Best Historical Materials: 2024

Defining Documents in American History: Workers’ Rights, edited by Aaron John Gulyas (Ipswich, MA: Salem Press, 2023) — 724 pp. — $295 — ISBN: 9781637004081.

Defining Documents in American History: Workers’ Rights is a two-volume cumulation of sixty key documents relating to working conditions, workers’ rights, and organized labor movements from 1806 to 1981. It includes court decisions, legislation, speeches, interviews, manifestos, editorials, letters, memoirs, monographs, essays, and news articles. The work of White, Black, and Hispanic men, women, and children is covered.

Workers’ Rights organizes documents chronologically in five sections: American Labor from the Early Republic to the Populist Era, The Rise of American Labor in the Progressive Era, American Labor in the Era of “Normalcy,” American Labor in the New Deal Era and Second World War, and the Post-War Struggles of the American Labor Movement. Workers’ Rights situates documents in historical moments while providing in-depth summaries and analyses. Bibliographies accompany each entry. Appendixes include a chronological list of sources, a select list of web resources, a bibliography, and an index.

Defining Documents in American History: Workers’ Rights would be a worthy addition to libraries seeking convenient access to key labor documents. Its straightforward organization and pedagogical features make it especially suited for reference librarians and students in public and academic libraries.

— Nancy Dennis, Salem State University

Francisco López de Gómara’s General History of the Indies, translated by Clayton Miles Lehmann and Ángela Helmer (Denver: University Press of Colorado, 2023). — 412 pp. — $113.00 — ISBN: 9781646424702.

Francisco López de Gómara (1511–ca.1563) was a Spanish cleric and courtier who spent his life in Spain and Italy, with one brief expedition to Algiers in the 1540s under the leadership of Emperor Charles V. While there, he formed a relationship with Hernan Cortéz (1485–1547) who was already well-known as the conqueror of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire. Through this association, López de Gómara wrote a general description of the New World, together with a biography of Cortéz and an account of the conquest of Mexico. These two works together became the General History of the Indies (Historia General de las Indias). The present work is the initial English translation of the first part of the book.

Clayton Miles Lehmann and Ángela Helmer describe López de Gómara’s General History of the Indies as “the most accessible comprehensive treatment of the history of the European conquest and the native peoples, geography, flora, and fauna” from its first publication in 1552 until the end of the 16th century. This detailed translation now opens up this fascinating work to English readers. The authors include an informative introduction, chronology, glossary of sixteenth-century Spanish terms, detailed maps, some illustrations from the different editions of López de Gómara’s book, and an extensive bibliography.

The translation is wonderfully readable, and the authors have retained López de Gómara’s 225 chapter headings that guide readers through the text. Topics include: the actions of famous men, descriptions of places, things (such as pearls and cinnamon), and creatures (such as the manatee). The authors include many (1,931) extensive footnotes that provide context, general information, comparisons with other contemporary accounts, and comparisons between the 1552 version of the General History of the Indies and subsequent editions. This book is a model translation and edition of a historical work. It offers much of interest for scholars already immersed in the early modern period as well as those just starting to explore it.

— Anne Good, University of Minnesota Libraries

Handbook for European Studies Librarians, edited by Brian Vetruba and Heidi Madden (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2024). — 565 pp. — $31.12 — ISBN: 9781946135971.

Drawing upon their extensive knowledge of Europe and Eurasia, editors Brian Vetruba and Heidi Madden and forty-three distinguished colleagues from the European Studies Section (ESS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published this groundbreaking guide for researching regions and underrepresented groups in Europe in 2024. Written for both LIS practitioners and students, the Handbook provides both comprehensive guides to resources and practical advice for navigating current issues in European Studies librarianship.

Vetruba and Madden are determined to make the Handbook more than a list of internet resources, arguing that such lists are confusing to users without a lot of background. To help new librarians become proficient, each part of the Handbook serves as a mini-tutorial. For example, each section in “Regions of Europe” begins with an introduction to an area’s culture and history, an overview of the academic field, and a survey of the publishing situation. Next, the section provides collection development resources, disciplinary resources, and professional development resources and networks. Following these sources are “key takeaways” and references for further reading. The subject librarians authoring each section speak with clarity, authority, and accessibility.

