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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. To find additional reference materials, check UNB WorldCat (the library catalogue) or our Reference Materials database.

Key Resources

  • The A to Z of the French Revolution [HIL-REF DC147 .H36 2007]

    Hanson (history, Butler U., Indiana) cites people, laws and decrees, committees and other organizations and agencies, battles and other events, places, ideas, and other aspects of the revolution that revolutionized revolution. The cross-referencing is extensive, but there is no index. He includes a chronology from 1786 to 1799, a bibliography arranged topically, and an introduction placing the revolution in historical context. The 2004 cloth edition was titled Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Annotation #169;2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

  • A Companion to the French Revolution
    see also HIL-STACKS DC147.8 .C75 2013

    A Companion to the French Revolution' comprises twenty-nine newly-written essays reassessing the origins, development, and impact of this great turning-point in modern history. This book examines the origins, development and impact of the French Revolution; Features original contributions from leading historians, including six essays translated from French; Presents a wide-ranging overview of current historical debates on the revolution and future directions in scholarship; and gives equally thorough treatment to both causes and outcomes of the French Revolution.

  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an illustrated/fulltext reference tool providing 55,000 specially-written signed biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of the British past from the earliest times to the end of the year 2000. It is the product of research instituted at the University of Oxford and funded by the British Academy and by Oxford University Press. It is the achievement of 10,000 contributors and advisers staff in Oxford. The Oxford DNB aims to provide full, accurate, concise, and readable articles on noteworthy people in all walks of life. No living person is included: the Dictionary's articles are confined to people who died before 31 December 2000.
  • The Oxford history of the British Empire [HIL-REF DA16 .O95 1998 vols. 1-5]

    The first two volumes of this five-volume history of the British Empire establish a very high standard of scholarship. Over three dozen scholars examine both major and minor aspects of the modern imperial experience. The chronological focus develops from the 16th century, when Ireland was the starting point of the empire, to the end of the 18th, when the 13 American Colonies were lost. The essays form an interlocking analysis of the origins of empire from an intellectual, military, economic, and technological perspective. There is some overlap; for example, several essays discuss the role of naval power, but each author approaches the topic with a different focus, such as technology in N.A.M. Rogers's essay and politics in John Appleby's. The various chapters, therefore, reinforce the overall picture instead of being redundant. Separate chapters in the first volume analyze the origins and implementation of the British imperial expansion, or contraction, in each region and then continue in the second volume, as do discussions of new subjects, such as the colonization of Australia. The interrelationship between the mother country and the Colonies also receives continued emphasis. Jonathan Israel's chapter, in Volume 1, on the continental perspective of British empire building helps place events in an even broader context. There is a short bibliography after each chapter. Three following volumes will see the empire through to its 20th-century decline. Recommended for all libraries.Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

  • A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Europe
    This title is part of the Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online e-book collection available through the Wiley Online Library.
    Permitted Use | Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • A Companion to World War I
    This title is part of the Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online e-book collection available through the Wiley Online Library.
    Permitted Use | Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • Russian Revolution of 1917 : the essential reference guide [HIL-REF DK265 .R958 2017]

    This invaluable reference guide provides an understanding of the social, political, and economic forces and events in Russia that led to the 1905 Russian Revolution in which leftists radicals disposed of the Czar and his regime. It addresses key developments such as the formation of the provisional government, the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, and the Russian Civil War—connected, evolutionary historical events that fundamentally reshaped Russia into the Soviet Union.

    This book serves students and general readers seeking a single source that provides in-depth coverage of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War. Beyond the reference entries, the book contains primary documents that cover the key events, people, and issues that emerged during Russia's revolutions and Civil War. These documents give readers a more detailed understanding of how the Bolsheviks used calls for greater "democracy" to gain support for their revolution, how the Bolsheviks used terror and control as means to maintain their power once the Bolshevik Revolution took place, and why the Bolsheviks believed such extreme measures were needed. Also included is a chronology of major events from 1890 through 1923 and a bibliography that serves as a starting point for more directed research.

