Reference: Arts & Recreation

This interdisciplinary guide covers the most influential avant-garde art movements of the past 150 years, ranging from futurism to free-jazz. It has been updated and revised to include greater coverage of women artists, and the internet, and other emerging technologies.

Profiling milestones and movements in the arts, literature, music, and religion from a specific period, each volume in this set helps students and researchers understand the various disciplines of the humanities in relation to each other, as well as to history and culture.
1) An overview of the period and a chronology of major world events begin with each volume. Nine chapters follow covering the major branches of the humanities: architecture and design, dance, fashion, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater, and visual arts.
2) Chapters begin with a chronology of major events within the discipline followed by articles covering the movements, schools of thought, and masterworks that characterize the discipline during the era and biographical profiles of pioneers, masters, and other prominent figures in the field.
3) Chapters also include significant primary documents from the period, including quotations, excerpts from artists about their work and/or commentaries/criticism published during the period, and a list of general references for further information.

Boasting well over 6,000 contributors from 12 countries, the Dictionary offers its readers authoritative and comprehensive global coverage. A resource for both art and cultural studies, the Dictionary serves as a unique guide to all the visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, drawing, printmaking, as well as the decorative arts.
1) The Dictionary ranges far both geographically, featuring unparalleled coverage of Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Mongolia, China, India, the Islamic world, Japan, Korea, Native North America, Pacific and Aboriginal Australia.
2) The Dictionary ranges far historically, including Pre-Columbian America, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Ancient Near East, and Ancient Rome.
3) The Dictionary of Art examines important art forms and key issues of design, taste, function, and patronage, illuminating them in light of the cultural context in which they developed.

A comprehensive and authoritative five-volume set, the illustrated Facts On File Encyclopedia of Art presents the entire history of world art, from Paleolithic art to modern art, from Africa and Asia to Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Embracing a global perspective of art and expertly explaining the development of art across time and cultures, this richly illustrated reference is organized chronologically into insightful chapters, each dealing with the art of a specific period, geographic region, or civilization.
1) These subjects are broadly defined in a way that most students of art history will recognize and find useful.
2) Covers major arts, including architecture, painting, drawing, and sculpture, as well as ceramics and metalwork.
3) Fundamental characteristics of the major styles and periods of art history are clearly expressed, and their significance is analyzed.
4) The sections on Modern American Art, European Art Since World War II, and various others detailing non-Western art are especially current, covering topics such as feminist art and women artists; graffiti art; video art, sound art, and installation art; and pluralism in art at the beginning of the 21st century.
5) Also contains many special features intended to highlight major topics, spur readers to further research, and ensure easy access to information.
6) Maps show readers the locations where civilizations and peoples created their works of art, text boxes offer detailed explanations of selected topics, and a bibliography follows each section.

This lavishly illustrated full-color encyclopedia provides a complete survey of world art from prehistory to the present. More than 400 A-to-Z entries written by scholars and area specialists cover painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, movements and genres around the world -- from Europe and Asia to South America and the Middle East. Designed with more than 500 color illustrations, sidebars, timelines, cross-references, definitions in the margins, and other student-friendly features.

A guide to some 1,700 museums with art collections.
1) A perfect resource to hand the art lover who wants to know what museums and other public exhibition spaces to visit in an area.
2) Entries are arranged by state and city and include basic information about fees, hours, activities, Web sites, and a description of the collections, facilities, a bit of history, and any special points of interest.
3) Handy maps showing museum locations, introduce each state section, and inviting photographs accompany most entries.

The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture deals with all aspects of Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Central Asia to Southeast Asia and Africa. The 3 volumes cover all subject areas in Islamic art including artists, rulers, writers, architecture, ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, calligraphy, textiles, and more. It offers articles and a bibliography as well as more than 500 plans, maps, diagrams, illustrations, and color plates.

The four-volume Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists provides concise profiles of the world's most important artists. Covering sculptors, architects, painters, video artists, and many other visual artists, this comprehensive reference details the lives and major works of prominent artists throughout history and around the world. Each entry offers basic biographical data on the artist, descriptive characteristics of the artist's creative output, the significance of the work, career milestones, and locations where the artist's work is displayed.
1) Profiles of those artists whose outstanding work is recognized as pivotal in the history of art receive extended in-depth treatment.
2) Further readings follow selected entries, and a glossary at the end of the fourth volume defines art-related terms.
3) Includes not only well-known artists but also lesser-known individuals who in many cases are excluded from or glossed over in general surveys of art history.
4) Artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries are covered, as are women and artists from other groups who have traditionally been underrepresented in art books.

'Contemporary Artists' features comprehensive profiles of nearly 850 of the most significant artists working in the contemporary era, with the vast majority of artists featured having produced their most significant work in the years after 1960.

A comprehensive, profusely illustrated guide to the world of art. Five-volume set is a fact-packed introduction to the masters and concepts of Western art. Featuring painters, sculptors, and printmakers from the Middle Ages through the present. The books contain biographical entries on 222 artists in the familiar A-Z format.

