Library Guides: HIST 29632: The CIA and American Democracy: Home

Getting Started - Background Research

Reference sources like these will guide you through the recent scholarly thinking on a topic and then point you to related primary and secondary sources. The Oxford, Cambridge and Blackwell titles listed below are high-caliber introductions into a field.

Oxford Bibliographies Online
Excellent peer-reviewed, annotated bibliographies; browseable by subject area and searchable by keyword.

Regularly updated annotated bibliographies. University of Chicago Library subscribes to many sections of Oxford Bibliographies Online such as African Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Atlantic History, Buddhism, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Environmental Science, Geography, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, Military History, Music, Political Science, Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, and Sociology.

Blackwell Companions to History
--British History
--American History
--American Immigration
--European History

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Includes:
--The Medieval World
--The Reformation World
--18th-Century Europe
--French Revolution
--19th-century Europe, 1789-1914
--International History, 1900-2001
--Mexican History and Culture
--Europe Since 1945
--Globalization
Blackwell Companions in Cultural Studies

Cambridge Histories Online
Subject or theme-based collections serve as excellent starting points for further research. New series, both edited by University of Chicago History professors, include:
--World History
--History of the First World War

This unique historical reference compendium allows instant access to the renowned texts of the Cambridge Histories series. With access to the most up to date and authoritative scholarly content, Cambridge Histories Online is an invaluable resource, for undergraduates, graduates, lecturers and researchers alike.

All the available volumes are grouped into topics, making it quick and easy to search and browse through an array of historical subject areas. The extensive bibliographic referencing and other leading functionality, enhances usability and makes this resource ideal for any type of historical research.

American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature
A survey of the "most useful books and articles" in every field of historical scholarship. At the end of volume two is a listing of core journals arranged by subject and sub-field.
Harvard Guide to American History
Though dated and superseded, a useful guide to topics in political, social and economic history before 1970. Print.

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Includes bibliographical references to materials in political, social, constitutional, and economic history. Divided into nine parts: 1) Research Methods and Materials, 2) Biographies and Personal Records, 3) Comprehensive and Area Histories, 4) Histories of Special Subjects, 5) America to 1789, 6) U.S., 1789-1860, 7) Civil War and Reconstruction, 8) Rise of Industry and Empire, and 9) Twentieth Century. Volume II also contains an index of names and a subject index.