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This online edition was reviewed and selectively updated by William L. Andrews and Frances Smith Foster in 2011.

This abridged and updated edition of the acclaimed Oxford Companion to African American Literature presents more than 400 biographies of authors, critics, literary characters, and historical figures, and 150 plot summaries of major works.

A breathtaking achievement, it covers an enormous range of writers - from Sojourner Truth to Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison to Toni Morrison. It contains entries on major works (including synopses of novels) and also incorporates information on literary characters, as well as on character types such as Aunt Jemima and Brer Rabbit. Icons of black culture are addressed, including Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane, Marcus Garvey, Jackie Robinson, John Brown, and Harriet Tubman. There are general articles on poetry, fiction, and drama; on autobiography, slave narratives, Sunday School literature, and oratory; as well as on a wide spectrum of related topics.

From the pharaohs to Frantz Fanon, Dictionary of African Biography provides a comprehensive overview of the lives of the men and women who shaped Africa’s history. Unprecedented in scale, DAB covers the whole continent from Tunisia to South Africa, from Sierra Leone to Somalia. It also encompasses the full scope of history from Queen Hatsheput of Egypt (1490–1468 BCE) and Hannibal, the military commander and strategist of Carthage (243–183 BCE), to Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana (1909–1972), Miriam Makeba, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa (b. 1918). Subjects are drawn from all walks of life, including philosophers, politicians, activists, entertainers, scholars, poets, scientists, religious figures, kings, and everyday people.

57 long form entries

The 2024 Almanac of American Politics marks the 51st edition for this political reference icon. The Almanac of American Politics continues to be the gold standard of accessible political information, relied on by everyone involved, invested, or interested in politics in the United States of America. Highly regarded for its in-depth analysis and comprehensive profiles of every congressional district, state, governor and member of Congress, The Almanac is the tool readers need to better understand the context of the people and perspectives shaping the issues that matter to readers. The 2024 edition includes:

• Brand new profiles of every member of Congress and every governor.

• New in-depth narrative descriptions of ALL 50 states and 435 House districts and how they have been changed by redistricting.

• New profiles of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris by Lou Peck.

• New essays featuring political analyses of co-author Charlie Cook and founding author Michael Barone.

• Analysis of the 2022 elections for Senate, House, and governor races, and how those results shape the public policy debates in Congress and the nation.

• A breakdown of the votes cast for President in 2020 for all states and districts (updated to account for new congressional districts), including primaries.

• Campaign finance data for all Senators and House members—plus their challengers--in the most recent election, including all-new listings of the “outside money” spent in those contests.

• Analysis of voter turnout in each state and new congressional districts for the 2020 presidential elections.

• More than 60 brand new state and congressional district maps, the key votes cast by members of the House and Senate, interest group ratings, and more.

• “Almanac Vote Ratings” on congressional members.

• Lists of Statewide Elected Officials.

• Updated voter registration data.

• Vital statistics on Congress data tables.

• Updated demographic information for every state and district, including information from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, with new categories of economic, occupational, social, and geographic data.

• Census data featuring updated veteran status data, healthcare data including the rate of insured vs. uninsured in each congressional district, and new public assistance data.

• Essential reference and contact information.

This critically acclaimed biographical dictionary of American economists offers in-depth biographies of the most important economic figures in American history from the seventeenth century to the present day. All of the major schools of American economic thought are represented, from the Constitutional school to the Keynesian school, and the dictionary includes in-depth coverage of the many overlooked women who have influenced economic thought in America. Individually, the entries capture important contributions to the development of economic thought in America; collectively, they encapsulate the rich diversity of that thought and the influences that have been at play on America economic thinking over four centuries. The Biographical Dictionary of American Economists is an essential reference source for anyone interested in the history of economics and American intellectual history.

For more than half a century, The Oxford Companion to American Literature has been an unparalleled guide to America's literary culture, providing one of the finest resources to this country's rich history of great writers.

There are over 2,000 biographical profiles of important American authors (with information regarding their style, subjects, and major works) and influential foreign writers as well as other figures who have been important in the nation's social and cultural history. There are more than 1,100 full summaries of important American novels, stories, essays, poems (with verse form noted), plays, biographies and autobiographies, tracts, narratives, and histories.

‘Amazingly comprehensive and thoroughly researched, The Oxford Companion to the American Musical is a must for any theatre professional or theatre fan.’ Stephen Flaherty

With more than two thousand entries, this guide offers a wealth of information on musicals, performers, composers, lyricists, producers, choreographers, and much more. Biographical entries range from early stars Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, and Mae West to contemporary show-stoppers Nathan Lane, Savion Glover, and Kristin Chenoweth, while composers Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Andrew Lloyd Webber all have articles, and the choreography of Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Debbie Allen receives due examination. The plays and films covered range from modern hits like Mamma Mia! and Moulin Rouge! to timeless classics such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Show Boat. Also, numerous musicals written specifically for television appear throughout, and many entries follow a work - Babes in Toyland for example - as it moves across genres, from stage, to film, to television. The Companion also includes cross references, a comprehensive listing of recommended recordings and further reading, a useful chronology of all the musicals described in the book, plus a complete index of Tony Award and Academy Award winners.

