Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

The 18th Century 1701-1800. Edited by John Powell. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2006. 2 vols. 1087 p. $160.00. ISBN 1-58765-179-X.

Presented in chronological order, these great events make especially interesting reading because they skip from continent to continent, country to country, and topic to topic, e.g., the First Arabic Printing Press in Syria is followed by an article on Queen Anne’s War in Europe. Wedgwood’s founding of a ceramics firm is followed by the construction of the Bridgewater Canal. Rousseau’s publication of The Social Contract follows Mozart’s tour of Europe as a child prodigy. The signed articles begin with the dates, the title, a brief synopsis setting the stage, any alternate titles, the locale, the categories, key figures, a summary of the event, and its significance. Further reading bibliographies, see also references, and related articles are provided. Some articles have black and white illustrations and maps showing locations. The article on Celsius’ proposal for a temperature scale has an inset box with the fixed reference points on the international temperature scale. Appendixes include a 56-page timeline joins an additional 250 events to those given in the two volumes, an 11-page glossary, a 41-page bibliography, a 12-page annotated list of electronic resources, the chronological list of entries, and a 23-page geographical index. Indexes include a 13-page personages index and a 39-page subject index. This is a storehouse of information that will help world history students place anything they are studying into a global perspective letting them think about what is going on around the event they are most interested in researching.