Books published by publisher ABC-CLIO

An introductory guide to the mythology of Japan―one of the most pervasive yet least understood facets of Japanese culture.Handbook of Japanese Mythology makes it easy to travel this vast yet little-known mythological landscape. The book reveals the origins of Japan's myths in the very different realms of Buddhism, Shinto, and folklore, and explores related mythologies of the Ainu and Okinawan cultures and recent myths arising from Japan's encounters with modernization. It then offers vivid retellings of the central Shinto and Buddhist myths, plus descriptions of major historical figures, icons, rituals, and events.For students or long-time enthusiasts, it is the ideal guide for investigating Japanese reverence for the sun, the imperial family, and the virtues of purity and loyalty. Readers will also learn why sumo wrestlers stomp before each match, how a fussy baby creates thunder, why Japan has a god for soccer, and much more.• An extensive glossary of all Japanese terms used in the text, as well as important concepts and historical features• An annotated bibliography citing every print and nonprint source for the book, pointing the way toward further research

This exhaustive treatment of the Puritan movement covers its doctrines, its people, its effects on politics and culture, and its enduring legacy in modern Britain and America.Puritanism began in the 1530s as a reform movement within the Church of England. It endured into the 18th century. In between, it powerfully influenced the course of political events both in Britain and in the United States. Puritanism shaped the American colonies, particularly New England. It was a key ingredient in literature, from authors as diverse as John Milton and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Although Puritanism as a formal movement has been gone for more than 300 years, its influence continues on the mores and norms of America and Britain.This ambitious work contains nearly 700 entries covering people, events, ideas, and doctrines―the whole of Puritanism. Exhaustive and authoritative, it draws on the work of more than 80 leading scholars in the field. Impeccable scholarship combines with eminent readability to make this a valuable work for all readers and researchers from secondary school up.• Nearly 700 entries cover the entire spectrum of Puritanism: people, places, events, doctrines, culture, and politics• More than 80 leading scholars provide authoritative information in readable, accessible form• Primary source documents, from essays by influential Puritan leaders to excerpts from diaries of everyday people, illuminate the concerns of Puritans in their own words• Numerous illustrations include portraits of Puritan figures, photographs of historic sites, and images of historical events• A glossary gives quick reference for such unfamiliar terms as antinomianism, conventicles, familist, and Socinian

This A-to-Z encyclopedia surveys the history, meaning, and enduring impact of the Declaration of Independence by explaining its contents and concepts, profiling the Founding Fathers, and detailing depictions of the Declaration in art, music, and literature.A comprehensive resource for understanding all aspects of the Declaration of Independence, which marked the formal beginning of the colonies' march toward the creation of the United States of America, this encyclopedia contains more than 200 entries examining various facets of the Declaration of Independence and its enduring impact on American law, politics, and culture. It details key concepts, principles, and intellectual influences that informed the creation of the document, reviews charges leveled in the Declaration against the British crown, summarizes the events of the first and second Continental Congresses, profiles influential architects and signers of the Declaration, discusses existing copies of the Declaration, explains the document's influence on other governments/nations, covers historic sites related to the document, and discusses depictions of the document and its architects in American art, music, and literature over time.• Contains more than 200 encyclopedia entries pertaining to the Declaration of Independence • Provides cross references and resources for further study in each entry• Includes the full text of the Declaration of Independence• Helps readers to comprehend the historical significance of the document in a chronology of events

A concise, authoritative guide to civil liberties issues in American society, from freedom of speech and religious liberty to due process, equal protection, and privacy.Written for a general audience, this work clearly defines civil liberties and explains their legal basis in the Bill of Rights, state constitutions, legal statutes, and administrative regulations. It reviews the subject's history from 1917 to the present, and covers the full range of civil liberties issues: the First Amendment, due process, equal protection, and privacy.In addition to extensive material on past controversies such as the Scopes trial and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the book discusses important contemporary issues such as censorship on the Internet and drug testing. The coverage also examines conflicting civil liberties issues such as hate speech, which pits one person's freedom of expression against another's right to equal protection. The book contains extensive bibliographic references to books and articles and a long list of website links to organizations active on all sides of today's civil liberties controversies.20 photos, a list of further resources (print and electronic), and a Chronology

