Having worked together on various projects for many decades, editors Charles H. Lippy (emeritus, religious studies, U. of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and Peter W. Williams (comparative religion & American studies (Miami U., Oxford, Ohio) were well suited to combine forces with about a half-dozen associate editors and some 400 contributors to bring together this four-volume reference. Each entry is signed and cross-referenced and includes a bibliography. Entries are arranged alphabetically, which is cumbersome; but a thematic table of contents offers a grouping under some 50 topics, among them: Adventism and Millenarian movements (seven entries), African-American religions (15 entries), Caribbean religions (three entries), Latino/a religion (11 entries), liberal religious movements (eight), methodological approaches to the study of American religion (14), Roman Catholic tradition (19 entries), visual arts and material culture (5), war and peace (7), and women (8). Indexing is in the fourth volume. An online version of this reference is also available. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)