Salem Press

Stationed in the Panama Canal Zone during World War II, Frank N.
Magill pondered all of the great books he had read and others he had
never found time to read. He believed people would appreciate a source
that would recall the plots of the world’s great works of literature or
provide a concise summary of books worth reading. Following the war,
Magill followed up on his idea, publishing the first edition of
“Masterplots.”

That title became the foundation for a
growing list of reference works and established a career for Magill as
publisher and editor-in-chief of Salem Press, which he continued to
pursue until his death in 1997.

More than 30 titles from Salem Press are currently available in the Gale Virtual Reference Library,
including the award-winning “Milestone Documents in American History” -
a new series combining full-text primary source documents with expert
analysis and commentary.

See a list of Gale Virtual Reference Library titles from Salem Press.