American History
Adler, Mortimer, ed. The Annals of America. Chicago: Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc., 1986. A nineteen-volume history of the United States from 1492 to 1986.

Andrews, Charles M. The Colonial Period of American History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1964. A four-volume Pulitzer Prize-winning history of colonial America.

Foner, Philip. The History of Black Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975. A history of the roles of blacks in America from their roots in Africa to the Civil War.

Garraty, John, ed. Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York: Harper & Row, 1974. Biographies of famous and not-so-famous Americans.

Handlin, Oscar, ed. Readings in American History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966. Original sources from colonial days through the cold war.

Leitch, Barbara, ed. A Concise Dictionary of Indian Tribes of North America. Algonac, MI: Reference Publications, 1979. Descriptions of Indian tribes from the Inuit in the North to the Tonkawa in the South.

Morris, Richard, ed. Encyclopedia of American History. New York: Harper & Row, 1982. Alphabetized entries on the history of the United States.

Peirce, Neal R., and Hagstrom, Jerry. The Book of America. New York: W. W. Norton, 1983. Descriptions of states' characters and histories.

World History
Alpher, Joseph, ed. Encyclopedia of Jewish History. New York: Facts on File, 1986. Jewish History from biblical times to the present.

The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1973. A twelve-volume history of the ancient world from prehistory to the Roman Empire.

Cary, M., ed. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. A dictionary of classical names, places, and terms.

Dunan, Marcel, ed. The Larousse Encyclopedia of Modern History. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. A history of the world from 1500 to the twentieth century.

Durant, Will, and Durant, Ariel. The Story of Civilization. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975. A history of the world from Egyptian civilization to the age of Napoleon.

Fossier, Robert, ed. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1986. A three-volume, lavishly illustrated history of Western Europe and Byzantium from 350 to 1520.

Gron, Bernard. The Timetables of History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. Includes time lines that link people and events through history.

Holt, P. M., ed. The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1978. A two-volume history of the Islamic world.

Mowatt, C. L., ed. The New Cambridge Modern History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1964. A fourteen-volume history of the modern world from the Renaissance through World War II.

Tuchman, Barbara. The March of Folly. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. Records the pursuits of governments that have been contrary to their own best interests.

Civics
Cook, Chris, and Paxton, John. European Political Facts. New York: Facts on File, 1978. A reference work of information on European politics from 1848 to 1973; two volumes.

Corwin, Edward S. The Constitution and What It Means Today. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978. An explanation of Constitutional imperatives and cases that challenge and define the Constitution.

De Conde, Alexander, ed. Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978. Essays exploring themes and doctrines of American foreign policy.

Elliott, Stephen, ed. A Reference Guide to the United States Supreme Court. New York: Facts on File. 1986. A concise description of the role of the Supreme Court.

Greene, Jack P., ed. Encyclopedia of American Political History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984. A three-volume encyclopedia of movements and ideals in American politics.

Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World. London: R. R. Bowker Publishing Co., 1978. A three-volume, country-by-country guide from prehistory to 1975.

Safire, William. Safire's Political Dictionary. New York: Random House, 1978. A dictionary of political terms.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., ed. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-1984. New York: Chelsea House Publications, 1986. Descriptions of and speeches from presidential elections to Reagan's second term.

Stineman, Esther. American Political Women. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1980. Biographical sketches of women in politics, including Bella Abzug, Barbara Jordan, and Geraldine Ferraro.

Geography
The International Geographic Encyclopedia and Atlas. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. Entries on locations from Aachen to Zyradow, plus maps and charts.

Kurtan, George. Encyclopedia of the Third World. New York: Facts on File, 1987. Maps, facts, and figures on third world countries.

Paxton, John. The Statesman's Year-Book World Gazetteer. New York: St. Martins Press, 1986. Details on places of world importance as well as definitions of geographic terms.

Rand McNally Quick Reference World Atlas. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1988. Includes city and country maps of the world.

Art and Architecture
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Painters of the Renaissance. London: The Phaidon Press, 1967. Illustrated volume of 'biographical information on painters from Cimambue to Tiepolo.

Brown, Milton. American Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979. Description and reproductions of American art.

Encyclopedia of World Art. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965. Sixteenvolume compendium of art of the world.

Gardner, Louise. Art through the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980. An informative survey of art from prehistory through the present.

Newhall, Beaumont. The History of Photography. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1982. Illustrated volume of the works of photographers.

Roud, Richard, ed. Cinema: A Critical Dictionary. New York: The Viking Press, 1980. A two-volume book of articles on the great filmmakers, illustrated with stills from movies.