    Features

    • Provides a detailed history of the Russian Revolution, addressing events from the abdication of Czar Nicholas II to the Bolshevik Revolution
    • Gives readers a more complete understanding of how the Bolsheviks fought during the Civil War to maintain and solidify the success of their revolution
    • Includes a substantial collection of primary documents that offers keen insights into what key actors thought and how these individuals behaved during the historical period
  • Cambridge History of the First World War [HIL-REF D521 .C35 2014]

    The Cambridge History of the First World War is a comprehensive, three-volume work which provides an authoritative account of the military, political, social, economic and cultural history of the Great War. Reflecting the very latest research in the field, the volumes provide a comprehensive guide to the course of the war and of how the dynamics of conflict unfolded throughout the world. Volume I surveys the military history showing the brutal realities of a global war among industrialized powers, whilst Volumes II and III explore the social, economic, cultural and political challenges that the war presented to politicians, industrialists, soldiers and civilians. Written by a team of leading international historians, the volumes together reveal the ways in which the war transcended the boundaries of Europe to subsequently transform the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas just as much as Europe itself.  

  • The Columbia dictionary of European political history since 1914 [HIL-REF D424 .C65 1992]

    Originally published: Dictionary of British and European history since 1914. U.K. : Macmillan.

  • Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe : from the Congress of Vienna to the fall of communism [HIL-REF DJK6 .E53 2000 ]

    "This encyclopedia explores the history of this complex region over the last two centuries." "Articles are included on countries and regions of Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the countries that once made up Yugoslavia. European Russia is also included. These articles are both detailed and concise, offering the reader a brief but comprehensive introduction into a country's history during the last two centuries - a crucial time when Europe was swept by wars and convulsive political change that shaped the present." "The book covers not only the leading figures who shaped the region's political destiny, but also the major artists, writers, and other culturally significant individuals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of these figures are known in the West, while others will be new to many readers." "An extensive map program enriches the text and helps the reader place a topic in geographic context. A bibliography at the end of each entry directs the reader to accessible sources for further reading or research on Eastern European history."

  • Oxford Companion to World War II, The
    This text is an authoritative reference work covering a wide breadth of topics on all things associated with World War II. Entries cover topics such as strategy, politics, weapons tactics, logistics, economics, and society.
    Collection limited to subscribed 5-user access
  • World fascism: A historical encyclopedia [HIL-REF JC481 .W67 2006 (v. 1 and 2)]
    "From the followers of Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the Arab leader who met with Adolph Hitler in November 1942, to Balkan Muslim volunteers for the Waffen SS during World War II, fascism's heady brew of extreme nationalism and racism has seduced peoples across all races, religions, and classes. Now widely reviled, fascism became the dominant political force in Western Europe throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s. How did civilized nations like Italy, Germany, Austria, and others succumb to an ideology now regarded by the political mainstream as barbarous and beyond the pale? 'World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia' covers all the key personalities and movements throughout the history of fascism and brings to light some of the ideology's lesser known aspects, from Hindu extremists in Inda to the pro-Fascist sympathies of certain members of the English aristocracy."--Publisher description (retrieved from Library of Congress catalog record) viewed Dec. 9, 2025.
  • A dictionary of European history and politics, 1945-1995 [HIL-REF D1051 .U78 1996]

    The Dictionary of European History and Politics since 1945 covers, in a concise and easy-to-use format, the most significant features of Western and Eastern European history and politics in the tumultuous period since the end of the Second World War.

  • Germany since 1945: Politics, Culture, and Society [HIL-STACKS DD257 .C35 2018]
    Peter C. Caldwell and Karrin Hanshew's Germany Since 1945 traces the social, political and cultural history of Germany from the end of the Second World War right up to the present day. The book provides a narrative that not only explores the histories of East and West Germany in their international contexts, but one that also takes the significantly different world of the Berlin Republic seriously, analyzing it as a distinct and significant period of German history in its own right. Split into three parts roughly devoted to a quarter-century each, this book guides students through contemporary Germany from the catastrophe of war, genocide and the country's division to the very different challenges facing the reunified Germany of the 21st century. There are key primary source excerpts integrated throughout the text, as well as 32 images, numerous maps, charts and tables and a detailed bibliography to further aid study. The book is complemented by online resources which include sample syllabi and a pedagogical supplement. Germany Since 1945 underscores both the particularities of German history and the international trends and transactions that shaped it, giving good coverage to key aspects of post-1945 German society and politics, including: East and West German paths to reconstruction; the development of consumer society and the welfare state; the politics of memory and coming to terms with the Nazi past; the Cold War; new social and political movements that opposed the postwar status; immigration and the move toward a multicultural society. This is an essential text for any student of contemporary German history.

Additional Resources

  • 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
  • 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."
  • 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

 


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Last modified on January 20, 2026 14:58