Over 5,700 quotations

This collection offers a stimulating picture of American culture and life. Up-to-date and thoroughly researched, the Dictionary gives readers a nutshell history of what great (and not-so-great) Americans had to say about many topics. This thoughtfully laid out compilation represents Americans ranging from the famous to the infamous, and from the distant as well as recent past, from George Abbott to Fran Lebowitz to Frank Zappa and numerous personalities, presidents, and analysts.

This is an essential browser-friendly reference not only for writers, editors, teachers and students, but also for anyone interested in the great people and ideas of American history.

A joint effort between Oxford University Press and the renowned American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), this comprehensive work analyzes the archaeological and linguistic data that pertain to the broad cultural milieu of the ancient Near East, the crossroads of three of the world's most influential religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ranging from prehistoric times up to the early centuries of the rise of Islam, the work covers the civilizations of Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, Arabia, Cyprus, Egypt, and the coastal regions of North and East Africa.

With 1,100 entries written by 560 contributors from more than two dozen countries, the scope of the encyclopedia is wide and provides a full range of perspectives and approaches to archaeological endeavors. Articles span from Bahrain to Libraries and Archives to Ziggurats and offer cultural, historical, and religious perspectives to a wide range of topics of interest to both scholars and lay people.

The Oxford Companion to Architecture is a new reference book on a popular and much-debated subject. It contains over 1500 A-Z entries covering all aspects of architecture, from architects, building types, and movements and styles to materials, aspects of design, and definitions. It is particularly strong in its coverage of architecture around the world, and of modern and vernacular architecture. The Companion is strongly rooted in an approach to architecture that looks at its social, technical, and practical aspects, as well as viewing it from an art-historical perspective.

With high-quality illustrations to complement and enhance the text, and a bibliographic essay, the Companion is an invaluable reference resource for architects, designers, teachers and students of architecture and architectural history at high school and college level, and the general reader interested in architecture.

It has been written by a team of over 150 contributors, including many distinguished architects and academics, under the editorship of Dr Patrick Goode and two consultant editors, Stanford Anderson and Sir Colin St John Wilson.

This online edition was reviewed and selectively updated by the original author in 2011.

The Oxford Dictionary of Art is the unrivalled one-volume guide to the art of the Western world. It provides a careful balance of fact and critical appraisal, ranging across painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts from classical times to the present.

Over 4,000 entries

This dictionary is a key reference for those who need familiarity with—and comprehensive knowledge of—Australian legal terms. Designed specifically for students, it uses clear and concise language and explores the terms encountered in everyday practice, focusing on core legal knowledge and practice areas. Written, reviewed, and edited by legal experts, this edition features new terms relating to taxation, business law, and company law and has been updated to include relevant cases and legislation.

An authoritative guide to contemporary Australian English, produced by the Australian National Dictionary Centre at the Australian National University and Oxford University Press.

Over 4,700 entries

The Benezit Dictionary of Asian Artists consists of more than 4,700 entries on Asian artists representing all regions of the continent, including the Middle East, and every era from antiquity to the present. The content is drawn from the most recent edition of the Benezit Dictionary of Artists (Editions Gründ, 2006), supplemented by fifty new entries on contemporary artists commissioned for this publication and over one hundred updated biographies.

Although most of the articles are on East Asian artists, primarily from China and Japan, the overall geographic and chronological scope is considerable, representing artists throughout the continent, and from ancient periods into the 21st century. This dictionary provides a compact, accessible collection of entries on Asian artists from ukiyo-e printmaker Hiroshige to Indian cubist painter Maqbool Fida Husain to Jin Dynasty painter Gu Kaizhi to Israeli artist Yaacov Agam. The artists specialize in a wide range of media, from calligraphy to performance art.

Entries provide concise narratives of artists’ careers, and many include bibliographies, exhibition histories, collection holdings, or auction records; additional entries are illustrated with images of artists’ signatures.

Over 3,200 entries

The Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators features over three thousand entries on British artists, ranging from contemporary cartoonists to medieval manuscript illuminators. The majority of the content was chosen from the most recent edition of the Benezit Dictionary of Artists (Editions Gründ, 2006), with more than ninety revised entries and sixty new ones, primarily on 19th- and 20th-century artists.

This work provides a compact, accessible collection of entries on printmakers, poster artists, illustrators, cartoonists, calligraphers, and illuminators either native to or active in the United Kingdom from the Middle Ages to the present. The Dictionary is therefore an essential reference for the rich history of British printmaking—both fine art prints as well as works for mass print media—and artistic activities related to the production of manuscripts and printed books. Because of Benezit’s focus on European artists, particularly those active in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, this collection provides excellent coverage of these media during their most significant periods of development.