Trachenberg, Marvin, and Hyman, Isabelle. Architecture from Prehistory to Post-Modernism. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986. A study of architecture with over 1,000 illustrations.

Music
Abraham, Gerald, ed. The New Oxford History of Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974. A ten-volume history of world music from ancient to modern times.

Ammer, Christine. The Harper Dictionary of Music. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Entries on terms, composers, works, and instruments.

Arnold, Denis, ed. The New Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. A two-volume reference guide of 6,600 articles on composers, works, instruments, history, and terms.

Kinkle, Roger. The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1974. A four-volume guide to musicals, songs, performers, recordings, and broadcasts from 1900 to the 1970s.

May, Elizabeth, ed. Musics of Many Cultures. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980. Descriptions of music from China, India, Japan, Bali, Australia, Africa, South America, and other places.

Osborne, Charles. The Dictionary of the Opera. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983. Includes over 2,000 entries on composers, singers, conductors, and librettists.

Schonberg, Harold C. Lives of the Great Composers. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981. Biographical details of composers from Monteverdi to Schoenberg.

Myth and Religion
Achtemeler, Paul J., ed. Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985. Entries on all important names, places, and subjects in the Bible.

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970. The texts of well-known myths and legends by a nineteenth-century expert.

Burland, Cottle. Mythology of the Americas. London: The Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1970. The myths of North American Indians; Eskimos; Mexican, Central American, and South American Indians.

Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1960. A two-volume collection of myths from the creation through Odysseus' homecoming.

Livingstone, Elizabeth, ed. Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. Emphasis on the Bible and the history of the Christian church.

Werblowsky, R. J. Zwei, ed. The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion. New York: Adama Books, 1986. A comprehensive volume on all aspects of the Jewish tradition.

Quotes, Phrases, and Aphorisms
Auden, W. H. The Viking Book of Aphorisms. New York: Penguin Books, 1985. Pithy quotes and sayings covering many topics.

Bartlett, John. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980. The well-known book of world quotations.

Grosse, Lloyd T., ed. 1500 Literary References Everyone Should Know. New York: Arco Books, 1983. Alphabetical list of quotations and references from Aaron's Rod to Zion.

Mieder, Wolfgang, ed. The Prentice-Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. The sources of proverbs from many languages and cultures.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. Quotes from around the world and their sources.

American Literature
Barksdale, Richard. Black Writers of America. New York: Macmillan, 1972. An anthology of black literature from the eighteenth century to the present.

Bayme, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985. A two-volume collection of works by American writers such as Walt Whitman, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain, Henry James, William Faulkner, and others.

Bloom, Harold, ed. American Fiction, 1914-1945. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Essays by scholars on writers from World War I to World War II.

Bordman, Gerald. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Includes 3,000 entries on productions, playwrights, trends, and movements in American theater.

Elliott, Emory, ed. The Columbia Literary History of the United States. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. A one-volume survey of American literary history by eminent critics.

Ellman, Richard, ed. The New Oxford Book of American Verse. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. A collection of 300 years of American poetry.

Faust, Langdon L. American Women Writers. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1983. A two-volume reference work of biographies and criticism of works from colonial times to the present.

Hart, James, ed. The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. A compact volume of 2,000 entries on authors, works, and movements.

Herzberg, Max J., ed. Readers Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1962. A comprehensive reference book with information on authors, titles, characters, and literary movements.

World Literature
Abrams, M. H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1986. Works by Chaucer, John Milton, D. H. Lawrence, William Butler Yeats, Dylan Thomas, and others.

Allison, Alexander W., ed. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. New York: W. W. Norton, 1983. An anthology of poetry in the English language, from Chaucer to the present.

Bain, Carl E., ed. The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1986. Uses literature to discuss plot, character, genre, theme, tone, figurative language, and more.

Benet, William Rose. The Reader's Encyclopedia. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Includes articles on authors, characters, places, works, and movements.

Cudden, J. A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977. Definitions of literary terms from ab ovo to zeugma.

Drabble, Margaret, ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. Information on English-language authors and their works.

Garland, Henry, and Garland. Mary. The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Discusses German literature by authors such as Goethe, Kleist, and Mann.

Gilbert, Sandra M., ed. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985. Includes works by Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, the Brontes, Emily Dickinson, Flannery O'Connor, and others.

Harvey, Sir Paul, ed. The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974. Information on Greek and Roman literature.

