Handbook for Research in American History: A Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Works (Second Edition Revised) - Hardcover

Prucha, Francis Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803237014 ISBN 13: 9780803237018

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 1994

Synopsis

When the Handbook for Research in American History was first published, reviewers called it "an excellent tool for historians of all interests and levels of experience . . . simple to use, and concisely worded" (Western Historical Quarterly) and "an excellent work that fulfills its title in being portable yet well-filled" (Reference Reviews). The Journal of American History added, "It is not easy to produce a reference work that is utilitarian and enriching and does not duplicate existing works. Professor Prucha has done the job very well."

This second, revised edition takes account of the revolution that is occurring in bibliographic science as printed reference works extend to electronic databases, CD-ROMs, and online networks such as the Internet. Focusing on and expanding the major section of the original Handbook, it provides information on traditional printed works, describes new guides and updated versions of old ones, notes the availability of reference works and of some full-text sources in electronic form, and discusses the usefulness to researchers of different kinds of material and the forms in which they are available. Extensive cross-referencing and a detailed index that includes authors, subjects, and titles enhance the book's usefulness.

About this title

About the Author

Francis Paul Prucha, S.J., is professor emeritus of history at Marquette Uni-versity and the author or editor of some two dozen works of American history, including the prize-winning The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (1984) and the Atlas of American Indian Affairs (1990), both published by the University of Nebraska Press.

Reviews

This revised edition of Prucha's Handbook, first published in 1987, incorporates many of the new electronic sources available for historical research. A new introductory chapter discusses such tools as CD-ROM and the Internet; the following chapters devoted to types of sources (e.g., guides to manuscripts and dissertations, biographical sources, government documents) note their availability in electronic format. The lists of bibliographies on subfields of history found in the second half of the previous edition of this book have been dropped. Some of these sources can now be found in the book reviewed below. A combined author-title-subject index serves as a guide to specific items mentioned in Prucha's essays.

Handbook for Research in American History remains a useful guide for graduate students and serious undergraduates.

After a section on general reference sources, United States History is divided into such subdisciplines as diplomatic, social, and economic history. These chapters are further subdivided; for example, military history is subdivided by branches of the armed services and by war. Listed under each are bibliographies, encyclopedias, biographical sources, and other reference books. The more than 900 entries have lengthy annotations, many of which cite related titles. The chapter on general sources notes their availability online and on CD-ROM; few of the titles in succeeding chapters are available electronically. An author/title index is followed by a rather brief subject index.

This is the most up-to-date bibliography available on American history. Reference Sources in History: An Introductory Guide [RBB Ap 1 91] covers all of history and, therefore, doesn't list as many sources on American history as United States History. However, Reference Sources is more detailed in some areas. For example, it has more extensive lists of guides to U.S. newspaper collections and indexes to U.S. newspapers.

United States History is a useful guide to the literature for undergraduates and advanced high school students. Sandy Whiteley

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803237014
• ISBN 13: 9780803237018
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 214