The Handbook of North American Indians is a 20-volume encyclopedia summarizing knowledge about all Native peoples north of Mesoamerica, including cultures, languages, history, prehistory, and human biology, intended to serve as a standard reference work for anthropologists, historians, students, and the general reader. Each volume contains heavily illustrated chapters by the main authorities on each topic and concludes with an extensive bibliography and index. Volume 4 covers the history of the interactions in North America between the Native American peoples and those, primarily from Europe and Africa, who arrived after 1492. It includes essays on national policies; the military situation; political relations; economic relations; religious relations; and the concept of Indians in literature, popular culture, and movies.