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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.

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 450 entries

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History offers both assessment and analysis of the key episodes, issues and actors in the military and diplomatic history of the United States. At a time of war, in which ongoing efforts to recalibrate American diplomacy are as imperative as they are perilous, the Oxford Encyclopedia is the first recourse for scholars wishing to deepen their understanding of the crucial features of the historical and contemporary foreign policy landscape and its perennially martial components.

The crucial importance of the subject is reflected in the popularity of university courses dedicated to diplomatic and military history and the enduring appeal of international relations (IR) as a political science discipline drawing on both. The Oxford Encyclopedia is a basic reference tool across both disciplines. Entries are written by top diplomatic and military historians and key scholars of international relations from within the American academy, supplemented, as is appropriate for an encyclopedia of diplomacy, with entries from foreign-based academics, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

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).