U.S. History Research Guide  Tags: united_states history  

Historical encyclopedias give general overviews of concepts just like a traditional encyclopedia. In addition to the concise explanations of important historical terminology, a historical encyclopedia includes a bibliography. The bibliography, although short, contains the most important works covering the subject at the time of publication. Historical dictionaries usually do not have a bibliography but do have very brief entries on a historical topic.

Cayton, Mary Kupiec, and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of American Culture and Intellectual History. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Ref E169.1 .E624 2001

Arranged chronologically and topically, this encyclopedia details events, ideas, and institutions that helped create the modern American cultural and intellectual identity.

Cayton, Mary Kupiec, Elliot J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of American Social History. New York: Scribner, 1993.
Ref HN57 .E58 1993

Social history, now a popular area of historical study, is chronicled in brief topical essays in this three volume set.

Cooke, Jacob Ernest, ed. Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies. New York: Scribner, 1993.
Ref E45 .E53 1993

Issues covering the colonial experience in North America are covered in this work. The three volume work is arranged mostly by topic and not geographically.

Finkelman, Paul, ed. Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Ref E169.1 .E626 2001

Included in this three volume set are the events, people, and issues that impacted an important century in the history of the United States.

Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2000.
Ref E468 .E53 2000

Unlike many of the reference books covering the Civil War, this book goes beyond the traditional topics of politics and military, including such topics as women's issues and slavery. The maps of civil war battles are of particular interest as they are easy to read and understand.

Jentleson, Bruce W. and Thomas G. Paterson, eds. Encyclopedia of United States Foreign Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Ref E183.7 .E53 1997

While many encyclopedias focus on activities within the boarders of the United States, this work focuses on any issue that involved other nations.

Kutler, Stanley I. Dictionary of American History. New York: Thompson Learning, 2003.
Ref E174 .D52 2003

This ten volume set has very brief entries of important events and concepts in American history. Although the entries do not cover a topic in-depth, they are long enough to give an understanding of an event, person, or idea.

Kutler, Stanley I., ed., Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Scribner, 1996.
Ref E470.7 .E53 1996

Like the Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century, this volume includes the people, places, and issues that shaped our most recently-concluded century.

Morris, Richard B. and Jeffrey B. Morris, eds. Encyclopedia of American History. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.
Ref E174.5 .E52 1996

This one volume work contains brief entries in the style of a dictionary. It also contains a chronological list of important American events.

Pendergast, Tom and Sara Pendergast, eds., St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
Ref E169.1 .S764 2000

The topics covered in this multi-volume work are more modern and far more social topics than the other encyclopedias. Among the entries are topics such as the hamburger, tanning, and Elvis.