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 Historical
The Hisorical Dictionary of the Elizabethan
World: Britain, Ireland, and America
 by John A. Wagner
$65.00 / Oryx Press / 1999
The Historical Dictionary compiles, in encyclopedic form, 497
brief entries on Elizabethan history, culture, social structure,
politics, and religious matters. While nothing is provided in-depth
(entries average 400 words), topics are covered adequately enough
that the reader can easily grasp the important elements of the
issue or person being discussed.
Entries are arranged alphabetically, with a subject index and
a guide to topics as additional points of access. The 218 biographical
figures covered include Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Knollys, William
Cecil, and Katherine Ashley; the Church of England and the Roman
Catholic Church; and exploration and the military. Other topics
include royal residences, science and medicine, plots and rebellions,
trade and industry, literature and drama, and finance, as well
as everyday life in the Elizabethan world.
Tables are also interspersed throughout, which describe various
topics of interest. For example, one table lists the chief officers
of the crown, the duties of each office, and what historical
figures held them. Another lists the functions of the seals of
government, while a third lists the titles of nobility and how
many were held under Elizabeth I.
The author's concise writing makes for quick, interesting reading,
and the text is supplemented with dozens of black-and-white photos
and illustrations. Finally, the book closes with appendixes covering
genealogies and lists of archbishops, popes, and European monarchs;
historical fiction and motion pictures set in the Elizabethan
era; and sound recordings of Elizabethan music. The front matter
includes a chronology of events as well as simple maps of London,
Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and selected New World explorations.
While the maps are not well detailed and the entries, by necessity,
are brief, this dictionary should provide both the casual reader
and the serious historian with a broad overview of the Elizabethan
era. In short, the Historical Dictionary is a one-stop
compendium of all things Elizabethan.
—Jennifer Ashley
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