Intended for AP-focused American history high school students, this book supplies a complete quick reference source and study aide on the Great Depression and New Deal in America, covering the key themes, events, people, legislation, economics, and policies.The Great Depression and the New Deal remain key topics in American History that come up often as testing subject material. This book―comprising an introduction, encyclopedic A–Z entries, a chronology, thematic tagging, more than a dozen primary sources, Advanced Placement (AP) exam resources, and a bibliography―provides a complete resource for studying the themes, events, people, legislation, economics, and policy of the Great Depression and New Deal in America. It is ideally suited as a study resource for high school students studying to take the AP U.S. history course as well as undergraduates taking an introductory U.S. History survey course.The Great Depression and the New Deal: Key Themes and Documents supplies an easy-to-use guide to the central concepts, themes, and events of a pivotal era in American history that presents the Great Depression and New Deal in 10 thematic categories. While the focus of this book is on the AP course content itself rather than on the exam, it also features exam preparation-specific content, such as a sample documents-based essay question, a list of "Top Tips" for answering documents-based essay questions, and period-specific learning objectives that are in alignment with the new fall 2014 AP U.S. History curriculum framework.• Represents an invaluable reference source for a key period of American history that is an integral part of the AP U.S. History curriculum• Presents 15 primary documents accompanied by introductions that place them in their proper historical context• Provides thematic tagging of encyclopedic entries, period chronology, and primary documents for ease of reference• Includes a Historical Thinking Skills section based on AP U.S. History course learning objectives

This unique encyclopedia enables students to understand the myriad ways that the Columbian Exchange shaped the modern world, covering every major living organism from pathogens and plants to insects and mammals.Most people have only the vaguest notion of how profoundly the world was changed by Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. Indeed, some of what is commonly regarded as "traditional" Native American life and culture―living in teepees and hunting buffalo from horseback, for example―came from the arrival of Europeans. This encyclopedia helps students acquire fundamental information about the Columbian Exchange through approximately 100 alphabetically arranged entries on animals, plants, diseases, and items that were exchanged, accompanied by sidebars throughout that provide interesting discussions of key people, companies, and other related topics. The work begins with an introductory essay that overviews the Columbian exchange and not only addresses its biological and cultural components but also treats it as a political and economic event. The alphabetically organized entries cover topics ranging from the African slave trade, almonds, and alpacas to watermelon, whooping cough, and yellow fever. The encyclopedia also offers a chronology of the major events of the Columbian Exchange as well as 15 transcribed primary source documents that enable students to "look into history directly," including passages about the exchange that focus on the Irish Potato Famine, the slave trade, and the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919. • Represents the only encyclopedia to comprehensively treat the Columbian Exchange and document how this watershed event in history changed the world, not just in North America but worldwide• Provides full accounts of demographic and epidemiological trends and how the planet's current biodiversity resulted from the events of the Columbian Exchange• Includes primary documents that offer students material for analysis and promote critical thinking skills, thus supporting Common Core State Standards• Supplies both entry bibliographies and a selected, general bibliography to direct students to sources of additional information

Organized geographically, Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America explores the history of natural phenomena in virtually every U.S. state.Can the sky quake? Can sand play music? Have UFOs been sighted in your town? Unnatural Phenomena crosses the centuries and travels America to chronicle the strangest natural phenomena, the most bizarre scientific findings, and events from history that defy rational explanation.Conveniently organized by region, state, and locality, this one-volume, illustrated encyclopedia maps a landscape straight out of The Twilight Zone. From apparitions in the sky to inhuman skeletons rising from the earth―and everything in between―Jerome Clark, expert on strange phenomena and author of ABC-CLIO's Extraordinary Encounters: An Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrials and Otherworldly Beings, sifts through the legends, the hoaxes, and the science. Authoritatively researched, the entries in Unnatural Phenomena will expand the most skeptical reader's sense of the possible. The truth is out there … the evidence is in here.• Entries are organized by state and range from gelatinous meteors and skyquakes to the minaret skull and the Kennewick Man• A detailed introduction discusses the folkloric components in the stories as well as what the stories tell us about society• Richly illustrated with nearly 50 original black and white drawings commissioned for this volume• Covers unnatural phenomena in virtually every U.S. state except Hawaii