Harvey, Paul, and Heseltine, Janet. The Oxford Companion to French Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959. Information on authors such as Flaubert, Voltaire, and Hugo.

Lang, D. M., and Dudley, D. R., eds. The Penguin Companion to Classical, Oriental, and African Literature. New York: McGrawHill, 1969. Information on literature from Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Japan, China, Africa, and other places.

Russell, Bertrand. A History of Western Philosophy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1960. An overview of philosophers from Plato through Rousseau and Locke to the moderns.

Life Science
Gamlin, Linda, ed. The Evolution of Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. Clear text on how life evolved, including photographs and diagrams.

Grzimek, Bernhard. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Ethnology. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977. An in-depth explanation of animal behavior.

Holmes, Sandra. Henderson's Dictionary of Biological Terms. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979. Definitions of terms used in botany, biology, anatomy, physiology, and more.

McFarland, David, ed. The Oxford Companion to Animal Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982. An explanation of animal behavior, arranged alphabetically.

Sax, N. Irving, and Lewis, Richard J. Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1987. An upto-date dictionary of industrial chemicals, terms, processes and reactions.

Whitfield, Philip, ed. Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia. New York: Macmillan, 1984. An illustrated encyclopedia of thousands of animals and their conservation status, habits, and habitats.

Physical Science
Astmov, Isaac. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1982. 1,510 biographies of scientists from ancient times to the present, arranged chronologically.

Kerrod, Robin. The Concise Dictionary of Science. New York: Arco, 1985. Alphabetical definitions of substances, processes, laws, and terms.

Longman Illustrated Dictionary of Astronomy and Astronautics. Beirut: York Press, 1987. Basic principles of astronomy and astronautics are defined.

Menzel, Donald H. A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983. Includes maps, charts, and descriptions of the stars and planets.

Parkinson, Claire. Breakthroughs: A Chronology of Great Achievements in Science and Mathematics. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985. A description of discoveries and theories from 1200 to 1930.

Rickard, Terry. Barnes & Noble Thesaurus of Physics. New York: Harper & Row. 1984. Discusses concepts of atomic physics, mechanics, and energy.

Rinsberger, Boyce. How the World Works. New York: William Morrow, 1986. Alphabetical listings of terms, concepts, and scientists.

Whitten, D. G. A. The Penguin Dictionary of Geology. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1986. Definitions of geological terms.

Technology
Bisacre, Michael, ed. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Technology. New York: Exeter Books, 1984. Includes consumer, building, transport, military, and space technology.

Desmond, Kevin. A Timetable of Inventions and Discoveries. New York: M. Evans, 1986. A chronological list of inventions with over 4,000 entries.

Douglas-Young, John. Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary of Electronics. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1987. Illustrated dictionary with charts, tables, and information on how things work.

Godman, Arthur, ed. Barnes & Noble Thesaurus of Science and Technology. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Entries on physical science, technology, and biological science.

Rand MciVally Encyclopedia of Transportation. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976. Covers all aspects of land, sea, and air transport.

The Way Things Work. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1971. A twovolume encyclopedia of technology with over 300 explanations of how things work.

Williams, Trevor T. The History of Invention. New York: Facts on File, 1987. History of invention from the beginnings of civilization to the future.

Mathematics and Economics
Clough, Shepard B. European Economic History. New York: McGrawHill, 1975. Economic history from the ancient world to the present.

Currier, Chet. The Investor's Encyclopedia. New York: Franklin Watts, 1987. Reviews 66 savings and investment vehicles.

Downes, John, and Goodman, Jordan Elliot. Barron's Finance and Investment Handbook. New York: Barrons, 1987. An explanation of terms, annual reports, tax laws, and stock listings.

Gellert, W., ed. The VNR Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977. From traditional elementary math to contemporary mathematics, using examples.

Nelson, Charles R. The Investor's Guide to Economic Indicators. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987. Explanation of leading indicators, consumer price index, GNP, and other terms and their impacts.

Pearce, David W., ed. The MIT Dictionary of Modern Economics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1986. 2,650 entries on economic theory, practice, concepts, and economists.

Rachlin, Harvey, ed. The Money Encyclopedia. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. A description of terms and concepts concerning money.

Rosenberg, Jerry M. Dictionary of Banking and Finance. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1982. 10,000 terms defined.

Silk, Leonard. Economics In Plain English. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986. An easy-to-follow guide to the basic concepts of economics.

West, Beverly. The Prentice-Hall Encyclopedia of Mathematics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Information from algebra to zero, with puzzles, formulas, and tables.