Racial violence and the specific phenomenon of the race riot have always been part of the American landscape, but have seldom been covered encyclopedically. Rucker and Upton seek to fill that gap with this outstanding two-volume work, which focuses on American race riots (African American and white) from the Civil War to the present. This set is indispensable for academic libraries with a focus on ethnic studies, and is highly recommended for other academic libraries and large public libraries.