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Reference Sources

When researching a new topic it is often necessary to get an overview, explanations of unfamiliar terms, or brief factual information. The print and electronic resources listed below include selected reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, guides, and standards) for the field of African History. To find additional reference materials, check UNB WorldCat (the library catalogue) or our Reference Materials database.

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Key Resources

  • African kingdoms : an encyclopedia of empires and civilizations [HIL-REF DT25 .A646 2017]

     

    "This history-rich volume details the sociopolitical, economic, and artistic aspects of African kingdoms from the earliest times to the second half of the 19th century. Africa has a long and fascinating history and is a place of growing importance in the world history curriculum. This detailed encyclopedia covers the history of African kingdoms from antiquity through the mid-19th century, tracing the dynasties' ties to modern globalization and influences on world culture before, during, and after the demise of the slave trade. Along with an exploration of African heritage, this reference is rich with firsthand accounts of Africa through the oral traditions of its people and the written journals of European explorers, missionaries, and travelers who visited Africa from the 15th century and onward. Alphabetically arranged entries cover a particular kingdom and feature information on the economic, cultural, religious, political, social, and environmental history of the regime. The content references popular culture, movies, and art that present contemporary reenactments of kingdoms, emphasizing the importance of history in shaping modern ideas. Other features include primary source documents, a selected bibliography of print and electronic resources, and dozens of sidebars containing key facts and interesting trivia. Features: Provides relevant perspective on globalization in the pre-modern era, documenting how humans across time and places have shared various components of custom ranging from food, language, and music to religion and spirituality ; Supports Common Core standards ; Includes primary documents for enhancing critical thinking and research skills ; Features cross references and suggestions for further reading ; Highlights key facts and interesting trivia through illuminating sidebars." -- Publisher's website

  • General history of Africa [HIL-GOV TU33 G326ha]

    v.1. Methodology and African prehistory --v.2. Ancient civilizations of Africa --v.3. Africa from the seventh to eleventh century --v.4. Africa from the twelfth to sixteenth century --v.5. Africa from the sixteenth to eighteenth century --v.6. The nineteenth century until 1880 --v.7. Africa under colonial domination, 1880-1935 --v.8. Africa since 1935.

  • Cambridge histories online
    This resource, part of Cambridge Core, contains the online versions of over 270 Cambridge Histories publications in the following 15 areas: American History, British History, Economic History, General History, History of Science, History of the Book, Language and Linguistics, Literary Studies, Music, Philosophy, Political and Social Theory, Regional History, Religious Studies, Theatre Studies and Performing Arts, and Warfare. For a complete listing of titles in each area, please refer to the publisher's site, at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/collections/cambridge-histories
  • The Cambridge encyclopedia of Africa [HIL-REF DT3 .C35 1981]

    A comprehensive, illustrated presentation of the entire continent. The entries are arranged in a readable order reflecting history. This is a thoroughly indexed and impressively referenced text/reference book on Africa.

  • Encyclopedia of Africa [HIL-REF DT3 .E53 2010]

    The Encyclopedia of Africa presents the most up-to-date and thorough reference on this region of ever-growing importance in world history, politics, and culture. Its core is comprised of the entries focusing on African history and culture from 2005's acclaimed five-volume Africana - nearly two-thirds of these 1,300 entries have been updated, revised, and expanded to reflect the most recent scholarship. Organized in an A-Z format, the articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa. There are articles on contemporary nations of sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic groups from various regions of Africa, and European colonial powers. Other examples include Congo River, Ivory trade, Mau Mau rebellion, and Pastoralism. The Encyclopedia of Africa is sure to become the essential resource in the field.

  • New encyclopedia of Africa [HIL-REF DT2 .N48 2008]

    Scribner's Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara was a welcome and much-needed work when it was released a decade ago. It assembled in four volumes a wealth of knowledge about Africa from the perspective of historians who studied the continent closely and intensively. Compiled by the original collaborators, this set is an effort to replicate, rework, and expand on that fine resource. Middleton (Yale) and Miller (Univ. of Virginia) have gathered a great group of contributors to provide coherent and focused content, which results in a set that is more contemporaneous and reflective of the global integration that Africa has undergone since 1997.

  • Encyclopedia of precolonial Africa : archaeology, history, languages, cultures, and environments [HIL-REF DT2 .E53 1997]

    An excellent introduction to Africanist archaeology for undergraduate students and general readers. Part one provides context: the presentation of environmental information, research histories, and background to the technologies, languages, and lifeways of sub-Saharan Africa. The remainder of the encyclopedia carries the narrative from the physical development of humanity through the adaptive stages of stone-using foragers, food producers, and complex societies, to the residues of historically recorded times and the investigation of identifiable sites in the historical record.