Part One, “Resources and Tools for Regions of Europe,” covers Central and East Europe Studies; Dutch, Flemish, and Afrikaans Studies; Francophone and French Studies; German Studies; Iberian Studies; Italian Studies; Modern Greek Studies; Nordic Studies; Russian and Eurasian Studies; Southeastern European Studies; and UK and Irish Studies. Part Two covers underrepresented groups in France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom. Part Three provides professional guidance about the accessibility of e-resources, archival research, collecting on controversial topics, researching the Middle Ages, digital humanities, legal research, newspaper research, statistical and data sources, and open access trends.

Published by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, the Handbook is open-source. If desired, readers can request a perfect bound paperback copy for a modest fee.

With The Handbook for European Studies Librarians, Vetruba and Madden bring the expertise of ACRL’s top European and Eurasian librarians to all types of libraries and library patrons. Due to its depth and breadth, and open-source accessibility, The Handbook for European Studies Librarians revolutionizes the nature of European history librarianship research and publishing. It is highly recommended for high school, public, and academic libraries.

— Nancy Dennis, Salem State University

A History in Indigenous Voices: Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Oneida, Stockbridge, and Brothertown Interactions in the Removal Era, by Carol Cornelius. (Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2023). — 464 pages. — $49.95 — ISBN: 9781976600098.

As a Stockbridge, Brothertown, and Oneida enrolled citizen, historian Carol Cornelius found most histories of Wisconsin indigenous peoples incomplete and misleading. By relying upon accounts of Euro-American treaty negotiators, these sources left out Indigenous peoples’ voices and promoted misleading narratives. For example, for years Wisconsin school teachers have taught that the Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee Mohicans, and Brothertown citizens migrated from New York state to Wisconsin in 1820 and 1821 at the behest of Episcopal missionary Eleazer Williams, who encouraged their conversions to Christianity. Cornelius’ careful examinations of Native American correspondence during this period, however, revealed other reasons for the migration, including pressure from the U.S. government.

Through meticulous examination of treaty records, Cornelius discovered handwritten letters, petitions, and speeches from Indigenous leaders to U.S. commissioners and Indian agents. After years of analysis and translating, she answered her questions that guided her research: What did the Menominee, Ho-Chunk, and New York Indians say to each other and to the U.S. government? How did U.S. government policies influence negotiations?

A History in Indigenous Voices arranges New York and Wisconsin Indigenous writings relating to treaties chronically from 1821 to 1858. It includes both treaties made between Native Americans and the U.S. government, and those made between various Indigenous peoples. Introductions set the stage for each treaty. Maps help readers grasp the impact of various treaties.

By unveiling voices of New York and Wisconsin indigenous peoples, A History in Indigenous Voices makes a valuable contribution to Native American history. It is highly recommended for all libraries, but particularly those serving students and scholars in Indigenous studies.

— Nancy Dennis, Salem State University

Judicial Decisions in the Ancient Near East, edited by Sophie Démare-Lafont and Daniel E. Fleming (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023). — 598 pp. — $90 hardcover; $50 paperback — ISBN: 9781628374858.

The phrase “Ancient Near East” encompasses dozens of societies using numerous languages over nearly two millennia, who recorded their works in cuneiform. For scholars seeking to learn about the social and cultural histories of Mesopotamia, primary sources regarding legal proceedings provide insight into commerce, family relations, slavery, religion, and crime.

This volume contains texts of legal cases in courts in Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria, Arrapha, Emar, and Ugarit. Each document is rendered in transliteration and then translated into English. There are brief explanatory passages, and each geographic/temporal section includes a lengthy bibliography. The breadth of expertise in display from scholars who are not only fluent in ancient languages but also in bygone legal systems is remarkable.

While each city or state had its own system of courts, adjudication, and punishment, there are commonalities in the presentation of evidence and testimony that provide vital insights into Mesopotamian life. For students of comparative legal or social history, this volume eliminates the need to learn half a dozen dead languages to get at primary sources.

— Steven A. Knowlton, Princeton University

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America, revised edition, edited by Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, et al. (Richmond: University of Richmond, 2023).

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America is a digital project reproducing and making interactive the maps produced by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation detailing the practice of redlining by the U.S. federal government in the 1930s. Including almost every major American city, this project gives users the ability to explore these maps and better understand the development of urbanization in the early-to-mid 20th century. These maps also highlight the underlying history of racial, ethnic, and economic discrimination in relation to housing policies. The comprehensiveness of background information and historical documents and maps allows users to understand the complex history and the devasting consequences of wrongful discriminatory practices.

This project is an invaluable resource for researchers and instructors who want to use this resource to teach their students. There is a section dedicated to educators explaining how they can incorporate the project into their curriculum as well as a glossary of terms, pictures of maps, and critical thinking questions. Another strength of this project is the ability for users to download geospatial data sets and incorporate those resources into their research projects.

