Tools for getting background information
Use the electronic Gale Virtual Reference Library Or the Oxford Reference Online Premium.
For print format encyclopedias, browse reference shelves around call numbers starting with the letters D, E, F.
D world history. D720-728 = period between WWI and WWII. DA = history of Great Britain DD = history of Germany.
DE = Greco Roman world. E history of the Americas, United States.
F History of the Americas, Local history in the U.S. South and Central America.
(of course books in the stacks have the same call number ranges - it's a great idea to browse the stacks too. Many historians have stumbled across interesting books in this way, through the "serendipity of the stacks").
All of the following are shelved in the REFERENCE AREA on the upper floor of the library.
ANCIENT WORLD
Cambridge ancient history D57. C252
Civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean DE59. C55
Oxford history of the classical world DE59. O94
Civilizations of the ancient near east DS57. C55 1995
Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world G1033 .B3 200 (shelved in atlas area between reference desk and windows)
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Dictionary of the Middle Ages D114. D5
Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages D114. O94 2010
Cambridge medieval history D117. C32
Rise of the medieval world 500-1300 a biographical dictionary.
MODERN PERIOD
New Cambridge modern history and atlas D208. N4
Chronology of the modern world D209. W59
Holocaust encyclopedia (Laqueur). D804. 25. H66 2001
Encyclopedia of the third reich DD256. 5. G 76313
Critical dictionary of the French revolution DC148. D5313
A short history of the twentieth century. (Lukacs, 2013).
AREA STUDIES
Cambridge encyclopedia of Russia DK14. C395 1994
Encyclopedia of Asian history DS31. E53
Cambridge history of Islam DS35. 6. C3
Modern Islamic world DS35. 53. O95
Encyclopedia of African history and culture DT3. P27 2001
Cambridge history of Africa DT20. C28
NORTH AMERICA
Handbook of North American Indians E77.H25
United States in the 19th century E169. I. E626
The annals of America E173. A793
Dictionary of American history E174. D52 2003
Oxford companion to U.S. history E174. O94 2001
Black women in American history E185. 86. B543
Revolutionary America: a bibliography E208. G42
Slavery abolition and emancipation E446. S617 1999
Historical dictionary of the 1920s. E784. O44
Historical dictionary of the new deal E806. H58
Encyclopedia of New York City F128. 3. E75 2010
Records of New Amsterdam: 1653-1674. F128. 4. N53
Encyclopedia of the American West F591. E485 1996
SOUTH AND MIDDLE AMERICAS
Cambridge history of Latin America F 1410 .C1834
Handbook of Middle American Indians F1434. H3
Handbook of South American Indians F2229. S75
ATLASES
Most of our atlases are generally shelved on the wide shelves between the reference desk and windows (=index area), but sometimes they travel back to the reference area. It's good to check both areas.
Historical atlas G1030. S4
Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world Index area G1033 .B3 200
Penguin historical atlas of Ancient Greece G1033. M67
World atlas of archaeology G1046. E15 W6
Atlas of the ancient world G1033. O5
World explorers and discoverers G200. W67
Atlas of the trans-Atlantic slave trade Index area G2446. E6 25 E48 2010
Illustrated atlas of Jewish civilization G1030. G48
Atlas of Jewish history G1030. L45
Atlas of world war I. G1037. G5
Atlas of the second world war G1038. Y6
MacMillan Atlas of the Holocaust G1797 .21. E29 G48
The mapping of North America Reference area GA401. B87
Atlas of the Lewis and Clark expeditions G1380.A78
Atlas of the civil war G1201. S5 A85
Historical atlas of political parties in the United States G1201. F9 M26
Historical atlas of the United States congressional districts 1789-1983. G1201. F9 M3
See also the list of reference works maintained by historian Prof Di Lorenzi.