  • Africa and the Americas: culture, politics and history: a multicultural encyclopedia [HIL-REF DT31 .A43 2008]

    This three-volume reference contains an impressive range of A-Z entries on countries, events, people, cities, culture, philosophy, and politics concerning the transatlantic relationship of Africa and the Americas.

  • African political facts since 1945 [HIL-REF DT30 .C594 1991]

    This latest edition of African Political Facts since 1945 provides a work of reference on this period of modern African history and politics.

  • Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience [HIL-REF DT14 .A37435 1999]

    Inspired by the dream of the late African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and assisted by an eminent advisory board, Harvard scholars Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Kwame Anthony Appiah have created the first scholarly encyclopedia to take as its scope the entire history of Africa and the African Diaspora.

  • Encyclopedia of twentieth-century African history
    see also [HIL-REF DT29 .E53 2003]

    The focus of this dictionary-style work is the past century of African history, covering decades of tremendous change, including resistance to colonial rule and the reestablishment of African independence.

Additional Resources

  • Encyclopedia of African colonial conflicts [HIL-REF DT31 .E53 2017]

     

    "This sweeping study examines the wars of colonial conquest fought in Africa during the 19th and early 20th centuries. From Britain's efforts to wrest control of the Sudan from military leader Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, to Italy's decisive defeat at the Battle of Adowa in Ethiopia, to Leopold II's brutal reign over the Belgian Congo, the work surveys the devastation reaped upon the continent by colonization and illustrates how its combative influence continues to resonate in Africa today." "Written by scholars in the fields of history and politics, this complete reference includes entries on wars, campaigns, rebellions, battles, leaders, and organizations. The work delves into key historical periods including the "Scramble for Africa" (ca.1880 to 1910); early European colonial wars in Africa, such as the Dutch in the Cape and the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique; and African rebellions against the early colonial state in the 1890s and early 1900s. Entries feature prominent events and personalities as well as lesser-known occurrences and players." --from the publisher.

  • Historical dictionary of civil wars in Africa [HIL-REF DT21.5 .A76 2008]

    "This second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa reviews the wars that have occurred in Africa in the past half century: Algeria's struggle for independence from French colonial rule, Nigeria's fight to achieve a balanced state after the British departure, the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and the current ethnic cleansing in Darfur, to name only a few. It contains a chronology, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and cross-referenced dictionary entries on wars, conflicts, major political and military figures, and topics such as child soldiers, mercenaries, and blood diamonds."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

  • Key events in African history : a reference guide [HIL-REF DT20 .F35 2002]

    Distinguished scholar and Africanist Falola surveys the complicated history of the African continent by focusing on 36 pivotal events that either caused or led to significant changes and developments in African social, political, and cultural life from around 40,000 B.C.E. to the collapse of apartheid in the 1990s.

  • ARTstor
    Artstor is a repository of approximately 300 collections composed of over 2.5 million digital images (and growing), related data and provides tools to actively use those images in a restricted usage environment that balances the rights of the content providers and the needs of the users. The images are drawn from different sources, such as museums, archaeological teams, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference publishers.

    Scholars can examine wide-ranging material such as Native American art from the Smithsonian, treasures from the Louvre, and panoramic, 360-degree views of the Hagia Sophia in a single, easy-to-use resource. The artistic traditions across many cultures embraces architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture.

  • Smithsonian Global Sound® for Libraries (Music Online)
    Smithsonian Global Sound provides over 35,000 tracks of music, natural sounds and spoken words, delivered via streaming audio. It includes performances of traditional musics from around the world, poetry readings, environmental sounds, and recordings by legendary folk, jazz and blues performers. Liner notes for many recordings are also available.
  • Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online
    Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online "is a vast new online library giving instant access to the most authoritative and up-to-date scholarship across the humanities and social sciences. With more than 350 reference volumes to be published in Blackwell Reference Online by the end of 2008, it is the largest academic reference collection available online and includes the critically-acclaimed Blackwell Companions and Handbooks, major reference works such as the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management and the Companion to Syntax, and a whole host of other valuable reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias and concise companions."
  • Encyclopedia of African religion [HIL-REF BL2400 .E53 2009]

    The two-volume set, which includes almost 500 entries, covers a wide range of topics, including African response to the sacred, spirituality, ritual, initiation, taboos and ethics, sacred spaces and objects, and cosmological narratives.

  • International historical statistics [HIL-REF HA155 .M575 2003 vols. 1-3]

    This three-volume set of international historical statistics allows the full breadth of statistical analysis and comparisons across both time and across the world.

  • Oxford Reference
    Multi-part database of the online versions of Oxford University Press texts. Each topical division contains the searchable version of the latest edition of published dictionaries and encyclopedias. Additionally, information about Oxford University Press is provided. Online texts will be updated after new editions of the print monographs are published.Covers the humanities and social sciences.
    Collection limited to subscribed 5-user access

 

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Last modified on August 16, 2023 10:32