Giuseppe Garibaldi

School Library Journal

ea. vol: 112p. illus. maps. photogs. reprods. bibliog. chron. index. (World Leaders Past & Present Series). CIP. Chelsea House. 1987. PLB $15.95. Gr 7 Up Three more biographies in what has become an established pattern in this series: largely studies of the pro fessional lives of the subjects, and of the countries and times which influ enced them. Georges Clemenceau is in teresting for both the turbulent times in which he lived and ruled, and for the ways in which he responded to them. As a defender of Alfred Dreyfus and an oftimes accuser of the Socialists, his leadership is a study in selective multi- partisan statesmanship. Ataturk was a more controversial leader throughout his career, and Tachau presents an ob jective and interesting factual portrait of this revolutionary-demagogue-hero whose legacy to modern Turkey is still debated worldwide. There has been lit tle dispute in the last century over the consentual heroism of Garibaldi, but the Violas' biography still manages to make the revolutionary's life provoca tive. His combination of human failings and regal ambition left him a legacy of loyalty among Italians even today. Each biography is a fact-filled effort of largely objective research. The authors are never pedantic or patronizing, nor do they fictionalize. There are interest ing, well-captioned photographs on nearly every page and good indexes (al though only of proper nouns). Readers may be justifiably skeptical of the fact that each biography has the same num ber of pages (what's been pared? what's been padded?), but the overall quality of the research, fine writing styles, and appealing format provide needed coverage of subjects otherwise difficult to find for this readership. Catherine vanSonnenberg, LaJolla Country Day School, Calif.