DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, OTHER GENERAL WORKS

American Historical Association. Guide to historical literature. Ed. George Frederich Howe, et. al. New York: Macmillan, 1963.
SML Stacks Z6201 A43 (LC)

Updated by: The American Historical Association's guide to historical literature. Ed. Mary Beth Norton. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. 2v.
Reference Z6201 A55 1995 (LC)
CCL Reference Z6201 A55 1995 (LC)

Contains nearly 27,000 annotated citations (primarily to English language works) divided into forty-eight sections; citations refer chiefly to works published between 1961 and 1992. Section 22 covers Modern Europe, General; Section 30 covers German States and the Habsburg Empire, 1493-1800; and Section 31 German States and the Habsburg Empire since 1789.

Babuscio, Jack. European political facts, 1648-1789. London: Macmillan, 1984.
CCL Reference Ref JN9 B3 (LC)

Cook, Chris. European political facts, 1789-1848. London: Macmillan, 1981.
Reference JN10 C65 1981 (LC)

-----. European political facts, 1848-1918. New York: Facts on File, 1978.
Reference JN10 C66 1978 (LC)

-----. European political facts, 1918-90. London: Macmillan, 1992.
Reference JN12 C643 1992 (LC)

Bedurftig, Friedemann. Lexikon Deutschland nach 1945. Hamburg: Carlsen, 1996.
SML Stacks DD257.2 B43 1996

Brockhaus Enzyklopadie in zwanzig Banden. 17th edition. Wiesbaden: Brockhaus, 1966-1981. 25 v.
Reference AE27 G76 1966 (LC)

The standard German encyclopedia. Articles are brief but excellent although unsigned. Many contain extensive bibliographies. Profusely illustrated. Includes biographies of living persons. The article on Hitler, for example, runs to four columns and ends with a seventeen-item bibliography.

Carrington-Windo, Tristam. A dictionary of contemporary Germany. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1996.
SML Stacks DD290.23 C37 1996

Encyclopedia of contemporary German culture. Ed. John Sandford. London; New York: Routledge, c1999.
Reference DP290.26 E53X 1999

The encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Ed. Christian Zentner and Friedemann Bedurftig; Trans. Amy Hackett. New York: Macmillan, c1991. 2v.
Reference DD256.5 +G76313 1991

"A richly illustrated dictionary of the people, organizations, jargon (e.g., blood sacrifice, final solution), events, movements, politics, culture, etc., of German history 1933-45. 22 overview essays (e.g., Women in the Third Reich, Concentration camps, Opposition, Attempts to assassinate Hitler) are designed to provide context and link the shorter articles together. The more than 3,000 entries, signed by German historians, are alphabetically arranged. Cross-references; subject index. The topical bibliography, p. 1083-1103, has been updated for the N.Y. edition, especially with English-language titles (which are starred)." (Balay DC255)

Original German edition: Das Grosse Lexikon des Dritten Reiches. Ed. Christian Zentner and Friedemann Bedurftig. Munchen: Sudwest Verlag, c1985.
SML Stacks DD256.5 +G763 1985

Enzyklopädie des Nationalsozialismus. Ed. Wolfgang Benz, Hermann Graml und Hermann Weiss. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, c1997.
Reference DD256.5 E598 1997

Divided into three sections: I. Twenty-two thematic articles (e.g. ideology, propaganda, culture, women, medicine, sources); II. Alphabetical listing of 1300 entries (names, concepts, events, institutions, etc., plus 20 maps and pictures); III. Index of names with brief biographical data.

Ethnische Minderheiten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: ein Lexikon. Ed. Cornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen and Georg Hansen. Munchen: C.H. Beck, c1995.
SML Stacks DD74 E83X 1995

Thirty-two of the lexicon's fifty-six entries are surveys of ethnic minorities; other articles cover religion, the politics of migration, the concept of "minoritiy," etc. An appendix with tables and a directory of interest groups and support groups is also included.

