The essential guide to the second episode of the Star Wars saga. Sharp annotated photography reveals the characters, droids, weapons, and technology of Episode 2. The backgrounds to all the characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme Amidala, Mace Windu Yoda, mysterious new villains, droids and previously unseen aliens.

This new Visual Dictionary features annotated photographs and film stills from The Phantom Menace. Along with stunning visual images it offers details of the Star Wars universe - the characters, equipment, costumes and armaments of the long-awaited prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy.

Ever wondered how a Stormtrooper's equipment works or what R2-D2's attachments do? This visual dictionary uses annotated photographs and stills from the film to explain every important feature of the characters, creatures, costumes, droids and equipment found in the Star Wars trilogy.

For 250 years, slavery was part of the fabric of American life. The institution had an enormous economic impact and was central to the wealth of the agrarian South. It had as great an impact on American culture, cementing racism and other attitudes that echo into the present. This encyclopedia is an ambitious examination of all the issues surrounding slavery: the origins, the justifications, the controversies, and the human drama.

Literary fashions come and go, but some hang around longer than others, like Gothic literature which has existed ever since The Castle of Otranto in 1764. During this long while, it has spread from England, to the rest of Great Britain, and across to the continent, and off to America and Australia, filling in the gaps more recently.

The Historical Dictionary of Gothic Literature follows this long and winding path, first in an extensive chronology and then a useful introduction which explains the nature of Gothic and shows how it has evolved.