Entries provide concise narratives of artists’ careers, and many include bibliographies, exhibition histories, collection holdings, or auction records; over 200 entries feature images of artists’ signatures and monograms.

Over 130 entries

This publication, the first of its kind since 1898, represents the work of more than one hundred internationally recognized experts from nearly a dozen countries. It has been designed to satisfy the growing thirst of students, researchers, professionals, and general readers for knowledge about China. It makes the entire span of Chinese history manageable by introducing the reader to emperors, politicians, poets, writers, artists, scientists, explorers, and philosophers who have shaped and transformed China over the course of five thousand years. In 135 entries, ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 words and written by some of the world's leading China scholars, the Dictionary takes the reader from the important (even if possibly mythological) figures of ancient China to Communist leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. The in-depth essays provide rich historical context, and create a compelling narrative that weaves abstract concepts and disparate events into a coherent story. Cross-references between the articles show the connections between times, places, movements, events, and individuals.

The work features a range of appendices, including a timeline of key events, a pronunciation guide, a bibliography, lists of rulers and other prominent people, and other supplemental materials for students of Chinese history and culture.

Over 100 entries

The fourth volume of the Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography covers the years 1979-2015, providing a riveting new way to understand twenty-first-century China and a personal look at the changes that have taken place since the Reform and Opening Up era started in 1979. One hundred key individuals from this period were selected by an international group of experts, and the stories were written by more than 70 authors in 14 countries. The authors map the paths taken by these individuals-some rocky, some meandering, some fateful-and in telling their stories give contemporary Chinese history a human face. The editors have included – with the advice of myriad experts around the world – not only the life stories of politicians and government officials, who play a crucial role in the development of the country, but the stories of cultural figures including film directors, activists, writers, and entrepreneurs from the mainland China, Hong Kong, and also from Taiwan.

The "Greater China" that comes through in this volume has diverse ideas and identities. It is often contradictory, sometimes fractious, and always full of creative human complexity. Some of the lives rendered here are heroic. Some are tragic, and many are inspirational. Some figures come in for trenchant criticism, and others are celebrated with a sense of wonder and awe. Like previous volumes of the Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography, this volume includes a range of appendices, including a pronunciation guide, a bibliography, and a timeline of key events.

The work features a range of appendices, including a timeline of key events, a pronunciation guide, a bibliography, lists of rulers and other prominent people, and other supplemental materials for students of Chinese history and culture.

800 entries

With its coverage of environmental issues, global economics, online communications, and the latest political developments, this Encyclopedia is truly a 21st-century work. While including many articles about China's earliest history - going back more than 5,000 years - the Encyclopedia is focused on the events, concepts, and people that matter today. The authors of its 800 accessibly written and lavishly illustrated articles, which range from 600 to 6,000 words, are scholars at major Chinese and Western universities and research institutes.

887 entries

In this seminal work, experts from around the world provide authoritative coverage of the growing body of knowledge about ways to restore the planet. Focused on solutions, this interdisciplinary publication draws from the natural, physical, and social sciences to bring readers an unprecedented array of 887 articles from over 900 contributors from 53 countries on environmental law and ethics, green business practices, regional sustainability issues, and resource and ecosystem management.

There is no shortage of information about environmental problems and no dearth of people calling themselves experts on sustainability. In fact, there is all too much information, and strident voices with opposing claims and frightening predictions. This encyclopedia solves the problem of information overload with concise overviews from experts on an array of sustainability-related topics. The reader will find solid research data, thorough analyses, and jargon-free discussion, effectively transforming a fast-developing research domain.

580 entries

From the big bang to the 21st century, this renowned encyclopedia provides an integrated view of human and universal history. Eminent scholars examine environmental and social issues by exploring connections and interactions made over time (and across cultures and locales) through trade, warfare, migrations, religion, and diplomacy.

Over 100 new articles, and 1,200 illustrations, photos, and maps from the collections of the Library of Congress, the World Digital Library, the New York Public Library, and many more sources, make this second edition a vital addition for world history-focused classrooms and libraries.

300 entries

This renowned encyclopedia provides comprehensive coverage of the culture, history, and business of sports around the world. The third edition brings the study of sports into the 21st century by integrating Berkshire's past work on women's sports and extreme sports into a complete sporting library. It includes over 300 updated and new articles on sports management and marketing, branding, sponsorship, doping scandals, sporting goods, extreme and fantasy sports, and technology, as well as on environmental and economic issues. Every sport imaginable is covered, and articles focus on the history, evolution, and future of sports around the world, and offer readers a solid understanding of why sports are played the way they are and what they mean to society.

The Oxford Encyclopedias of the Bible series is a major reference work, consisting of comprehensive essays by scholars from many countries and with a wide variety of perspectives on Biblical Studies. The Digital Collection represents an online expansion of the project, featuring articles previously published on Oxford Biblical Studies Online, now exclusive on Oxford Reference. With bibliographic references and suggestions for further reading, each entry provides a thorough overview of the topic and serves as an entrance point to further research for both seasoned scholars and beginning students.