Fest, Wilfried. Dictionary of German history, 1806-1945. New York: St. Martin's Press, c1978.
Reference DD203 F47 1978

"Attempts to provide 'salient facts and dates of Germany's political, social and economic history ... from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation in 1806 to the collapse of the German Reich in 1945.'--Pref. Most of the approximately 700 articles include at least one bibliographic reference. Chronological table; cross-references. No index." (Balay DC 256)

Kammer, Hilde and Elisabet Bartsch. Lexikon Nationalsozialismus: Begriffe, Organisationen und Institutionen. Reinbek: Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 1999.
Reference DD256.5 K337 1999

Köbler, Gerhard. Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder: Die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Third revised edition. Munchen: C.H. Beck, 1990.
SML Stacks DD14 K62 1990

Updated by: -----. Historisches Lexikon der deutschen Länder: Die deutschen Territorien und reichsunmittelbaren Geschlechter vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Fifth revised edition. München: C.H. Beck, 1995.
SML Stacks DD14 K62 1995

Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte: Personen, Ereignisse, Institutionen. Ed. Gerhard Taddey. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1977.
Reference DD84 L49

Short, signed articles on important persons, events, and institutions in German history. Bibliographic references accompany many entries.

Meyers enzyklopadisches Lexikon. Ninth edition. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, 1971-1979. 25v.
Reference AE27 M49 1971 (LC)

"Important topics receive very full treatment, and bibliographies are often extensive and generally up-to-date. Maps and charts accompany country articles, and there are thousands of diagrams and illustrations (both in color and black-and-white), most of them small, but of high quality. Biographical sketches include living persons." (Sheehy AC46)

Overesch, Manfred. Chronik deutscher Zeitgeschichte: Politik, Wirtschaft, Kultur. Dusseldorf: Droste, c1982-1986. (In progress).
SML Stacks DD232 O94 1982

Contents: Bd. 1, Die Weimarer Republik; Bd. 2:1, Das Dritte Reich, 1933-1939; Bd. 2:2, Das Dritte Reich, 1939-1945; Bd. 3:1, Das besetze Deutschland 1945-1947; Bd. 3:2, Das besetze Deutschland 1948-1949.

To be complete in four volumes. Each volume contains a day-by-day summary of events and an index of names.

Pasley, Malcolm. Germany: a companion to German studies. New edition. London: Methuen, 1972.
SML Stacks DD61 P36 1972

Useful because it is one of the few reputable tools in English. Chapters by specialists deal with all aspects of German history and culture, and include bibliographies, containing a substantial number of items. History is emphasized.

Rössler, Hellmuth and Gunther Franz. Sachworterbuch zur deutschen Geschichte. Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1958.
Reference DD84 R6

Companion volume to their Biographisches Wörterbuch. In dictionary arrangement. Deals with cultural, political, and economic aspects of all periods. Compact signed articles include bibliographies.

Sachworterbuch der Geschichte Deutschlands und der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung. Berlin: Dietz, 1969-70. 2 v.
Reference DD84 S23
Art NJ18 T4656 F57 1988 (LC)

Dictionary of modern German history, emphasizing Socialist and Communist theories. Deals with development of the working class movement from the French Revolution to the present. No bibliographies. Illustrated.

Snyder, Louis Leo. Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. New York: McGraw-Hill, c1976.
Reference DD256.5 S57

"Entries for persons, places, terms, events, etc. '... from the rise of National Socialism to the fall of the Third Reich in 1945. There are selected entries from the time of the Weimar Republic ... and from the Bonn Republic ...'--Pref. Brief bibliographies appended to many articles (English translations are cited in preference to the German originals); general bibliography, p. 389-410. Terms are entered under the German form with cross-references from the English equivalent." (Balay DC258)

Taylor, James and Warren Shaw. A dictionary of the Third Reich. London: Grafton Books, c1987.
SML Stacks DD256.5 T253 1987
CCL DD256.5 T283 1987 (American title: The Third Reich almanac)

"An alphabetical dictionary of people, parties, events, government organizations, concentration camps, battles, military units, etc., intended for the general reader. Includes chronologies, maps, charts, photographs. Not indexed; cross-references." (Balay DC259)

Thompson, Wayne C. Historical dictionary of Germany. European historical dictionaries, no. 4. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994.
Reference DD84 T48X 1994

A general, descriptive reference work with a distinctly American orientation. Includes chronological, encyclopedic, and bibliographic sections, covering concepts, events, organizations, time periods, and people. Some coverage of art, literature, and culture is present. Maps are included. More attention is paid to periodicals and events in which the U.S. played a role.

WESSWEB Homepage of Western European Specialists Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
URL: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/wess/

This site has many links to European resources including the following:

WESS German Studies Web
URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~wess/

WWW Virtual Library: West European Studies
URL: http://www.library.pitt.edu/subject_guides/westeuropean/wwwes/

This page focuses on Europe since 1945 with special emphasis on European Union Studies. Resources are grouped under General West European sections and European Union Resources.