Regional and National History

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.

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.

Over 700 entries

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History offers a record of the nation’s values, aspirations, anxieties, and beliefs as expressed in both everyday life and formal bodies of thought. Over the past twenty years, the field of cultural history has moved to the center of American historical studies, and has come to encompass the experiences of ordinary citizens in such arenas as reading and religious practice as well as the accomplishments of prominent artists and writers. Some of the most imaginative scholarship in recent years has emerged from this burgeoning field. The scope of this work reflects that development: the encyclopedia incorporates popular entertainment ranging from minstrel shows to video games, middlebrow ventures like Chautauqua lectures and book clubs, and preoccupations such as “perfectionism” and ‘wellness’ that have shaped Americans’ behavior at various points in the past and that continue to influence attitudes in the present. The work also make available recent scholarly insights into the writings of political scientists, philosophers, feminist theorists, social reformers, and other thinkers whose works have furnished the underpinnings of Americans’ civic activities and personal concerns. Anyone wishing to understand the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of the United States from the early days of settlement to the twenty-first century will find the encyclopedia invaluable.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History expands and updates the coverage of this subject found in The Oxford Companion to United States History, the award-winning 2001 publication edited by Paul Boyer (Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Over 450 entries

Over the past forty years, social historians have drawn on new sources and methodologies to shift the focus of historical interest to the experiences of ordinary people. The result has been a radical rethinking of the great events and historical transformations in American history, and The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History synthesizes the extraordinary wealth of information uncovered by this inquiry. The more than 450 entries in this work examine our shared history "from the bottom up," with entries on the way automobiles shaped American lives, the westward movement of settlers and farmers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the transformation of work over time, the women's suffrage movement, counterculture, leisure activities, consumption patterns, voting habits, population movements, racial divides, and many more fascinating topics intended to help readers develop a richer framework for understanding the social experience of Americans throughout history.

The Encyclopedia expands and updates the coverage of American social history found in The Oxford Companion to United States History, the award-winning 2001 publication edited by Paul Boyer (Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison). More than 200 entirely new entries join hundreds more revised and updated entries originally published in the Companion, all of which have been signed by topic experts. Heavy use of cross-referencing assists readers searching for related entries, and selective bibliographies direct readers to the most important recent scholarly works. There is also an introduction by Paul Boyer and a topical outline of entries.

This is a reference work of unparalleled depth and scope that will introduce a new generation of readers to the complexities of this dynamic field of study.