— Nick Bambach, University of South Carolina

The Medieval Clergy, 800-1250: A Sourcebook, edited by Anna Trumbore Jones and John S. Ott (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2024). — 512 pp. — $47.50 — ISBN 9780888443137.

On Christmas Day in the city of Reims, in the early twelfth century, a playful snowball fight between townspeople and students at the cathedral school took a violent turn, endangering the lives of the combatants. Only the efforts of young Adalbert of Saarbrücken, later the archbishop of Mainz, prevented further bloodshed. An account of this snowball fight is one of the 76 documents included in this fascinating new collection of primary sources, most translated into English for the first time. The documents reveal the lives, work, and thought of the medieval secular clergy–those priests, deacons, canons, and bishops who “would have been for most medieval people,” the editors note, “a touchstone of their community, the face of the church, and the link between themselves and God, between this life and the afterlife.” This sourcebook broadens access to medieval primary sources for students and readers who want to learn more about the secular clergy but require English translations.

The translated documents in this sourcebook are helpfully organized into four broad sections, covering norms and expectations of clerical conduct; rhythms of clerical life; priestly duties; and the interactions of the secular clergy with the wider world. Each of the four parts is further subdivided into thematic clusters; for example, the second section, devoted to the rhythms of clerical life, has clusters on sex, marriage, and inheritance; education, learning, and friendship; and old age, death rituals, and episcopal succession. Overall, the organization of the primary sources supports thematically-oriented teaching and learning while also facilitating more serendipitous exploration.

The editors provide excellent contextualization for each section and each document. The section introductions, called “guiding precepts,” provide an overview of the kinds of texts included and the key themes engaged. The editors also alert readers to the kinds of questions they may wish to ask of the texts. Each document in turn is richly annotated with biographical, geographical, and historical context, along with helpful explanations of terms. A glossary, select bibliography, and index provide aids for understanding and further research.

This volume is highly recommended for academic libraries that support research and courses in medieval studies, particularly for undergraduate students. Faculty will find the collection helpful in their teaching, and students will encounter primary sources that are richly contextualized and annotated.

— Peggy Burge, University of Puget Sound

Mexico, Slavery, Freedom: A Bilingual Documentary History, 1520–1829, compiled, translated, introduced, and edited by Pablo Miguel Sierra Silva (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2024). — 348 pp. — $30.00 — ISBN 9781647921507.

In the introduction to Mexico, Slavery, Freedom, Pablo Miguel Sierra Silva points to the larger goal of his book as he writes: “I am hopeful … that this modest project will contribute to the construction of new educational models, the development of a memory of inclusion and empathy, and a clearer understanding of the roots of our present-day inequities.”

Mexico, Slavery, Freedom is made up of 118 primary sources on all aspects of slavery and the experiences of enslaved people in Mexico, from the Spanish invasion in 1520 through to the final abolishment of slavery by President Vincente Guerrero in 1829. The sources, drawn from archives in Mexico, France, and Spain, have not been translated and published before, and here they are presented and arranged in such a way as to encourage readers to engage with them and make connections among them. Sierra Silva provides a substantial introductory essay for the volume as a whole; however, he deliberately does not offer “leading questions” for individual documents, as he wants to avoid influencing readers’ interpretations. He hopes that these documents will “generate debate, counterpoints, and dialogue” both in private and public spaces.

The book has nine chapters; each chapter has a brief introduction, followed by the documents chronologically arranged. The themes of chapters include different areas of the slave trade (Atlantic and Pacific); rebellion and marronage; Afro-Indigenous interactions; religion and politics; debt and belonging; and freedoms in different forms and contexts. The choice of including both Spanish transcriptions and English translations is intended to help the book reach the broadest possible audience.

Mexico, Slavery, Freedom is a welcome addition to primary source readers in the history of Mexico. It allows us to consider the lives of Afro-Mexicans in a substantial way not provided by other sourcebooks. It is an excellent resource for college classrooms and inspirational for researchers in this field.

— Anne Good, University of Minnesota Libraries

The Palgrave Handbook of Kenyan History, edited by Wanjala S. Nasong'o, Maurice N. Amutabi, and Toyin Falola (Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, 2023). — 265 pp.— $219.00 — ISBN: 9783031094866.

