considerable
number of them were not. Unfortunately, such inaccuracies and omissions
undermine Linden’s efforts and authority.
Blackwell Science: Science and the garden,
ed. by David S. Ingram, Daphne Vince-Prue and Peter J. Gregory (2002,
304 pp, £19.99). Rev. by Ken Thompson, Organic Gardening,
Nov. 2002.
I found few mistakes, and only have one serious gripe: there are no
plant names in the index, so if you want to look up apples or Narcissus,
you can’t.
Cambridge University Press: The Cambridge history
of Japan, vol. 2, Heian Japan, ed. by Donald H. Shively and William
H. McCullough (1999, xxiii + 754 pp, $120). Rev. by S. A. Thornton,
American Historical Review 106(5), Dec. 2001.
The over seven-hundred pages of the text provide a wealth of information.
Navigation is difficult, however. Political history and foreign relations
are spread over two chapters and customs and culture over three, as
are religion and ritual. And yet, the index is hardly exhaustive: there
are, for example, no entries for nin’yô, henushi,
Bifukumon’in or Ike-no-zenni. Not every term
is scrupulously identified as contemporary or as a much later neologism
(e.g., sôhei or yugyô hijiri). The text
needs editing; there are typos and mistakes. Nevertheless, these are
minor irritations. This volume remains an indispensable resource for
all students of Heian Japan.
Cambridge University Press: Life at the limits:
organisms in extreme environments, by David A. Wharton (307 pp,
£18.95). Rev. by John Postgate, Times Literary Supplement,
27 Nov. 2002.
… the index is satisfactory except that the numeration slips by
a page after Chapter Seven. [Surely not the indexer’s fault.]
Cornell University Press: Rebels and Mafiosi:
death in a Sicilian landscape, by James Fentress (2000, 297 pp,
$29.95). Rev. by Charles Bertrand, American Historical Review
106(3,) June 2001.
Finally, and perhaps most disturbing of all, the author incorrectly
identifies one of the most prominent Italian politicians ever, Giovanni
Giolitti, as Antonio Giolitti. And the mistake is repeated, twice in
the text and even in the index!
Gallimard: Écrits de linguistique générale,
ed. by Simon Bouquet and Rudolf Engler (353 pp, E22). Rev. by Roy Harris,
Times Literary Supplement, 26 July 2002.
In short, by current editorial standards, their presentation of the
texts is disappointing and their index, which overlooks important terms
such as ‘définition’, ‘écriture’
and ‘étymologie’, as well as omitting Saussure’s
references to other linguists, can hardly be considered satisfactory
for scholarly purposes.
Greenwood Publishing Group: Shamanism and Christianity:
native encounters with Russian Orthodox missions in Siberia and Alaska,
1820–1917, by André A. Znamenski (1999, xii + 206
pp, $65). Rev. by Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, American Historical
Review 106(5), Dec. 2001.
In sum, while I would prefer more recognition of indigenous and recent
anthropological scholarship, better proofreading (especially for inconsistently
spelled names), an improved index (including all cited scholars), and
an alphabetical rather than compartmentalized reference list, this book
is an excellent contribution to the history and historiography of Siberia
and Alaska.
McGill-Queen’s University Press: Builders
and deserters: students, state, and community in Leningrad, 1917–1941,
by Peter Konecny (1999, xv + 358 pp, $65). Rev. by Larry E. Holmes,
Journal of Modern History 74(2), June 2002.
Unfortunately, the index amounts to a listing of proper names and institutions
(with the exception of the entries ‘students’ and ‘professors’)
and does not do justice to the book’s presentation of many issues
and topics of historical and historiographical interest.
Macmillan: The botanical garden, vol. 1: Trees
and shrubs; vol. 2: Perennials and annuals, by Roger Phillips
and Martyn Rix (2002, 492 and 540 pp, £50 each vol.). Rev. by
Alan Leslie, The Garden, Nov. 2002.
What a shame that each book is served by an introduction whose design
is at odds with the remainder of the book, a nonsensical contents page,
an incomplete glossary and an index that contains none of the species
or cultivars illustrated!
R. Oldenbourg Verlag: Der Westfälische Friede:
Diplomatie – politische Zäsur – kulturelles Umfeld
– Rezeptionsgeschichte, ed. by Heinz Duchhardt (1998, xi
+ 888 pp, DM109). Rev. by Anuschka Tischer, Journal of Modern History
73(1), March 2001.
The book’s use is facilitated by a solid index (which, however,
includes the striking error of naming Napoleon as ‘king’
of France, p. 877). Unfortunately, the index indicates only persons
– no places, not to mention terms or facts. Territories and states
can be found only if mentioned in relation to their rulers. A more extended
index might have corresponded better with the book’s own concept.
Oxford University Press: Becoming George,
by Ann Saddlemyer (808 pp, £25). Rev. by P. J. Kavanagh, The
Spectator, 5 Oct. 2002.
However, these [Yeats scholars] will not be helped by the index: under
‘astrology’, for example, there are no less than 150 page
references but no indication at all what occasion, or aspect of astrology,
the pages mention; as an index, therefore, it is useless.
