Research Guides: History: The Past as Laboratory for the Present (HC): Background

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama
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Includes articles on Brecht and Miller as playwrights, on the individual plays ("The Crucible" and "The Life of Galileo"), and on the broader national dramas ("Germany" and the "United States"). See the books and journal articles listed at the ends of articles for further reading.

The following sources provide overviews of ideas and topics in literature, history and science that relate to the plays you are reading by Bertold Brecht and Arthur Miller. When using an article in an encyclopedia or handbook, always check the bibiliography for further reading. It will provide a selective list of the books, journal articles, essays, and, frequently, Web resources considered to be the most up-to-date and reliable. This is a good start for your research and can help provide a broader perspective which will add to your understanding.

Literature Resource Center
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Provides access to critical analyses and biographies of authors from every age and literary discipline. Includes bibliographies for further reading.

American Decades
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See the volume for the 1950s for background information on the arts and on government and politics, including entries on the Cold War and on Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist hearings which were described by critics as witch-hunts.
Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture, 1871-1990
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See the article on Brecht as well as related ones listed at the end of that entry having to do with literature and political history.
Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought
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See in particular the essay about Jean-Paul Sartre and issues connected with him.
Encyclopeda of the Scientific Revolution: From Copernicus to Newton
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See the articles about Galileo and about his relationship with the Church.
Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition
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See the article on Salem in Volume 4. Related entries include Miller, Arthur; Confessions; Mather, Increase; and Panics.

Subject Guide

Margaret Schaus

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Subjects: Africana & Black Studies, Cities, Classics, History, Latin American & Iberian Studies, Political Science, Writing Program