CIMENT, James D. 1958-

PERSONAL: Born May 12, 1958, in Montreal, Canada; son of Mortimer (an electrical engineer) and Gloria (a businessperson; maiden name, Miller) Ciment. Education: University of California—Los Angeles, B.A. (English); City University of New York, Ph.D. (history).

ADDRESSES: Home—2020 De La Vina, Apt. B, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Offıce—1324 State St., #J280, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Agent—John Thornton, Spieler Agency, 154 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: City College of New York, New York, NY, lecturer, 1985-94; freelance writer and editor, 1992-2000; ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, acquisitions editor, 2000-01; East River Books, Santa Barbara, CA, president, 2002—.

MEMBER: American Historical Association.

WRITINGS:

Law and Order, Chelsea House (New York, NY), 1995. Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian,

Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

The Kurds: State and Minority in Turkey, Iraq, andIran, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1996.

Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1997.

Angola and Mozambique: Postcolonial Wars inSouthern Africa, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1997.

Palestine/Israel: The Long Conflict, Facts on File (New York, NY), 1997.

The Young People's History of the United States, Barnes and Noble (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor, with Immanuel Ness) Encyclopedia of GlobalPopulation and Demographics, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 1999.

(Editor) Encyclopedia of Conflicts since World War II, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with Immanuel Ness) Encyclopedia of ThirdParties in America, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 2000.

(Editor) Encyclopedia of the Great Depression andNew Deal, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 2001.

(Editor) Encyclopedia of American Immigration, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 2001.

Atlas of African-American History, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2001.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Social Issues: An Encyclopedia of Controversies, History, and Debate, Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, and Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, all for M. E. Sharpe (New York, NY).

SIDELIGHTS: James Ciment is a writer and editor whose work focuses largely on educational reference books and informational texts. His book Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian introduces nearly 150 tribes and groups, offering information about family life, language, and location. Ciment also included facts about contemporary Indian culture and politics, along with photographs and maps, offering a up-to-date account of each tribe's history. John Peters of School Library Journal wrote of Ciment's text that the author "is not a dispassionate writer, but he's not a sensationalist either, and he describes traditions and beliefs in ways that clearly bring out each tribe's distinctive flavor." The Encyclopedia of American Immigration covers the history of a wide range of immigrants, including Southeast Asians and American Indians. Included in the text are a series of essays written by immigrants and copies of numerous immigration documents. Ciment examines how immigration has continued to change America and discusses such topics as law and legislation, culture, economics, and demographics.

Ciment has also written a number of texts on the subject of politics, both in the United States and abroad. Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America examines the role of third-party politicians in American history. The reference book includes biographies of the major leaders in third party movements, discusses the ideological roots of the parties, and examines particular issues around which third parties are often centered. There are also forty maps which detail the vote received by third-party candidates in each county of selected elections. Mary Ellen Quinn of Booklist called this text "clearly written, well organized." Encyclopedia of Conflicts since World War II researches 172 noteworthy conflicts since World War II, including confrontations during the cold war and other fighting, such as border disputes, coups, and ethnic/religious clashes. There is also a section devoted to the numerous efforts at peacekeeping by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Organization of Africa, among others. In Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge, Ciment focuses on the country's second civil war in the twentieth century. The war's direct cause, the termination of the 1992 election, is examined in detail. Gilbert Taylor of Booklist noted that "Ciment evenhandedly summarizes the beliefs and positions of the parties to the conflict and the individual histories of their leaders."

Ciment told CA: "I am a journeyman editor and writer. As such, and as a book producer, my publishing efforts focus on large reference sets and information handbooks, generally in the social sciences. In a sense, I consider myself as much an artisan as a writer, providing a high-quality product to the consumer, whether they are a reader or a librarian. I want the purchasers of my book to feel they are getting value for the money they spend on my products, money that often comes from shrinking library or limited student budgets. To that end, my guiding principles can be summed up in the acronym ART: accuracy, readability, and thoroughness. I believe in providing as much carefully researched, well-organized, clearly written information as possible within the word-length constraints set by my publishers. To those who see writing as a high art form, these values might seem prosaic. But I see my obligations and goals differently. I am a craftsman, a carpenter or plumber with facts and words, diligent in my work and proud of a job well done."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

American Reference Books Annual, 1998, p. 153.

Booklist, February 1, 1996, p. 924; November 15, 1996, p. 614; March 15, 1997, Gilbert Taylor, review of Algeria: The Fundamentalist Challenge, p. 1222; August, 1999, pp. 2104, 2106; January 1, 2000, p. 770; July, 2000, Mary Ellen Quinn, review of Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America, p. 2060; November 1, 2001, pp. 512, 516.

Choice, October, 2001, p. 290; November, 2001, p. 486.

Contemporary Review, January, 2001, p. 61.

Library Journal, March 15, 1997, p. 75; March 15, 1999, p. 68; July, 1999, p. 80; April 15, 2000, p. 70; September 1, 2001, p. 164; September 15, 2001, pp. 69-70; November, 2001, p. 86.

School Library Journal, November, 1996, John Peters, review of Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian, pp. 136-137; August, 2000, p. 132; February, 2002, p. 83.