Rev. by Brenda Maddox, The Guardian, 27 Oct. 2002. Overall,
the 800 pages are a hard slog. Even Yeats scholars will find it hard
to make their way through the textual thicket. Names in the index are
followed only by a useless succession of page-numbers, with no thematic
subdivisions.
Oxford University Press: The Oxford companion
to Scottish history, ed. by Michael Lynch (2001, xxvi + 732 pp,
£30). Rev. by A. A. M. Duncan, History Scotland 2(4),
July/Aug. 2002.
Another way of finding information is an extraordinary index which has
no page numbers but gives references to entry-headings to various treatments
of the subject, but does not include those subjects which have their
own entry, unless they are significant towns or districts. Under this
provision ‘Iona’ qualifies in both places, but in the Index
there is no reference to the entry ‘Columba’ (‘anyone
would know that’), ‘Adomnan’ (‘anyone using
this book would know that’) or Diarmait foster-son of Daigre (!).
At least the Index is alphabetical; the List of …Contributors
is fine if you seek your friends, for it is alphabetical by name, but
if you seek the identity of contributor RDA, seek on for you will find
him third after RJA.
These peculiarities are not merely a pity; they are a bizarre obstacle
to the wide, indeed popular use which the book and all the effort which
has gone into its production deserve.
Politico’s: Ernest Bevin, by Alan Bullock,
ed. by Brian Brivati (826 pp, £30). Rev. by Mark Wickham-Jones,
Times Literary Supplement, 26 July 2002.
I have one small grumble. Wanting to see what Bevin’s attitude
was to Frank Wise, a Labour MP and the first chair of the Socialist
League, I turned to the index to find that two different individuals
of that surname had been subsumed under the same entry (Frank with an
American Rabbi Jonah Bondi Wise), a reflection presumably of relying
on a computer programme.
Prospect: Mediterranean seafood (revised
edn), by Alan Davidson (432 pp, £17.99). Rev. by Paul Levy, Times
Literary Supplement, 25 October 2002.
The editor and publisher might note that the ‘best-known descendant’
of the Roman fish sauce known as garum, ‘the pei salat or pissalat
of Provence’ is not on p. 292 as promised, and is not listed in
the index.
Routledge: Publishing law, by Hugh Jones
and Christopher Benson (2nd edn, 2002, £65/£24.99). Rev.
by Anthony Watkinson, Learned Publishing 15(4), Oct. 2002.
‘Publishing Law is a comprehensive guide to the law as
it affects the publishing process’ runs the blurb, and those of
us who have used this excellent book in its first edition naturally
endorse the claim. However, on second thoughts, it is clearly not an
assertion to accept especially when the needs of academic and professional
publishers are primarily considered. A quick look at the index gives
the clue. There is no entry for ‘journal’ and no entry for
‘serial’. Actually there should be an entry for ‘periodical’
(see p. 49), so the index is clearly not up to scratch…. I have
already complained about the index, because it is to my mind so important
in a reference book of this type. Otherwise, Routledge as an imprint
of Taylor & Francis has done an excellent job on the production.
Smith Settle: In my own good time, by Stan
Barstow (2001, 262 pp, £16.95). Rev. by Malcolm Barker, Writing
Magazine, June–July 2002.
In My Own Good Time’s index is lamentable, but Barstow
will recognise that for what it is, a reviewer’s complaint. [And
what about the readers?]
Stanford University Press: To the Harbin Station:
the liberal alternative in Russian Manchuria, 1898–1914,
by David Wolff (1999, xiv + 255 pp, $49.50). Rev. by Bruce E. Elleman,
Journal of Modern History 73(2), June 2001.
There are notable editing problems by Stanford University Press. One
example is that the reader is informed on at least three separate occasions
that Japan secretly attacked Port Arthur in 1904. The Blagoveshchensck
massacre (p. 33) took place July 17–20, not just on July 17, and
in 1900, not 1899. Likewise, the index is inadequate; for example, it
includes references to only thirteen pages that discuss the Boxer Uprising,
even though this event appears on a total of twenty-two pages.
University of Michigan Press: Mobility and modernity:
migration in Germany, 1820–1989, by Steve Hochstadt (1999,
xviii + 331 pp, $52.50). Rev. by Jea H. Quataert, American Historical
Review 106(4), Oct. 2001.
For the rich comparative data in the text, furthermore, the index is
woefully deficient. But this only means that the book must be read from
cover to cover to mine the wealth of details, wide-ranging analyses,
and extraordinary scholarship that are at the heart of this impressive
sociodemographic study. [So that’s all right, then.]
Viking: Berlin, the downfall, 1945, by Anthony
Beevor (490 pp, £25). Rev. by Kevin Myers, Irish Times,
4 May 2002.
Yet, too typically of these days, the author has been wretchedly served
by his publishers. The index and the footnotes are an utter disgrace
– inexcusably so since new technology should long since have made
the compilation of each so relatively simple. [Well . . . ]
This is penny-pinching publishing at its most contemptible, yet its
most predictable. The author, the reader, the scholar and most of all,
the victims of that atrocious epoch, deserve far better.
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