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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.

‘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.

The Encyclopedia of Africa presents the most up-to-date and thorough reference in world history, politics, and culture on this region of ever-growing importance. Its core is comprised of 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.

The articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa. In-depth articles examine contemporary nations of sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic groups from various regions of Africa, and European colonial powers. Two hundred illustrations and demographic sidebars further guide and inform research.

'War has been one of the defining forces in Australian history ... Participation in war, whether actively in the armed forces or on the home front, or in opposition to a particular war, has shaped the lives of successive generations of Australians in the twentieth century. Today ... questions relating to defence do not usually seize the attention of the media, but the Department of Defence remains one of the largest single consumers of the annual federal budget, and Anzac Day continues to hold a special place in the Australian calendar.'

These words introduced the first edition of The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History in 1995. More than a decade later much has changed. Australian forces are currently employed in widely dispersed operations around the world, in particular in Iraq, Afghanistan, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands, and questions of defence, broadly understood, have once again become a matter of public debate and controversy.

This substantial new edition of the Companion builds on the strength of the first edition. Many of the original entries have been retained, some with minor emendations or additions, while others have been rewritten in the light of recent scholarship. There are also many new entries on topics that were omitted from the first edition, either because they did not seem to warrant inclusion or simply because they were overlooked, while others have assumed a new significance in the light of developments since 1995. In all cases the editors have sought to retain the original aim of combining information, some of it technical, with analysis, and to do so in a manner that will make the Companion accessible and useful both to the general reader and to the specialist.

This online edition was reviewed and selectively updated in 2011 by Charles Singleton with help from Dr Spencer Jones.

A complete overview of military history from classical times to the present, The Oxford Companion to Military History is an essential guide to how the world has been shaped by conflict. Entries on key topics such as intelligence, propaganda, tactics, women in the military, and peacekeeping are included, with over 70 maps showing the course of famous battles and campaigns.

From the Viking invasions to the Crusades to the Hundred Years’ War, wars were crucial agents of change in medieval Europe. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology examines all aspects of warfare and military technology in medieval times. Approximately 1,000 articles signed by the leading experts in medieval military history provide an exhaustive and accurate view of how and why wars were waged throughout Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusader States between 500 c.e. to 1500.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology contains articles on military leaders; battles; sieges; individual fortresses; and military technology focusing on subjects such as armor, navigational techniques, and siege warfare tactics. In addition, each regional overview—such as Britain, the Byzantine Empire, and Hungary—includes a discussion of primary sources, an introductory narrative, and an entry on historiography providing a depth and breadth of coverage not found in any other resource on the subject.

More than 111 scholarly articles

The study of US foreign relations is one of the most dynamic fields of American history. The availability of new sources in recent years has opened new opportunities for examining US behavior through the lenses of other nations. Meanwhile, historians of international affairs have increasingly borrowed the methods, questions, and insights of cultural and social history, enlivening their field and opening bold new lines of interpretation. Some scholars have moved away from the traditional focus on presidents, diplomats, intelligence chiefs, and military officers to examine the roles of activists, experts, journalists, athletes, and others in American foreign relations. This collection captures all these trends in a fully up-to-date, authoritative survey of US foreign relations across almost 250 years. More than 100 entries on topics ranging from the American Revolution to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq provide basic background well-suited to readers approaching their topics for the first time. But the entries, written by a remarkable array of expert authors, also offer a valuable tool for experienced researchers and advanced scholars. Authors provide surveys of the scholarly literature related to each topic, along with guides to primary sources, including a rapidly growing number of online collections. The collection covers traditional topics like Anglo-American relations or the role of nuclear weapons in US diplomacy, while also considering newer themes like gender, LGBTQ issues, and environmental diplomacy.

‘Neatly illustrated and meticulously researched... a reference work of uniformly high academic quality’ - Times Literary Supplement

The most comprehensive and authoritative reference book of its kind, The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea is a completely revised and updated edition of a classic volume that was first published in 1976 to huge acclaim. It covers every aspect of the seas and the vessels that sail on them, from shipbuilding, yachting, diving, and marine mammals, to tidal power, piracy, and the literature and language of the sea. The second edition provides new material on topics such as oceanography and marine archaeology; also included are up-to-the-minute articles on underwater vehicles, tsunamis, warfare at sea, marine pollution, the Economic Exclusion Zone, and ship preservation.

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

Written by more than 140 specialist contributors from Italy, Germany, and Japan, as well as the Allied nations, the Companion provides unique world-wide coverage of the subject. Every aspect of the war is covered including, detailed surveys of major countries; politics and grand strategy; domestic and economic issues; resistance and intelligence services; campaigns, battles, and military operations; warfare and weapons; wartime leaders and influential people; and slogans and phrases.