Research Guides: HIST 333: History and Fiction (HC): Background

Using Background Information

Subject encyclopedias provide overviews of ideas, people, and events They are a quick way to find out the basic facts and current points of debate. When using an article in an encyclopedia or handbook, always check the bibliography for further reading at the end of the article. It will provide a selective list of the books, articles, and, sometimes, primary sources.

Biographies

American National Biography
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Offers portraits of more than 18,000 men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped the nation. No living person is included.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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Contains biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond,from the earliest times to the year 2001. Articles focus on noteworthy people from all walks of life. No living person is included. Coverage varies.

Complete dictionary of scientific biography
Provides information on the history of science through articles on the professional lives of scientists. All periods of science from classical antiquity to modern times are represented.

Asian History

Cambridge history of China
This multiple-volume history provides detailed analyses of pertinent social, political, and economic issues.
Encyclopedia of modern Asia
Online version of: Encyclopedia of modern Asia. New York : Scribner, 2002. 6 v.
Encyclopedia of Modern China
Provides critical information on the most populous country and most dynamic trade market in the world: the people, politics, economics, religion, philosophy, traditions, art, and literature of this ancient and enduring civilization are explored from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day.

European History

Europe 1450 to 1789
Europe 1789 to 1914
Europe since 1914
Readings for European History
Bibliographies based on collections in the three colleges for
gender, the royal courts, and the Enlightenment.

U.S. History

Dictionary of American History by Stanley I. Kutler
Publication Date: 2002-12-11
Presents an extensive group of articles on many different aspects of American history. Also includes a collection of primary source documents.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History by Michael Kazin (Editor); Rebecca Edwards (Editor); Adam Rothman (Editor)
Publication Date: 2009-11-29
Broad in scope, the book addresses both the traditional topics of political history and the wider subjects of current scholarship, including military, electoral, and economic events, as well as social movements, popular culture, religion, education, race, gender, and more.
Oxford African American Studies Center
Publication Date: Updated regularly
Comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American history and culture. Features articles by top scholars in the field, images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, maps, charts and tables, and biographies.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History by Lynn Dumenil (Contribution by); Paul Boyer (Series edited by)
Publication Date: 2012-04-13
Social structures that shaped American life, including family, work, leisure, social movements, and patterns of mobility and settlements, are central to the work, as are themes of race,gender, ethnicity, and class. Sensitive to transnational developments, the volume draws extensively on new literature on slavery, health and disease, sexuality, women's activism, and technology's impact on everyday life.

Latin American History

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture by Jay Kinsbruner; Erick Detlef Langer
ISBN: 0684312700
Publication Date: 2008-05-09
Provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary view of Latin American history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. Covers cultural issues and includes numerous biographical profiles of important figures in politics, letters and the arts. Available online.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mexican History and Culture by William H. Beezley (Editor)
ISBN: 019068089X
Publication Date: 2019-01-15
Provides an overview of the best available scholarship on Mexico. Themes include biography, environment, gender, history and culture. Unique to this work are articles on digital sources.

World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean
This link to the Historical Collections section of this text-based database demonstrates the range of material available from documents connected with the discovery and conquest to the FBI File on the American Churchwomen Killed in El Salvador, December 1980.

Encyclopedias in Related Subject Areas

Encyclopedia of religion
The second edition of a resource that is considered a standard reference in the field. Presents a cross-cultural approach that emphasizes religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture. The original 2,750 entries have been retained, many heavily updated, and approximately 600 entirely new articles have been added by an international team of scholars and contributors.

Literature Resource Center
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Provides biographies, bibliographies and scholarly articles on novelists, poets, essayists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of highly-studied authors.
Oxford Art Online
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Oxford Art Online is an art reference library that searches Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, and The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. This resource contains images, biographies, subject entries, and thematic timelines (antiquity to present).

Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy
Online version of the 10-volume Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. Covers philosophical themes, philosophies, historical periods, and religions. Subjects covered include: Anglo-American, ethical and political, cross-cultural,interdisciplinary, continental and contemporary philosophy.