This comprehensive reference volume offers in-depth information on one of the world’s most fascinating and misunderstood cultures.

Throughout history, Gypsies all over the world have been maligned and rejected. Outcasts of the countries in which they live, these nomads have wandered for years over the face of the earth. They have no homeland, no political unity, no recognition among nations. In popular folklore, they are vagrants, thieves, tinkerers, and con artists, which is to say, egregiously misunderstood.

Until about a century ago, these travelers’ original home had been a matter of dispute. Their language had been a source of puzzlement. Yet their conduct and their traditions, their feeling for music, dance and song, have all been acclaimed. Harry Wedeck’s Dictionary of Gypsy Life and Lore sheds much-needed light on the true history and culture of the Gypsies, separating fact from fiction while celebrating their folktales, rites, and customs.