History Research Guide

A guide to articles, books, and other resources for research in history.

Library Databases

Books and e-books

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures is the first comprehensive reference source to chronicle Pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern Mesoamerica, defined as the lands stretching from Mexico to the southern tip of Central America.

A brief history of Mexico

A Brief History of Mexico, Fourth Edition brings readers up to date on developments in Mexico, helping them understand the deeper significance of recent events. Since Felipe Calderon took office in 2006 amidst violent protests, his reforms have been aimed at drug cartels, poverty, restructuring the role of government in private businesses, and attempts to foster trade agreements with other nations. Despite the many obstacles it faces today, Mexico has become a democratic nation with checks and balances, free elections, and the ability to build a better future.

The Mexico Reader

The Mexico Reader is a vivid and comprehensive guide to muchos Méxicos--the many varied histories and cultures of Mexico. Unparalleled in scope, it covers pre-Columbian times to the present, from the extraordinary power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church to Mexico's uneven postrevolutionary modernization, from chronic economic and political instability to its rich cultural heritage. Bringing together over eighty selections that include poetry, folklore, photo essays, songs, political cartoons, memoirs, journalism, and scholarly writing, this volume highlights the voices of everyday Mexicans--indigenous peoples, artists, soldiers, priests, peasants, and workers. It also includes pieces by politicians and foreign diplomats; by literary giants Octavio Paz, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Carlos Fuentes; and by and about revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

The Forgotten Diaspora : Mesoamerican Migrations and the Making of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

In The Forgotten Diaspora Travis Jeffres explores how Native Mexicans involved in the conquest of the Greater Southwest pursued hidden agendas, deploying a covert agency that enabled them to reconstruct Indigenous communities and retain key components of their identities even as they were technically allied with and subordinate to Spaniards. Resisting, modifying, and even flatly ignoring Spanish directives, Indigenous Mexicans in diaspora co-created the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and laid enduring claims to the region.

The History of the Future in Colonial Mexico

A prominent scholar of Mexican and Latin American history challenges the field's focus on historical memory to instead examine colonial-era conceptions of the future Going against the grain of most existing scholarship, Matthew D. O'Hara explores the archives of colonial Mexico to uncover a history of "futuremaking."

Imagining Central America

A concise review of the major events, social movements, politics, and economics of the seven countries that comprise Central America. Given the strategic location of Central America, its importance to US foreign policy, and the migration from the region to other parts of the world, this succinct summary of the countries of Central America is an essential resource for those working in, studying, writing about, or traveling to the region.

A brief history of Central America

A Brief History of Central America, Second Edition explores the history of the Central American isthmus from the pre-Columbian cultures to the contemporary nations that make up the region today: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Exclusion and forced migration in central America : no more walls

This book marks a critical contribution to the intercultural dialogue about immigration. Each year, thousands of Central Americans leave their countries and walk across Mexico, seeking to reach the United States. The author explores the dispossession process that drives these migrants from their homes and argues that they are caught in a kind of trap: forced to emigrate, but impeded to immigrate. This trap is discussed empirically through the analysis of immigration policies implemented by the United States government and ethnographic fieldwork carried out in some of "albergues" (shelters).

Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Colonial Latin America (1550s to 1820s)

The Encyclopedia of Colonial Latin America (1550s to 1820s) covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean from the arrival of the Spanish, colonization, and independence movements until the 1820s.

Encyclopedia of early modern Latin America (1820s to 1900)

The Encyclopedia of Early Modern Latin America (1820s to 1900) covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, examining Latin America's search for its own identity from the middle of the 19th century to the start of the 20th.

Encyclopedia of Modern Latin America (1900 to the Present)

Authoritative yet accessible, the Encyclopedia of Modern Latin America (1900 to the Present) covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, focusing on Latin America as it asserts itself in international politics, experiences the effects of globalization, and becomes an influential area worldwide, from the 20th century through the present day.

Open Internet Collections