Containing over 30,000 biographies, of which approximately 1000 are new entries in this edition, this standard reference work provides detailed up-to-date information on people in public life, the arts and sciences, business and finance, the church, the civil service, education, entertainment and sport, government, the law, local government, the media, medicine, professional institutions and the trade unions. The information is compiled from information supplied by the biographees and from many other sources of reference.