‘A magisterial excavation of black Britain...every student in the country should read it. ’, - Christina Patterson, The Independent

Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the long and fascinating history of black people in the British Isles, The Oxford Companion to Black British History explores the subject from its beginnings in Roman times to the present day. From African auxiliaries stationed on Hadrian's Wall in the 2nd century AD, through John Edmonstone, who taught taxidermy to Charles Darwin, Mary Seacole, the 'Black Florence Nightingale', and Walter Tull, footballer and First World War officer, to our own day, the OCBBH provides detailed timeline charts and key dates for people and events. Key concepts such as Emancipation and Reparations are examined, while a unique collection of articles are brought together to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the black presence in Britain, and the rich and diverse contribution it has made to British society. It will appeal to a wide readership including university academics, A-level and undergraduate students, and teachers, as well as to general readers with an interest in Black British history. The publication is also particularly timely: the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority highlighted in their annual report of December 2005 the need to give more attention to the wider teaching of black history.

This book is edited by the prize-winning novelist and noted academic David Dabydeen, together with respected scholars John Gilmore and Cecily Jones, and written by more than 100 specialists.

2006 ALA/RUSA Outstanding Reference Source

2005Booklist Editor's Choice

2005 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

The second edition of Black Women in America, edited by Darlene Clark Hine, provides expanded coverage of the achievements and contributions of African American women.

Winner of the Dartmouth Medal for Outstanding Reference Publication of 1994, the first edition of Black Women in America broke new ground—pulling together for the first time all of the research in this vast but underrepresented field to provide one of the strongest building blocks of Black Women’s Studies. Hailed by Eric Foner of Columbia University as “one of those publishing events which changes the way we look at a field,” it simultaneously filled a void in the literature and sparked new research and concepts regarding African American women in history. Since the first edition was published, a new generation of American black women has flourished, demanding this landmark reference be brought up to date. Women such as Venus and Serena Williams, Condoleezza Rice, Carol Moseley Braun, Ruth Simmons, and Ann Fudge have become household names for their remarkable contributions to sports, politics, academia, and business. In nearly 600 entries, Black Women in America celebrates the remarkable achievements of black women throughout history, highlights their ongoing contributions in America today, and represents the new research the first edition helped to generate.

Over 500 entries

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment is the first reference work on this key subject in early American history. With substantial and original essays on key American Enlightenment figures, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, David Rittenhouse, Benjamin Rush, Jonathan Edwards and many others, it provides a comprehensive account to complement the intense scholarly activity that has recently centered on the European Enlightenment. This wide-ranging collection also includes topical essays, and entries on dozens of often-overlooked secondary figures.

It has long been known that Americans made their own contributions to the Enlightenment, most notably by putting Enlightenment ideas to work in defining the American Revolution, the United States Constitution, and the nature of the early American Republic. These volumes show that the American Enlightenment was more far reaching than even that story assumes. Presenting a fresh definition of the Enlightenment in America, this remarkable work confirms that the American Enlightenment constitutes the central framework for understanding the development of American history between c.1720 and c.1820.

‘Provides a global approach to the world of the book and is, in every way, a monumental achievement’ – CHOICE

The Oxford Companion to the Book is a unique work of reference, covering the book, broadly conceived, throughout the world from ancient to modern times. It includes traditional subjects such as bibliography, palaeography, the history of printing, editorial theory and practice, textual criticism, book collecting, and libraries, but it also engages with newer disciplines such as the history of the book and the electronic book. It pays particular attention to how different societies shape books and how books shape societies.

The work includes a substantial series of introductory essays alongside an A-Z section of over 5,000 entries, all linked by thorough cross-referencing and served by a classified index of entries.

The essays provide histories of the subject ranging from writing systems, the ancient and the medieval book, through central aspects of book production, to editorial theory and textual criticism, the economics of print, and the sacred book, as well as 29 surveys of the history of the book around the world, including the Muslim world, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa (these can be found under ‘Essay’).

The entries cover every aspect of this exceptionally rich and diverse subject, ranging from brief definitions and biographical entries to more extensive treatments. The text is illustrated throughout with reproductions, diagrams, and examples of various typographical features.

The Companion is the only reference book of its kind in the field, and has been written by 400 of the world’s best scholars in bibliography and book history.

Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase & Fable is dedicated to the history, culture, and mythology of the Emerald Isle. With a stunningly eclectic array of more than 6,000 entries on words, phrases, names, titles, people, events, and places, it is an invaluable work of reference. And in the great tradition of Brewer's, it is guaranteed to intrigue, inform, and delight lovers of the arcane, the esoteric, and the unexpected.

A work of nearly 900 pages in print, now available for the first time digitally, the uniquely wide-ranging and addictively browsable Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase & Fable takes you on a fascinating journey around the island of Ireland. From Pearse to Paisley, the Floozie in the Jacuzzi to the Hags with the Bags, Kerrygold to Kerry jokes, and Beckett to Boyzone, it is a cabinet stuffed with Irish curiosities of every conceivable variety.

