(4) YA Modern World Leaders series. This series, part history and part biography, challenges readers to consider the concept of leadership by placing the featured individual in a historical context. Each title includes childhood experiences, rise to power, significant historical events, international relationships, and political ideology. Captioned photographs provide additional perspectives and break up the intimidatingly dense texts. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern World Leaders titles: Ehud Olmert, Felipe Calderón, Roh Moo Hyun, and Kim Jong Il.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) YA Ancient World Leaders series. These books delve into historical, social, and political theories specific to each ancient world leader. The texts, though informative, can be dry, and some speak more generally about the ancient cultures than about the leaders themselves. Archival photographs and sidebars break up the pages; additional maps and/or illustrations would have been helpful. Most volumes include glossaries and website resources. Reading list, timeline. Bib., ind. Review covers these Ancient World Leaders titles: Nefertiti, Hammurabi, Queen of Sheba, Ramses the Great, and King David.

Reviewer: T. Borregaard

(3) YA Spiritual Leaders and Thinkers series. The subjects of these report-oriented biographies of religious leaders will be of varying interest to young people. The feature that sets these apart from other biographies are the appended primary source documents in most of the volumes, including the text of Luther's Ninety-five Theses and the Dalai Lama's Nobel acceptance speech. Chronology, reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Spiritual Leaders and Thinkers titles: Martin Luther, Thomas Merton, Mary Baker Eddy, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Dalai Lama.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt