Oxford Digital Collections: History & Culture

Information on all aspects of the Middle Ages, from the fifth century to the 15th. Cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history is covered, and while the main concentration is on Europe and Christendom, the rise of Islam and Arabs, and of other civilizations with which Europeans came into contact is also extensively treated.

Defining the Enlightenment as the "long eighteenth century," the Encyclopedia focuses on the entire range of philosophic and social changes engendered by the Enlightenment. It extends the conventional geographical boundaries of the Enlightenment, covering not only France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries, Italy, English-speaking North America, the German states, and Hapsburg Austria but also Iberian, Ibero-American, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European cultures. Nor does the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment limit itself to major centers like Paris in France and Edinburgh in Scotland, but shares the rich lode of recent scholarship on "secondary" and "provincial" centers such as Berlin and Geneva; Philadelphia and Milan. The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment brings a similar spirit of inclusion to the new theoretical and methodological approaches that have flowered in the humanities during the past two decades. Including feminist and various post-modernist reassessments alongside more traditional perspectives, the four volumes offer the broadest possible range of current knowledge. Accessibility combined with scholarly rigor make the Encyclopedia the first choice for researching any aspect of the Enlightenment.

Beginning in the early 14th century and continuing into the 15th and 16th centuries, the Renaissance was a period of intense intellectual and cultural activity, the fruits of which have had a profound impact on the thought, culture, philosophy, painting and sculpture, and writing of Europe and the wider world ever since. Gordon Campbell, with the help of his team of distinguished consultant and advisory editors, has created a unique new A-Z reference surveying all aspects of the Renaissance in Europe. From da Vinci to Dutch law, from gypsies to geometry, this volume contains an immense breadth of information with over 3,000 entries covering an extensive spectrum of topics including art, literature, science, culture, philosophy, religion, economics, history, and conflict. Over half of the entries are biographical, covering artists, architects, garden designers, philosophers, explorers, royalty, cardinals, reformers, statesman, writers, poets, playwrights, soldiers, rebels, woodcarvers, silversmiths, mystics, mathematicians, sculptors, and composers. With 100 stunning black-and-white illustrations, this elegant dictionary is an ideal referenc to a period that has had an enduring and important cultural influence.

The Reformation provoked political, social, and cultural transformations that profoundly changed the Western world. Focusing on the complete range of religious and social changes wrought by the Reformation--including not only issues of church polity and theology but also related developments in politics, economics, demographics, art, and literature. Topics such as Lutheranism, women, law, music,the Holy Roman Empire, peasants, the Bible, persecution, and literacy are imcluded.

From the Trojan War to World War II and beyond, The Oxford Companion to Military History brings together an international team of more than 150 experts who illuminate war's bloody past. Ranging from the Alamo and Amphibious Operations to Marshal Zhukov and the Zulu War. Includes 1,300 alphabetically arranged entries that provide a wealth of information on warfare from the classical period to the present day, including the social, political, technological, and economic background of major conflicts. The Oxford Companion to Military History is the most wide-ranging and authoritative reference on all aspects of military history currently available.

The Oxford Companion to American Military History is "the most comprehensive treatment of American military history ever compiled" (Parameters: U.S. Army War College Quarterly) and an "easy-to-browse, well-organized work" (The Washington Post). Here is a gold mine of information on American military history, exploring battles and soldiers, ships and weapons, services and doctrines--as well as the social and cultural impact of the U.S. military at home and around the world. The result is the widest ranging account compiled in one volume of war, peace, and the U.S. military. With over a thousand authoritative and vividly written entries, maps of several major wars, extensive cross-referencing, lists of further readings, and an index, this volume is the first place to turn for information on our nation's military history.

For almost half a century, the Oxford Classical Dictionary has been the unrivaled one-volume reference work on the Greco-Roman world.

An excellent reference work, for anyone interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls

The best classical scholars, archeologists, and historians together in an easy-to-use format.

'Among the many article son history, there is a minor masterpiece on co-regencies by William Murnane' -John Ray, TLS'A particularly good feature of the Encyclopedia is the coverage given to the language.... The editors of the Encyclopedia have done an impressive job, commissioning articles from Friedrich Junge, Janet H. Johnson and John Tait. Work of this stature will do much to rehabilitate this aspect of the subject.' -John Ray, TLS

Presenting the most up-to-date coverage on our knowledge of this society, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures is the first comprehensive and comparative reference source to chronicle Pre-Hispanic, Colonial, and modern Mesoamerica.

From St. Augustine and early Ethiopian philosophers to the anti-colonialist movements of Pan-Africanism and Negritude, this encyclopedia offers a comprehensive view of African thought, covering the intellectual tradition both on the continent in its entirety and throughout the African Diaspora in the Americas and in Europe. The term "African thought" has been interpreted in the broadest sense to embrace all those forms of discourse - philosophy, political thought, religion, literature, important social movements - that contribute to the formulation of a distinctive vision of the world determined by or derived from the African experience. The Encyclopedia is a large-scale work of 350 entries covering major topics involved in the development of African Thought including historical figures and important social movements, producing a collection that is an essential resource for teaching, an invaluable companion to independent research, and a solid guide for further study.

, the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 documents the full range of the African American experience during that period - from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass - and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans. The Encyclopedia covers an extraordinary range of subjects. Major topics such as "Abolitionism," "Black Nationalism," the "Civil War," the "Dred Scott case," "Reconstruction," "Slave Rebellions and Insurrections," the "Underground Railroad," and "Voting Rights" are given the in-depth treatment one would expect.

Focusing on the making of African American society from the 1896 "separate but equal" ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson up to the contemporary period, this encyclopedia traces the transition from the Reconstruction Era to the age of Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Migration, the Brown ruling that overturned Plessy, the Civil Rights Movement, and the ascendant influence of African American culture on the American cultural landscape. Covering African American history in all areas of U.S. history and culture from 1896 to the present.

Offers comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information about the fastest growing minority population in the nation. The Encyclopedia draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences in the United States of Latinos and Latinas.