A vivid and affectionate celebration of the whole island of Ireland, this is the perfect book for anyone passionate about Ireland and its history.

From the Bloomsbury Group to the Camberwell Carrot and Samuel Johnson to Boris Johnson, Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable shines a welcome light into the enticingly shadowy corners of London's language, culture, and history. More than 2,000 entries encompass words, phrases, historical events, notable London characters (both real and fictional), customs and ceremonies, institutions, artistic and literary works, celebrations and events, inventions, streets and districts, anecdotes, names and nicknames, terminology, and slang.

Whether you are a Londoner through and through or whether you prefer to experience this bustling and cacophonous city from the safety of your armchair, Brewer's Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable will bring the heart and soul of London to your (virtual) bookshelf.

With thousands of contemporary words and phrases and a wide selection of entries on the cultural preoccupations of our times, Brewer’s Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable is an invaluable guide to modern language and culture. Focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries, it applies the trademark Brewer’s treatment to a fascinating selection of buzzwords, catchphrases, slang, nicknames, fictional characters and intriguing cultural phenomena from pop culture to politics, literature to technology.

Encompassing everything from the Battle of Britain to the Brazilian wax, McCarthyism to McDonald’s and Waiting for Godot to Wallace and Gromit, Brewer’s Modern is wonderfully diverse, addictively browsable and bound to broaden your horizons.

Much loved for its wit and wisdom since 1870, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable takes you on a captivating adventure through its trademark blend of language, culture, myth and legend. As Susie Dent explains in the foreword, Brewer’s “is not a straightforward dictionary, nor is it an encyclopaedia. It is, in fact, unlike any other reference book that exists, anywhere.” This nineteenth edition encapsulates all the charm and wit that characterise its predecessors and maintains the standards of scholarship and eclecticism that have long been its hallmark.

Thoroughly updated with over 100 new and revised entries – think crowdsourcing, cyberpunk, iPad and mash-up – this unique resource is guaranteed to delight, entertain and inspire in the best Brewer’s tradition. Discover Brewer’s take on angels, heraldry, pub signs and recluses, and delve into the lexicographical world of the eggcorn. Whether you are a committed Brewerphile or a newcomer to its pages of fascinating entries, this edition will draw you in and keep you glued to its rich mix of eccentric nuggets.

Over 3,300 quotations

If you've ever wondered where the immortal phrase "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" originated, tried to establish who first said that "truth is stranger than fiction," been puzzled by rumors that Neil Armstrong never said "That's one small step for man...," or rashly assumed that Salome's "Dance of the Seven Veils" must be mentioned somewhere in the Bible, then Brewer's Famous Quotations will put you on the right track.

Revealing the intriguing stories behind quotations, from Julius Caesar's supposed dying words ("Et tu, Brute?") to George W Bush's "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," Nigel Rees offers detailed insights into a host of misremembered, misattributed and generally problematic quotations.

Authoritative and entertaining by turns, this is the perfect book for browsers, the ultimate source of information on a wide range of quotations, and the final court of appeal on the vexed issue of Who Really Said What.

This wide-ranging Dictionary brings together in-depth biography essays on over six hundred individuals. It also includes coverage of individuals who are not normally thought of as economists but who nonetheless made penetrating and original contributions, including writers such as H. G. Wells, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens; astronomers and mathematicians such as Isaac Newton, Edmund Halley and Isaac Barrow; the chess grandmaster Augustus Mongredien; the mountaineer Albert Mummery; the inventor of the machine gun, George Puckle; and many others from the fields of medicine, religion, politics, banking, science, agriculture and the East India Company employees. Writers on issues such as population, poverty, socialism, monetarism, finance and banking and many other fields are included, in one of the most comprehensive biographical surveys of the field yet undertaken.

Individually, the entries capture important and often overlooked contributions to the development of economic thought in Britain; collectively, they encapsulate the rich diversity of that thought and the influences that have been at play on British economic thinking over nine centuries.

Contributors are leading international scholars in economics and economic history and members of the editorial advisory board include Geoffrey Harcourt, Peter Groenewegen, Forrest Capie, Roger Backhouse, E.H. Lloyd, Noel Thompson, Tony Brewer, Geoffrey Gilbert, Keith Tribe, Leslie Clarkson, and Walter Eltis.

1991 Reference Reviews Best Specialist Reference Work

1992 Choice Outstanding Academic Book

With more than 5,000 entries by an international group of eminent historians, this is the standard research tool on 1,100 years of Byzantine history. Exhaustive in its coverage, entries on patriarchy and emperors coexist with entries on surgery, musical instruments, and the baking of bread, bringing to life this vastly important culture and empire, from the 4th century to the 15th.

This is the essential reference title for all those interested in Canadian History. From the Norse to Nunavut, The Oxford Companion to Canadian History provides an authoritative and comprehensive guide to the significant events, issues, institutions, places, and people that have shaped Canada from earliest times to the present.

