Reference Books on War, Peace, and the Military. A field as large as military history and the study of war and peace has many specialized reference tools. This provides an introduction. The present writer's American Military History: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources (1995) offers a longer, selectively annotated guide.

Among bibliographies, Jack C. Lang, America's Military Past: A Guide to Information Sources (1980), while including reference books, has more annotated entries for monographs, journal articles, and government documents. Robin Higham edited a collection of bibliographic essays, A Guide to the Sources of United States Military History (1975, with supplements in 1981, 1986, and 1993). The best guide for military periodicals is the extensive and annotated Military Periodicals: United States and Selected International Journals and Newspapers (1990), edited by Michael Unsworth. Lenwood G. Davis and George Hill compiled Blacks in the American Armed Forces, 1776–1983: A Bibliography (1984). On peace history, John Lofland compiled Peace Movement Organizations and Activists in the U.S.: An Analytical Bibliography (1990).

Journal articles are often difficult to locate. Useful in locating pertinent ones are the quarterly Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals (1949–), and the quarterly America: History and Life (1964–), which abstracts many history journals.

Atlases are especially valuable in military history. The best general one for this subject is Vincent Esposito, West Point Atlas of American Wars (1995). For the naval history, see Craig Symonds , comp., The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy (1995)
. There have been many reprint editions of the U.S. War Department 's Official Military Atlas of the Civil War (1983 repr.)
. On World Wars I and II, see Anthony Livesay , The Historical Atlas of World War I (1994)
and The [London] Times Atlas of the Second World War (1989).

Chronologies list events; for example, Walt Lang, United States Military Almanac (1989), lists military events from 1636 to 1988. James W. Atkinson compiled The Soldier's Chronology (1993), which provides details about changes in uniforms, weaponry, regulations, and other aspects of military life. Developments in the U.S. Navy and Marines are listed in Jack Sweetman , American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775–Present (2nd ed. 1991)
. For some specific wars, see E. B. Long and and Barbara Long , Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865 (1971)
; Randal Gray with and Christopher Argyle , Chronicle of the First World War, 2 vols. (1990–1991)
; Robert Goralski , World War II Almanac, 1931–1945: A Political and Military Record (1981)
; and John S. Bowman, ed., The Vietnam War: An Almanac (1985)
.

Biographical dictionaries provide useful information. The most complete is the three‐volume Dictionary of American Military Biography (1984), edited by Roger J. Spiller, et al.
; although see also Stewart Sifakis , Who Was Who in the Civil War (1988)
. On peace leaders, see Harold Josephson, ed., Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders (1985).


The most used reference works are encyclopedias and historical dictionaries. A global approach is Trevor N. Dupuy , ed., six‐volume International Military and Defense Encyclopedia (1993)
. For the United States, Charles R. Shrader , Reference Guide to United States Military History (1991–94)
, has five volumes, each of which covers developments within a particular time period. John E. Jessup and Louise B. Ketz have edited the three‐volume Encyclopedia of the American Military: Studies of the History, Traditions, Policies, Institutions, and Roles of the Armed Forces in War and Peace (1994)
, which contains extended essays. Charles D. Bright has edited the Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Air Force (1992)
. For individual histories of particular ships, see the U.S. Navy 's official Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 8 vols. (1959–81).


Peace and disarmament encyclopedias include Christine A. Lunardini 's ABC‐Clio Companion to the American Peace Movement in the Twentieth Century (1994)
and Richard Dean Burns 's three‐volume Encyclopedia of Arms Control and Disarmament (1993).


For particular wars, the following are useful reference works: John Mack Faragher, ed., The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America (1990)
; Richard L. Blanco, ed., The American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Encyclopedia, 2 vols. (1993);
Patricia L. Faust, et al. , The Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (1986)
; Benjamin R. Beede, ed., The War of 1898 and U.S. Interventions, 1898–1934: An Encyclopedia (1994)
; Anne C. Venzon, ed., The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1995)
; Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, eds., World War II: America at War, 1941–1945 (1991)
; I. C. B. Dear and M. R. D. Foot, eds., The Oxford Companion to World War II (1995)
; James I. Matray, ed., the Historical Dictionary of the Korean War (1991)
; Stanley I. Kutler, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War (1995)
; and Sheikh R. Ali, ed., Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War (1994).

Daniel K. Blewett