- Christmas from A to Z
- Defining Moments: American Indian Removal and the Trail to Wounded Knee
- Defining Moments: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Defining Moments: The Dream of America: Immigration 1870-1920
- Defining Moments: The Great Depression and The New Deal
- Defining Moments: The Harlem Renaissance
- Defining Moments: The Korean War
- Easter A to Z
- The Egyptian Book of the Dead
- Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States
- Intimate Terms
- The Last Word
- Milestones of Science and Technology
- The Pencil of Nature
- Pharaoh's Flowers
- Picturing Plants
- Political Paramours: Thirty Women Whose Dalliances Changed History
- The Possession
- Prairies and Plains
- The Pygmalion Complex
- Ruffner's Allusions
- Thanksgiving: The American Holiday
- Troubled Waters
- Walls Are Talking
- When Your Doctor Says: Breast Cancer
- When Your Doctor Says: Diabetes
- When Your Doctor Says: Heart Disease
KWS titles are distributed worldwide by the Independent Publishers Group (IPG)
Ruffner's Allusions
Third Edition
Frederick G. Ruffner, Jr., and Laurence UrdangDescription
Ruffner’s Allusions documents the deeper meanings of words—from Shakespeare, Dickens, and other authors; from The Bible and other holy books; from Greek, Roman, and other mythologies; from American, European, Eastern, and other legends; and from the arts, business, the movies, radio and television.
This reference work has established itself as the essential starting place for students and general readers interested in understanding the meaning of the many allusions found both in written materials and in everyday speech.
The third edition of Ruffner’s Allusions includes 3,500 new allusions (for a total of more than 12,000). The authors have significantly updated several important areas: allusions from the past 20 years, with an emphasis on technology, politics, and popular culture, as well as allusions to real people, to non-Judeo-Christian faiths, and to children’s literature.Reviews
Useful. Provides more than three times the coverage offered by [its closest competitor]. In reference works like this, multiple points of access are an essential element, and here they are plentiful. For its breadth of coverage and carefully organized content, this would be an excellent addition to any reference collection. —Booklist
About the Author
Frederick Ruffner is the founder of both the Gale and Omnigraphics publishing companies and is responsible for numerous of the most important reference books established during the second half of the 20th century. His co-author, Laurence Urdang, during his lifetime, edited or compiled more than 100 books about language and usage.