The Palgrave Handbook of Kenyan History is a two-part work divided into 21 chapters and covers the country’s historical, societal, culture, and political developments from the precolonial era to the country’s years of independence in the early 1960s. This work addresses a significant gap in African history, as few comprehensive histories and analyses specifically focusing on Kenya existed before its publication. This focus on Kenya highlights the nation's unique experiences and circumstances, making this handbook a compelling and essential contribution to the field of history. The comprehensiveness of topics covered and its readability allows students and researchers to better understand the material.

— Nick Bambach, University of South Carolina

Recording State Rites in Words and Images: Uigwe of Joseon Korea, by Yi Sŏng-mi (Princeton University Press, 2024). — 556 pp. — $95.00 — ISBN: 9780691973906.

The Joseon (also spelled Choson) dynasty ruled the kingdom of Korea from 1392 to 1897. During that time, their scribes recorded the rituals of statecraft in illustrated documents called uigwe. Uigwe may serve as historical recollections of particular events, or describe the protocols to be followed for future events such as weddings, coronations, and funerals.

In this volume, art historian Yi Sŏng-mi reproduces in full color dozens of outstanding uigwe from the National Museum of Korea and the National Palace Museum of Korea, ranging in date from 1454 to 1901. In accompanying text she explains the various rites related to royal duties, such as sacrifices to the spirits and performing archery rites, and their religious, cultural, and social import. Each uigwe is given a detailed description, with interpretation of individual images.

The uigwe of Joseon-era Korea are important documents for understanding royal and religious history, and have to date been mostly discussed in Korean-language works. Yi’s compilation provides a thorough, nearly comprehensive catalog of extant uigwe and a vital entry into this literature for English-language scholars.

— Steven A. Knowlton, Princeton University Library

Routledge Handbook of Sport in China, edited by Fan Hong and Liu Li (New York: Routledge, 2023). — 486 pp. — $290.00 hardcover; $59.99 paperback — 9781032068206.

The Routledge Handbook of Sport in China offers a comprehensive examination of the multifaceted role of sports in Chinese history, society, and culture. Covering Chinese sports history from ancient times to the present, this handbook addresses a significant scholarly gap, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the complex social, economic, political, and gender issues prevalent in Chinese history.

One of the book’s strengths is its interdisciplinary approach, drawing from a range of academic fields including history, sociology, political science, and culture studies. With entries written by nearly one hundred scholars from all over the world, the handbook offers an exciting and richly detailed account of an underresearched topic. The handbook’s interdisciplinary nature proves to be invaluable to researchers across several disciplines, particularly those interested in Chinese history and sports history. The first book of its kind, this should lead to more scholarship on the topic in the coming years.

— Nick Bambach, University of South Carolina

Russian-Arab Worlds: A Documentary History, edited by Eileen M. Kane, Masha Kirasirova, and Margaret Litvin (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023). — 408 pp. — $126.50 — ISBN: 9780197605769.

The expansion of the Russian Empire and later Soviet Union eastward and southward brought its borders close to the Arab world, and Russian influence has been an important factor in the history of the Middle East for centuries. In an effort to reclaim a “shared history that has been broken apart by scholars’ recent habit of studying the two regions separately”, Eileen Kane and Masha Kirasirova, historians, and Margaret Litvin, a scholar of Arabic and comparative literature, draw together in this volume 34 chapters reproducing and discussing representative documents that shed light on the exchanges between the Russian imperial sphere and the Arab lands, from the Ottoman Levant to Ba’athist Iraq.

All the works are translated into English for the first time, and many are published in their original languages for the first time on a companion website. In each thematic chapter, the translators provide lengthy introductions situating the documents in time, place, and circumstance. Each document is annotated to explain technical terms and textual problems.

This volume opens new vistas into little-known episodes, such as the post-Crimean War expulsion of Chechens and other Muslims from the Russian Empire, as well as more familiar themes, such as the recruitment of Arab students to Communism through study in the U.S.S.R. and Soviet aid to Egypt for construction of the Aswan High Dam. Sources range in date from 1773 to 2019. Russian-Arab Worlds is a valuable addition to the primary source literature for historians of both the Russosphere and the Middle East.

— Steven A. Knowlton, Princeton University Library

Voices from the Steppe: A Thematic Sourcebook of the Kazakh Steppe and the South Urals, edited by Danielle Ross and Meiramgul Kussainova (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2023). — 477 pp. — $165.00 — ISBN 9783700192725.