‘a unique reference book for all Canadians’, Robert MacNeil, Time Magazine

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary was the runaway bestseller of 1998, spending over a year on the Globe and Mail's bestseller list and winning the Canadian Booksellers Association's Libris awards for Non-fiction Book of the Year and Specialty Book of the Year. The dictionary combines coverage of international English with information on English as it is particularly used in Canada. Definitions are presented so that the meaning most familiar to Canadians appears first and foremost. Each of these entries is exceptionally reliable, the result of thorough research into the language and Oxford's unparalleled language resources.

This new edition is completely up to date with 5,000 new words and senses. It features 2,200 uniquely Canadian words and senses, 350 usage notes, 7,000 idiomatic expressions, 5,500 biographical entries, and over 5,600 place names.

Over 43,000 entries

‘“What’s in a name?” Juliet asked as she and Romeo tried to puzzle their way around the troubling problem of their warring families. Well, plenty, the most detailed investigation into surnames in the UK and Ireland has found.’

Steven Morris, The Guardian (of The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland)

This new dictionary provides up-to date and authoritative explanations of family names found in Britain. It is an edited version of The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names of Britain and Ireland, published to great acclaim in 2016, which provided evidence for the origins, history, and geographical distribution of tens of thousands of family names current in Britain, many of them never explained before. The Concise Dictionary includes almost all the names originally covered, plus some additional rarer names, in a more concise and accessible format, and will be a key research tool for those investigating their family history.

Each entry includes British frequencies and main locations as evidenced in the 1881 Census, as well as etymological detail and variants of the name. It tells you what type of name it is – perhaps an occupational name such as Taylor, or a nickname such as Short – the name’s original language and culture, and any multiple origins.

In this timely and important work, John Esposito and John Voll explore the development of contemporary Islamic movements and thought through the biographies of nine major activist intellectuals who represent a wide range of Muslim societies. Many Muslims have combined revivalist activism with intellectual efforts, but only a few have achieved significant international visibility and influence. By examining the lives and work of nine such internationally recognized figures, Esposito and Voll provide a new understanding of the intellectual foundations of contemporary Islamic awareness and politics. Included are profiles of: Ismail Ragi al-Faruqi (U.S./Palestine), Khurshid Ahmad (India/Pakistan), Maryam Jameelah (U.S./Pakistan), Hasan Hanafi (Sudan), Rashid Ghannoushi (Tunisia), Hasan al-Turabi (Sudan), Abdolkarim Soroush (Iran), Anwar Ibrahim (Malaysia), and Abdurrahman Wahid (Indonesia).

These thinkers contributed to some of the most significant intellectual and activist developments in the Muslim world during the 1980s and 1990s--the period during which Islamic movements became a major force in Muslim societies and international affairs. They helped to organize and lead the movements of Islamic renewal and provided the conceptual foundations for the programs those movements advocate. Together, they represent a distinctive phase in the evolution of Islamic thinking: the ongoing effort to create an effective synthesis of modernity and Islamic tradition. Their work supplies the core of the Islamic resurgence of the1990s and the foundation for what it can become in the twenty-first century.

This is the first comprehensive reference work devoted to philosophy in Britain. In addition to biographical entries on the lives and works of individual thinkers, it incorporates major historical surveys of the core philosophical topics, mini factual entries to facilitate reference, and detailed entries on themes, movements, institutions, journals, influences and theories through the ages. The Encyclopedia brings together 2,500 entries contributed by over 500 international experts. It is a unique resource for students and specialists to tap into the development and transmission of philosophical ideas over time, across disciplines, and to and from other countries.

The Encyclopedia employs a broad construal of “philosophy” in line with historical usage, making it a source of continuities, connections and paths for future inquiry. It is a highly important database for teaching and research in philosophy, as well as in history, science, literature, religion, politics, psychology, sociology and economics.

The Oxford Companion to Cosmology is a comprehensive, yet highly accessible, encyclopedic overview of this enduringly popular subject. Its 350+ in-depth entries - ranging from cosmic inflation and dark energy to Higgs boson and neutrinos - both illuminate the ideas behind the current understanding of the universe and outline the fundamental physics from which those ideas emerge. Subjects covered include the structure of the universe, the evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and cold dark matter. It deals with both theoretical ideas, such as alternative cosmologies, as well as the various types of observational evidence, including redshift surveys and cosmic microwave background radiation. Appearing at a time when there is a growing consensus about the origins and development of the universe, centred on the hot Big Bang and the emerging Standard Cosmological Model, it offers an introductory overview of this fundamental issue that brings the reader up to date on current thinking.

Extensive cross-referencing and a glossary allow the reader to unravel the ideas behind the terminology, while selected illustrations bring the subject to life. Entry-level web links direct the reader to recommended online resources. Written by established experts in theoretical and observational cosmology, the Companion is an invaluable and authoritative reference resource for students, teachers, science writers, and anyone with a serious interest in cosmology.

