“Gates, Daryl: (1926- ) chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1978 to 1991.” Praised by the president as “an American hero and the nation’s ‘top cop,’ but condemned by others as a neo-fascist and racist… He was field commander during the Watts riots of 1965 and was appalled by the department’s failure to quell the mass violence… By late 1967, Gates had developed D Platoon, ostensibly an anti-sniper group consisting of an elite corps of highly disciplined officers using specialized weapons and tactics and ranked in the top 25 percent of the department for physical skills. Consisting of 220 men, including 60 crack marksmen formed into five-man teams, D Platoon, as Gates later observed, would ‘revolutionize law enforcement agencies all over the world.’ To [Gates’ predecessor Chief William] Parker, Gates proposed calling D Platoon a SWAT team- ‘Special Weapons Attack Team.’ When Parker objected to the word ‘attack,’ Gates, having developed an affection for the acronym he had invented, proposed ‘Special Weapons And Tactics’ instead. Parker agreed.”
Twenty-four years later, Gates resigned as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Ironically, he had failed to quell the Rodney King riots, a direct result of his “racism and violent-reaction” policies. GR

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 304 pages
Illustrated

Besides all being of Italian heritage, what do the following people have in common: Vinnie “The Chin” Gigante, “Crazy” Joe Gallo, Jimmie “The Weasel” Fratianno, Vincent “The Schemer” Drucci, Angelo “The Gyp” DeCarlo, Willie “Potatoes” Daddano?
In case you are wondering how these people happened to receive their nicknames, The Mafia Encyclopedia will explain them all, along with enough gory photos to satisfy those readers who “never drink… wine.” JB

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 384 pages
Illustrated

An A-Z of the people, myths and practices of witchcraft from the beginning of time to the contemporary. Featuring over 400 entries and over 100 illustrations, this is a relatively complete guide spanning the last couple thousand years. From “Hecate” to “Hocus-Pocus” there’s everything for the initiated seeker. The best things about this book are the photos and listings of famous contemporary witches: Laurie Cabot looking like Cher from her Vegas days; Z Budapest playing the foxy feminist radio DJ; and Dr. Leo Louis Martello resembling a collared Charles Manson. These biographies alone make this encyclopedia unique because most witches dictionaries list only the gods and goddesses and not the humans who make it all happen. MDH

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 432 pages
Illustrated

It’s by Richard Cavendish, editor of and contributor to the influential Man, Myth and Magic encyclopedia series (the leading candidate for theft at every junior high library), so it must be of a reputable nature. Equal coverage of spirituality and the supernatural makes the title inaccurate. Divided by continent, the highlights include: spectral time slips at Versailles and stones of mystery in Europe; Day of the Dead, Santería, and the Winchester Mystery House in North America; psychic surgery, the Nasca lines and the Antonio Villas Boas alien abduction (the first ever recorded) in South America; King Solomon’s mines, the ‘holy mountain’ and cults in Africa; shamanism in Siberia, sacred sex and spiritual ecstasy in Asia; cargo cults, ominous UFOs and South Sea spirits in the Pacific. Each continent is mapped (with each story pinpointed), and the entire volume is liberally sprinkled with illustrations and photographs. SK

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 160 pages
Illustrated

Encyclopedic attempt to make scholarly sense of mankind's “anomalous phenomena,” A to Z: “Sleep drunkenness: Although a period of grogginess upon waking from sleep is normal, some people are prone to becoming trapped in the two states. Unable either to return to unconsciousness or to become fully aroused, they are disoriented and behave in an uninhibited manner. Occasionally, sufferers of sleep drunkenness have committed acts of aggression, including murder. When they manage to awaken completely, they have little or no memory of the episode. Monitoring the electrical activity of the 'sleep drunk' brain has confirmed that the condition combines waking neural processes and those of deep sleep.” GR

Publisher: Facts on File
Paperback: 384 pages

“Up until the last few years, progress in understanding our 'enchanted loom' had been agonizingly slow, but scientists are now beginning to understand some of the brain's knottiest puzzles: How does the brain actually work? Where does memory reside within the brain? Is our brain separate from, or completely intertwined with, our body? From acetylcholine to white matter, The Brain Encyclopedia takes the reader on a guided tour through the brain, looking at brain diseases and disorders, structure and function. An extensive glossary explains all terms related to neurology, and there is also a detailed index. Appedixes include extensive listings of self-help organizations related to neurological problems, professional organizations and governmental groups.”

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 352 pages

This book was compiled in German in 1989 and translated in 1992. The most modern symbol discussed is the UFO. There are over 2,000 entries. The symbols are drawn from mostly classical sources such as fairy tales, legends, the Bible, folklore, mythology, philosophy and religion. The writing is direct and succinct. There aren't a lot of really obscure symbols. Most of the proper names are derived from Greek mythology, Germanic lore and the Bible. Otherwise the symbols tend to be things like eyes, thresholds and lions. When a symbol, such as the cat, has had a variety of meanings over the years, the author attempts to chronicle its meanings in as many contexts as possible. Overview is the operative mode of this book. It's the sort of thing that you might pull off of the shelf during a conversation to check a general fact. SA

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 480 pages
Illustrated

“Poetry, fear of: Fear of poetry is known as metrophobia. Some individuals have fearful and even aversive feelings about poetry because of its basic nature and because of the way it is taught and analyzed. Spartans banned certain types of poetry because they thought it promoted effeminate and licentious behavior. The rhyme and figurative language of poetry is odd and distracting to some people. Frequently, poetry contains words, allusions and obscurely stated thoughts and feelings that are confusing or incomprehensible to people who lack a scholarly, academic background.” And 1,998 more, from common to kooky to crazed. GR

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 500 pages
Illustrated

History-making outbreaks of bubonic plague, smallpox, rubella, influenza, malaria, conjunctivitis, scarlet fever, cholera and diphtheria. Nature’s weapons of mass destruction, sneaking out from under Death’s door to bring humanity down. GR

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 432 pages

This is an encyclopedia of mankind’s greatest and most infamous demagogues. They’re all here, neatly arranged in alphabetical order, with a concise yet detailed summary of their lives. Some names most readers would not expect to see, such as Ikhenaton, while others have almost become household words. For people interested in history’s most infamous and powerful tyrants, this book will more than fit the bill as a valuable reference tool. JB

Publisher: Facts on File
Hardback: 340 pages
Illustrated