With Voices from the Steppe: A Thematic Sourcebook of the Kazakh Steppe and the South Urals, scholars Danielle Ross and Meiramgul Kussainova have made an immense contribution to the availability of diverse range of primary sources in English translation that represent the voices and experiences of the Turkic-speaking and primarily Muslim peoples who live in this region. In their introduction, they cogently make the case that that the Kazakh steppe is “a culturally, geographically, and ecologically distinctive space within the wider Central Eurasian region” and argue for “the importance of placing colonized peoples at the center of their own histories.”

The majority of the 101 documents in this collection are translated from the Kazakh, Tatar, and Bashkir languages into English for the first time. A handful of texts are translated from Russian and are included because the Turkic-language originals no longer exist or because the Turkic-speaking author chose to write in Russian to reach a Russophone audience. The documents represent a 400-year range from about 1500 to about 1945, and include a wide range of genres—songs, poetry, excerpts from novels, speeches, political tracts, Islamic educational materials and treatises, histories, memoirs, letters, government communications, recipes, juridical texts, and more. The texts are organized into 12 broad themes (“khans and leadership,” environment, religion, etc.), and within each theme they are presented in chronological order. Each document is briefly contextualized, and the texts are helpfully annotated. Bibliographies of suggested readings, mostly of English-language scholarship, round out each section.

Voices from the Steppe is an important new contribution to teaching and learning about the Kazakh steppe and its peoples, and is highly recommended for academic libraries supporting faculty and students who are researching the region but lack facility with these Turkic languages.

— Peggy Burge, University of Puget Sound

Voices of the Afghanistan War: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life, edited by Brian L. Steed and Sheri Steed (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). — 348 pp. — $103.50 — ISBN 9781440874437.

The Afghanistan War (2001-2021) was the longest war in United States history, lasting nearly a generation. Editors Brian L. Steed and Sheri Steed have gathered many of its primary source documents in this important volume to help students of this conflict begin the long road toward critical analysis and historical understanding.

The 48 primary sources included in Voices of the Afghanistan War have been carefully and sensitively chosen to convey the complexity of the conflict. The documents range in date from 1979 (a memo by National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski to President Jimmy Carter on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) to October 2021 (testimony by Thomas Joscelyn of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to Congress). Many different types of documents are included: excerpts from official government and military communications; interviews (by the editors) of individuals with various vantage points and experiences of the war; a eulogy for a fallen female officer; a transcript of a propaganda video by an Afghan insurgent, and more.

The documents are divided into groups arranged chronologically by the stages of the war. Each document receives a succinct introduction that provides context, followed by suggestions to readers of questions they may wish to ask when reading the documents. Each document is followed by sections on the historical aftermath, more questions and topics to consider, and suggestions for further reading. Two appendices at the end provide biographical sketches of people named in the documents and a glossary of terms.

Voices of the Afghanistan War is highly recommended for academic libraries. Researchers and students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels will find the selection of documents illuminating and thought-provoking. Faculty teaching this topic will find the volume convenient and accessible to their students.

— Peggy Burge, University of Puget Sound

Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook, edited by Hannah Wills, Sadie Harrison, Erika Jones, Farrah Lawrence-Mackey, and Rebecca Martin (London: University College London Press, 2023). — 446 pp. — £50.00 — ISBN 9781800084179.

This remarkable volume brings together primary sources on women in the history of science from 1200 BCE to the present day. Although most of the sources are from European and colonial contexts, the editors have made a concerted effort to include texts and items from around the world. Aware of the volume’s bias towards European sources, the editors challenge readers to think critically about what has been included here, and they ask that scholars continue to seek out new voices to include, with the goal of bringing about revitalized and inclusive university curricula. The editors want this volume to challenge how we think of the history of science, science itself, and who participates in the production of knowledge.

The book consists of an introduction, plus 12 sections chronologically arranged, encompassing particular themes. In addition to the five editors, 53 other scholars collaborated in translating and explicating the items included – both texts and objects. Each section starts with a timeline of “individuals and events in the history of science” with a parallel column indicating the relation of the selected texts, images, or things to this standard narrative. This contextualizing device is then followed by a general introduction to the historical context and issues in the history of science. There are three to five sources per section. Each one is briefly introduced by the contributing author, the primary source follows, and then the image, thing, or textual source is followed by analysis, questions, and a list of further reading.

This detailed and thought-provoking book is well-suited to undergraduate students and lecturers in the history of science, technology, and medicine courses. The incorporation of “new historical sources, specialist analysis, and core readings” mean that this volume also has the potential to spark new research and research questions. Indeed, it must be said that the engaging choice of visual and textual sources make this sourcebook an exciting read for anyone interested in the history of women.

— Anne Good, University of Minnesota Libraries