This second, revised, and expanded edition of Dictionary of American Family Names contains more than 80,000 of the most commonly occurring surnames in the United States, reflecting better than ever the unique diversity of the American population. All surnames with more than 300 bearers in the 2010 US Census are now included, increasing the number of names discussed by over 10,000 and widening the representation of languages and cultures from North and South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia, many of which were absent from the first edition. Native American and African American surnames have been given particular attention, though much research still remains to be done in these important areas of American family history and naming practices. The product of a seventeen-year research project, gathering the contributions of over thirty linguistic consultants from all over the world, the dictionary explains the meanings—some intuitive, some amusing, and some quite surprising—of the family names for more than 90 percent of the US population, giving their comparative frequencies, linguistic and historical explanations, selected associated forenames, and occasional genealogical notes. The edition includes tens of thousands of new and corrected or improved etymologies, origins, and name histories, as well as authoritative introductory essays, many of them new or revised, describing naming customs across the globe.

Over 3,400 entries

A revealing guide to the richness and colour of the Australian language, this fascinating work records a distinctive, inventive slang and provides a unique insight into Australian life and culture. First published in 1978, this dictionary includes the earliest and most recent colloquial coinages including words and idioms drawn from a wide range of sources. Each entry features relevant context e.g. origin and derivation, and enduring colloquialisms have as many as ten citations from original works. This fifth edition features an expanded introduction and contains over 300 new entries. In addition, more than 900 of the previous entries have been revised and updated.

From Toussaint L’Ouverture to Pelé, the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography will provide a comprehensive overview of the lives of Caribbeans and Afro-Latin Americans who are historically significant. The project will be unprecedented in scale, covering the entire Caribbean, and the Afro-descended populations throughout Latin America, including people who spoke and wrote Creole, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. It will also encompass the full scope of history, with entries on figures from the first forced slave migrations in the sixteenth centuries, to entries on living persons such as the Haitian musician and politician Wyclef Jean and the Cuban author and poet Nancy Morejón. Individuals will be drawn from all walks of life including philosophers, politicians, activists, entertainers, scholars, poets, scientists, religious figures, kings, and everyday people whose lives have contributed to the history of the Caribbean and Latin America.

Covering thousands of years of intricate creation tales, A Dictionary of Creation Myths is the first and most comprehensive work devoted to creation myths from cultures throughout the world. With an easy-to-use A-Z format, this around-the-world tour provides quick access to information on the beliefs (both exotic and ordinary) of ancient civilizations from Sumeria and Babylonia to Egypt, Greece, and ancient Rome, from India and China to Japan and Indonesia, as well as the rich mythological history of Native Americans, the indigenous peoples of Australia, and many other cultures. We read of the creation myth of the Diegueno tribe of southern California in which the creator, Tu-chai-pai, made the earth female and the sky male and then formed mud into people; the Norse creation story of the gods Odin, Vili, and Ve, who made man and woman out of two fallen trees–Odin breathed life into the new pair, Vili's gift to them was intelligence, and Ve gave the gifts of sight and hearing; and the myth of Japanese creation in which Izanagei, and his sister Izanami, watch the first land form from ocean water dripping from Izanagi's spear. Alongside these ancient beliefs are the more modern, such as Darwin's theory of evolution and the big bang theory.

Each entry identifies the culture associated with the myth, and each myth is retold in clear, eloquent prose, with extensive cross-referencing to guide readers to other entries. Throughout, the authors share insightful analyses of the surprisingly intricate relationship of certain myths across cultures, regions, and time. A Dictionary of Creation Myths is essential for anyone who has ever wondered how the world was created, where we came from, or why we are here at all.

Over 450 entries

The Dictionary of Early American Philosophers, which contains over 450 entries by nearly 300 authors, provides an account of philosophical thought in the United States and Canada between 1600 and 1860. The label of "philosopher" has been broadly applied in this Dictionary to intellectuals who have made philosophical contributions regardless of academic career or professional title. Most figures were not academic philosophers, as few such positions existed then, but they did work on philosophical issues and explored philosophical questions involved in such fields as pedagogy, rhetoric, the arts, history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, medicine, anthropology, religion, metaphysics, and the natural sciences.

Each entry begins with biographical and career information, and continues with a discussion of the subject's writings, teaching, and thought. A cross-referencing system refers the reader to other entries. The concluding bibliography lists significant publications by the subject, posthumous editions and collected works, and further reading about the subject.

The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers is a massive reference work featuring those eighteenth-century German philosophers, scholars, jurists, literary critics, historians and others whose work has lasting philosophical significance. The century covered in the Dictionary was one of profoundly innovative philosophical investigation, during which enlightenment thinking arrived in Germany and many established conceits were challenged. This activity is covered here in more than 650 alphabetical entries. Each discusses a particular philosopher’s life, contributions to the world of thought, and later influences. Entries also include bibliographical references to encourage further reading.