Although many consider Mao Tse Tung (Mao Zedong) and Che Guevara to be its inventors, guerrilla warfare was already old hat in biblical times.Whether you are interested in the Green Berets, the campaigns of Augusto Sandino, the accomplishments of Lawrence of Arabia, the Seminole Wars in Florida, or the Russian debacle in Chechnya, look no farther than this volume. The self contained entries offer information in an easy to understand manner, with care taken to present opposing points of view.Encyclopedia of Guerrilla Warfare covers the history of this topic from the late 18th century to the present, including topics such as wars, revolts, conflicts, movements, leaders, strategies, and concepts.• Detailed bibliography promotes further study• Chronology of important events

This two-volume set documents the essential role of the sea and maritime activity across history, from travel and food production to commerce and conquest.In all eras, water transport has served as the cheapest and most efficient means of moving cargo and people over any significant distance. Only relatively recently have railroads and aircraft provided an alternative. Most of the world's bulk goods continue to travel primarily by ship over water. Even today, 95 percent of the cargo that enters and leaves the United States does so by ship. Similarly, people around the world rely on the sea for food, and in recent years, the sea has become an important source of oil and other resources, with the longterm effects of our continuing efforts to extract resources from the sea further highlighting environmental concerns that range from pollution to the exhaustion of fish stocks.This chronologically organized two-volume reference addresses the history of the sea, beginning with ancient civilizations (4000 to 1000 BCE) and ending with the modern era (1945 to the present day). Each of the eight chapters is further broken down into sections that focus on specific nations or regions, offering detailed descriptions of that area of the world and shorter entries on specific topics, individuals, and events.The book spans maritime history, covering major seafaring peoples and nations; famous explorers, travelers, and commanders; events, battles, and wars; key technologies, including famous ships; important processes and ongoing events, such as piracy and the slave trade; and more. Readers will benefit from dozens of primary source documents―ranging from ancient Egyptian tales of seafaring to texts by renowned travelers like Marco Polo, Zheng He, and Ibn Battuta―that provide firsthand accounts from the age of discovery as well as accounts of battle from World War I and II and more modern accounts of the sea.• Provides a broad survey of the importance of the oceans for all of human culture and civilization, including coverage of diverse cultures such as the Polynesians, Vikings, Minoans, and many others• Describes the voyages of the great explorers and places them in a broad multinational and multicultural perspective• Traces the human use of the sea over time, noting activities and historic events such as piracy, the slave trade, fishing, and whaling, as well as describing commerce in ancient and modern contexts

This book debunks popular myths and misconceptions about the American Civil War through primary source documents and shows how misinformation can become so widespread.• Provides readers with a clear understanding of how myths about the Civil War originated and propagated in American memory• Debunks popular myths with facts supported by primary sources• Provides students with the resources to conduct their own research into each topic area• Examines controversial myths that continue to have a large impact on American politics and society today, including popular misconceptions about the very origins of the Civil War

This unusual encyclopedia brings together in-depth information on more than 450 natural geographic features from around the world and offers an array of creative tools to promote critical thinking and classroom discussion.With Earth undergoing rapid environmental change, students and the general public alike should be knowledgeable about the world's geographic features. This authoritative, two-volume reference enables readers do just that. It describes continents and oceans; individual mountains, islands, caves, and rivers; and ecological entities such as wildlife refuges and national parks. Each entry provides a geographic overview of the feature's significance, location, description, geologic history, biota, protected areas, and environmental issues. But the coverage goes even deeper so that entries also discuss the cultural importance of each natural place, covering everything from indigenous beliefs to traditional folklore to contemporary legends.The encyclopedia stands apart from other works not only in the depth of its coverage but also in its range. It discusses lesser known as well as prominent geographical features and offers critical thinking aids that will help students see how the natural world relates to their daily lives. Teaching and learning tools include an appendix called "Opposing Viewpoints" that allows students to understand landforms involved in current conflicts and disputes as well as an "Activities/Discussion Questions" appendix.• Provides a one-stop reference for students of geography and environmental and earth sciences• Offers global coverage of diverse features, whether terrestrial, aquatic, geological, ecological, or physiographic • Includes an overview of the various kinds of landforms of the world, how they are formed, and how they continue to change over time• Explains each feature's origins and significance, as well as major environmental issues in which it's involved• Indicates the importance of features to the development of Western science and contemporary scientific thought in fields such as evolutionary biology, paleontology, plate tectonics, and climate change• Features a "Top 10s Appendix" to provoke student interest through statistics such as the tallest mountains, largest lakes, and longest rivers