Greenwood Press.

Greenwood Press

PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007

1-800-225-5800 www.greenwood.com

History references are another one of Greenwood's great strengths, providing solid background coverage in references equally important and recommended for high school to college-level collections. Take the 2-volume encyclopedia edited by Katharina M. Wilson and Nadia Margolis, WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE AGES (0313330174): leading scholars across all disciplines contribute their expertise to over 300 alphabetically arranged entries blending biography with critical analysis, covering women from the third to the fifteenth centuries both well-known and obscure. Primary and secondary source bibliographies accompany listings which run a page and a half to several pages in length. Two coverages on major wars are also important library references: Lawrence Tritle's THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR (0313324999, $45.00) covers the early democracy created by Athens, which warred with its neighbors for decades in struggle to control the region. Tritle's history serves as a fine introduction to the event, packing in not just biographies and history, but annotated primary documents and a cultural and social overview of the war and the times. Cole C. Kingseed's THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (0313316384, $45.00) also provides an essential overview to the important important event in American history, using a narrative format to present six topical chapters covering major issues during the war, from Lee's final battle to modern consequences of the war today. Again, primary documents serve as the foundation. More more of a focus on ancient cultures' daily living patterns, choose Kristen Wolf's DAILY LIFE OF THE VIKINGS (0313322694, $49.95), a survey which probes the realities of the greater Scandinavian community and its relationship to its Viking explorers. Chapters are organized into major life experiences, from religion and education to political and domestic life. Or perhaps it's a historical overview which is needed: Glenn E. Perry's HISTORY OF EGYPT (0313322643, $45.00) and Anne Baltz Rodrick's HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN (0313319685) each contributeto Greenwood's 'Histories of the Modern Nations' series, each emphasizing recent times and covering each country's development through different periods of modern times. Biographical sketches, timelines of events, and essays devoted to major political periods and news make it easy for researchers to understand the social and political history of the countries. Or try Robert Steven Bianchi's DAILY LFIE OF THE NUBIANS (0313325014, $49.95), reflecting recent archaeological discoveries which fill in many gaps in the history of ancient Nubian life. Any library with a history of Nubian culture will find this essential. Elspeth Whitney's MEDIEVAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (0313325197, $45.00) surveys major changes of the era, examining the nature and methods of medieval inquiry from astronomy to chemistry and geography, discussing how technological inventions of the times changed world history, and including biographical sketches of the achievements of 20 selected men and women who contributed vastly to the changes in Medieval scientific thinking. Randall Huff's REVOLUTIONARY WAR ERA (0313322627, $49.95) joins others in 'American Popular Culture Through History', re-creating the different paths American culture took during the course of the Revolutionary War. From how information and customs were transmitted and changed to marriage, public art, and religious debates, discussions are lively and analytical - but easily accessible by both high school and college-level students. Excellent choices, all.