Subject Guide to European History

If you need help, don't hesitate to ask at the reference desk, or contact Reference Librarians Linda Moore or Mark Maier.

Try these encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference guides to get started. Click on the link to see the call number.
1. Historical Research Guides
    The European History Highway: a Guide to Internet Resources
    Ref D16.117 .E97 2002 (Book)
    D16.117 .E97 2002 (Disc)
    Culture and Belief in Europe, 1450-1600: An Anthology of Sources   D220 .C85 1990
    Documents in the Political History of the European Continent  D5 .K4
2. Dictionaries
    The Facts on File Dictionary of European History, 1485-1789   Ref D231 .W54
    Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815   Ref DC201 .H673 1985
    A-Z of Modern Europe Since 1789   Online Resource.
    A Dictionary of European History and Politics, 1945-1995   Ref D1051 .U78 1996
3. Bibliographies
    The Western European Powers, 1500-1700   Ref D208 .C37 1971
4. Encyclopedias
    Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World   Ref D209 .E97 2004 v. 1-6
    The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic   Ref DC220 .E53 2006 v. 1-3
    Ancient Europe 8000 B.C.--A.D. 1000: Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World
    Ref D62 .A52 2004 v. 1-2
5. Style Guides
    The History Department requires that you cite your research using Turabian's A Manual for     Writers of Term Papers, Thesis, and Dissertations which is located at Ref LB 2369.T8.
    Online examples of Turabian's can be found here.
    An excellent guide to citing electronic sources in history can be found here.

Moving to the next step: finding books
1. To find books in the Mossey Library, use the Mossey Library Catalog.
2. Use MeLCat to request books and audio-visual materials directly from other Michigan libraries over the web. Use OCLC World Cat to search the holdings of over 3000 libraries worldwide in a single search. You will have to use interlibrary loan to obtain copies of these books.

Continuing on: the best places to find articles
1. First Search: A collection of over 60 databases from OCLC.
2. Blackwell Journals: Over 700 journals covering a wide range of subject areas, including international peer-reviewed titles, many published on behalf of scholarly and professional societies.
3. 19th Century Masterfile: Index to books and articles on the 19th century
4. Alternative Press Index: Indexes nearly 300 alternative, radical and left journals, newspapers and magazines covering cultural, economic, political & social change. Coverage from 1990-present.
5. Alternative Press Index Archives: Same as above, with coverage from 1969-1990.
6. Historical Abstracts: Comprehensive index of articles and books relating to world history from 1450 to the present.
7. Humanities Abstracts: Abstracts covering diverse subject areas of the humanities from 1984 to the present.
8. Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective: Index of articles from journals covering the humanities & social sciences from 1907-1983.
9. International Medieval Bibliography: Interdisciplinary bibliography of the European Middle Ages.
10. LegalPeriodical: International legal information covering all areas of jurisprudence.
11. Making of the Modern World: 1450-1850: Digital images of 61,000 primary sources covering material on commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade and transport.
12. The Times of London: Full-text and full-image articles from the Times of London for the years 1785-1985.

Scholarly Websites to Pursue
1. British History Online: A digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust.

Link to the Hillsdale College History Department