In addition to the well-known German philosophers of that era—for instance, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Hegel, and George Wilhelm—the Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers provides rare insight into the lives and minds of lesser-known individuals who influenced the shape of philosophy. Because the Dictionary is unique in its broad view of what constitutes philosophy, it is a valuable resource for comparing notions and practices among German thinkers of that era.

‘affords many pleasures to the curious... an intellectual inventory. ’ – Andrew Zurcher, Times Literary Supplement

This is the first Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology ever to be published. Dealing with the subject of documentation—which affects everyone's lives (from every-day letters, notes, and shopping lists to far-reaching legal instruments, if not autograph literary masterpieces)—Peter Beal defines, in a lively and accessible style, some 1,500 terms relating to manuscripts and their production and use in Britain from 1450 to the present day.

The entries, which range in length from one line to nearly a hundred lines each, cover terms defining types of manuscript, their physical features and materials, writing implements, writing surfaces, scribes and other writing agents, scripts, postal markings, and seals, as well as subjects relating to literature, bibliography, archives, palaeography, the editing and printing of manuscripts, dating, conservation, and such fields as cartography, commerce, heraldry, law, and military and naval matters.

Over 7,000 entries

Roberts’ dictionary is a comprehensive yet concise guide to the various legal, regulatory, technical, commercial, and financial abbreviations, acronyms, terms and phrases which define the oil and gas industry today. Written by a leading practitioner and containing over 7,000 definitions plus a series of technical and narrative appendices, this is an essential guide to interpreting the industry’s extensive and complex jargon.

Oxford's unprecedented Dictionary of the Social Sciences is designed to break down the barriers between social science disciplines, as well as to make social scientific language comprehensible to general readers. Collecting anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, human geography, cultural studies, and Marxism in one volume, the Dictionary presents concise, clearly written definitions of more than 1,500 important terms. Entries are true definitions, not extended essays or summaries. Ranging from 50 to 500 words, they succinctly define terms within each specific discipline and acquaint readers with the intellectual issues at stake when the terms are used. The entries draw on classic and contemporary scholarship, and include basic terms, concepts, theories, schools of thought, methodologies, techniques, topics, issues, and controversies. In addition to terminology, the Dictionary includes nearly 275 biographies of major figures—from Franz Boas to John Maynard Keynes to Max Weber, whose work has had a profound impact on the various fields.

This is an encyclopedic dictionary covering hundreds of important philosophical, literary, and political terms and concepts that defy easy--or any--translation from one language and culture to another. Drawn from more than a dozen languages, terms such as Dasein (German), pravda (Russian), saudade (Portuguese), and stato (Italian) are thoroughly examined in all their cross-linguistic and cross-cultural complexities. Spanning the classical, medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary periods, these are terms that influence thinking across the humanities. The entries, written by more than 150 distinguished scholars, describe the origins and meanings of each term, the history and context of its usage, its translations into other languages, and its use in notable texts. The dictionary also includes essays on the special characteristics of particular languages--English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Originally published in French, this one-of-a-kind reference work is now available in English, with new contributions from Judith Butler, Daniel Heller-Roazen, Ben Kafka, Kevin McLaughlin, Kenneth Reinhard, Stella Sandford, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jane Tylus, Anthony Vidler, Susan Wolfson, Robert J. C. Young, and many more. The result is an invaluable reference for students, scholars, and general readers interested in the multilingual lives of some of our most influential words and ideas.

2004 ALA/RUSA Outstanding Reference Source

2003 Library Journal Best Reference

2004 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

International in scope and spanning all time periods of human history, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History includes 900 original articles by noted scholars from more than thirty-five countries. Articles range from 500-word entries on inventors, theoreticians, and industry leaders to overarching, 8,000-word essays on markets, industries, and labor. With coverage ranging from accounting and advertising to zoning and zoos, this landmark works stands at the busy intersection of history and the social sciences.

The general conceptual categories of the work are: Geography (entries on cities, countries, and regions); Agriculture; Production Systems, Business History, and Technology; Demography; Institutions, Governments, and Markets; Macroeconomic History and International Economics; Money, Banking and Finance; Labor; Natural Resources and the Environment; and Biographies.

Over 325 entries

The huge organism called the Indian economy, with its complexities, diversities, and paradoxes, is both fascinating and puzzling. The Oxford Companion to Economics in India (2007) brought together expertise on each slender aspect of the economy. Taking forward the huge popularity of its predecessor, The New Oxford Companion to Economics in India has not only substantially revised and updated many of the original entries but also includes several new entries on emerging areas. The New OCEI focuses on India’s role as a global player in the highly volatile financial scenario—the great global recession, the sub-prime crisis, and the revival of G-20 in which India has found itself taking an active role. The New OCEI contextualizes these events and the accompanying policy changes while providing a rich portrait of a dynamic and resilient economy. It is also a ‘who’s who’ of economists on India.

Culled from the collective wisdom of distinguished contributors, including economists, policymakers, and corporate chiefs, the New OCEI is a definitive scholarly reference that will serve the needs of academics, policymakers, journalists, and corporates, as well as all those interested in understanding the unique Indian experience.