G. Nash – Encyclopedia of American History (11 Volume set)

Автор: G. Nash
Название книги: Encyclopedia of American History
Формат: PDF
Жанр: История Америки, Австралии, Океании
Страницы: 5195
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

This book presents a thorough revision of the Award-winning set. Facts On File is proud to announce the revision of its award-winning 11-volume “Encyclopedia of American History”, the landmark reference to American history from prehistoric times to the modern day. This extensive revision features more than 1,000 new and revised entries, as well as a thorough update of existing entries to reflect current research. In addition, a new insert of full-color maps has been added to each volume. Continuing to offer unparalleled depth and breadth of coverage, “Encyclopedia of American History, Revised Edition” provides a balanced presentation of the political, social, economic, and cultural events that have shaped the land and the nation. Each volume editor is a distinguished scholar of American history who has drawn upon the expertise of scores of specialists in writing individual, signed entries of outstanding quality. It meets National Standards for United States History. Ideal for students, teachers, and librarians, the first 10 expertly researched volumes in this authoritative set are arranged chronologically in accordance with the National Standards for United States History. The 11th volume contains the comprehensive set Index. It features content that is clear and easy to understand. Written in accessible language to facilitate students' understanding of each era, the easy-to-read text is enhanced by 750 photographs and 250 full-color and black-and-white maps. Detailed entries cover key events, movements, historical figures, trends, and political developments that define each particular era in American history. Addressing the need for historical literacy, the set is truly inclusive, casting a wide historical net across topics and eras and comprising many lesser-known but still influential figures and events. Key features enhance the set's reference value. It features accessible text and more than 3,300 detailed, fully cross-referenced entries; biographies of significant Americans in each era; a further reading section at the end of many of the signed entries; approximately 1,000 illustrations, including full-color and black-and-white maps, photographs, cartoons, and advertisements, that visually document each era; topical entries in each volume on related subjects such as art and architecture, business, economy, literature, and science and technology; a chronology and bibliography at the end of each volume; an appendix in each volume that contains excerpts of key documents of the era, an individual volume indexes, and a comprehensive set index

“History has to be rewritten in every generation because, although the past
does not change, the present does,” writes Lord Christopher Hill, one of Great
Britain’s most eminent historians. “Each generation asks new questions of the
past, and finds new areas of sympathy as it re-lives different aspects of the experiences
of its predecessors.” It is this understanding, that the pursuit of historical
knowledge requires new research and new reflections on the past, that undergirds
a revised and extended edition of the Encyclopedia of American History.
The individual volume editors of this revised edition have made important
additions and revisions to the original edition published in 2003. Most
important, they have added many new entries—several hundred for the entire
11-volume set. This puts more meat on the bone of what was already a comprehensive
encyclopedia that presented four centuries of American history in
all its diversity and complexity. For the 10th volume, covering the period from
1969 to the present, new entries cover momentous events and important figures
of the last six years. For the other volumes, new entries increase the diversity
of Americans covered by biographical accounts as well as events that new
scholarship shows have had greater importance than recognized heretofore.
In addition, careful attention has been given to correcting occasional errors
in the massive number of entries in the first edition. Also, many entries have
been revised to add further details while making adjustments, based on new
scholarship, to the interpretation of key events and movements. Consonant with
that effort to make the encyclopedia as fresh and usable as possible, the volume
editors have added many new recently published books to the “Further
Reading” notes at the ends of the entries, and new full-color historical maps
help put history in its geographical context.
—Gary B. Nash
Three Worlds Meet covers the period from 1492, when Christopher Columbus
made his historic voyage to the west, to 1607, the year of the founding of the
English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. It treats “American” history from
what we can call its conception to its birth. Unlike the other volumes in this
series, Three Worlds Meet does not focus on the territory that eventually became
the United States. Instead, the entries here cover aspects of the history of the
Atlantic world and the four continents on its periphery. Readers will find much
on early modern Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Although some entries span
the landmass of the modern-day United States, most focus on the peoples from
different continents who encountered one another in the century following
Columbus’s expedition.
What follows in these pages will provide readers with the background
necessary for understanding the development of the United States. Even as
late as 1607 there was no guarantee that the English would establish successful
colonies in North America. At that time, the indigenous peoples in
the Americas still believed that their lives and communities were secure. The
noxious commerce in human beings known as the slave trade had only begun
to bring Africans to the Western Hemisphere. Various Europeans envisioned
colonies in North America, and books circulating across the Continent from
printing presses (a new invention) offered abundant information about what
could be found across the Atlantic. Much of the information turned out to
be false, and many peoples’ dreams never came to fulfillment, but the events
from 1492 to 1607 nonetheless left a legacy that Americans continue to confront
five centuries later.
—Peter C. Mancall
University of Southern California