Native artists work in diverse media, some of which are considered art (sculpture, painting, photography), while others have been considered craft (works on cloth, basketry, ceramics).
1) Some artists feel strongly about working from a position as a Native artist, while others prefer to produce art not connected to a particular cultural tradition.
2) This volume examines the lives and works of approximately 70 Native American artists, demonstrating the range of media, themes, and experiences of Native artists, and their influences on and by western culture.
3) Eight pages of color plates, and black and white images throughout, display the diversity of work by these artists.

A guide for students to the complicated maze of Italian Renaissance political history; a convenient, unified reference source; a source to check facts and discover the background to the masterpieces of painting and sculpture; understand the great works of art and architecture in their context.

This massive compendium by a noted architectural historian contains over 2,000 line drawings, and clear, concise definitions for over 5,000 important terms relating to the architectural achievements of a great variety of world cultures, ancient to modern. Includes cutaway views, close-ups of intricate details, precisely rendered plans for many famed structures.

A world-wide survey of traditional ceramics evaluates specific types for their raw materials, creation techniques, decoration types, and uses, in a comprehensive volume that features such topics as firing, glazes and finishes, molding, and throwing and provides a glossary and tourist information.

A comprehensive, scholarly study of a most fascinating aspect of American history and culture. Illustrated with both black and white and full-color photos, this A-Z encyclopedia covers every aspect of American folk art, encompassing not only painting, but also sculpture, basketry, ceramics, quilts, furniture, toys, beadwork, and more, including both famous and lesser-known genres. Containing more than 600 articles, considers individual artists, schools, artistic, ethnic, and religious traditions.

A complete guide to the practice and business of interior design, complete for each different types of practice - commercial, retail, residential, healthcare, hospitality, institutional, preservation, and facitlity management. It includes useful forms, documents, contracts and resources for financial management, human resources and firm profiling. The book offers tips and techniques for effective marketing and promotion and provides guidelines for project management, estimating, specifying, space planning, and design.

The Oxford Companion to Music includes a distinguished team of over 120 international contributors, bringing their distinctive voices to an exceptionally broad sweep of musical subjects ranging from composers, performers, conductors, individual works, instruments and notation, and forms and genres, to music scholarship and aesthetics, music education, broadcasting and publishing, all aspects of music theory, and performance practice, as well as jazz, popular music, and dance. Entries range from brief definitions to in-depth essays on subjects such as politics, religion, psychology, and computers.

The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, it is a dependable reference for home and classroom and for professional and amateur musicians.

Heritage of Music is a four volume encyclopedia covering classical music and its origins up to the 20th century. This handsome reference is an encyclopedic record of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present day. With a lively text and copious illustrations, each volume is a complete survey of the period it covers; together the four volumes present a history of Western music as a whole.
1) Written by renowned musical authorities, Heritage of Music is meant for everyone who enjoys music.
2) From oratorios to computer composition, the cultural climate of each period's music is carefully delineated.
3) Pertinent illustrations, integrated with the text, amplify and complement it.
4) Entire chapters are devoted to each of the best known musicians of each period, with detailed histories of their lives and work, and astute commentary about how their music related to their personalities.

An indispensable resource and a classic reference. Thousands of articles, topics, cross-references, and areas of scholarship. . Total of 22,500 articles. Covers more than 5,000 years of music history, instruments, composers, institutions, performers, genres, and more. Beyond the customary and familiar, there are articles on new worlds and non-Western music. From major influences, such as Latin American music, to less-examined contributions, such as Asian, sub-Saharan African, and Pacific Islander,

This comprehensive overview of music in the nineteenth century draws on the most recent scholarship in the field. It avoids mere repertory surveys, focusing instead on issues which illuminate the subject in novel and interesting ways.
1) The book is divided into two parts (1800-1850 and 1850-1900), each of which approaches the major repertory of the period by way of essays investigating the intellectual and socio-political history of the time.
2) The music itself is discussed in five central chapters within each part, amplified by essays on topics such as popular culture, nationalism, genius, and the emergent concept of an avant-garde.
3) The book concludes with an examination of musical styles and languages around the turn of the century.
4) The addition of a detailed chronology and extensive glossaries makes this the most informed reference book on nineteenth-century music currently available.

This illustrated guide to the blues and blues-makers is the perfect all-purpose guide for novices and enthusiasts alike. The Blues traces the roots of this indigenous American music from its origins in the South, through its great popularity throughout the U.S. and around the world. Illustrated with rare photographs throughout.

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 8 discusses the genres of North America in relation to their cultural, historical, and geographic origins; technical musical characteristics; instrumentation and use of voice; lyrics and language; typical features of performance and presentation; historical development and paths and modes of dissemination; the influence of technology, the music industry, and political and economic circumstances; changing stylistic features; notable and influential performers; and relationships to other genres and sub-genres.
1) This volume features over 100 in-depth essays on genres ranging from Adult Contemporary to Alternative Rock, from Barbershop to Bebop, and from Disco to Emo.

Encyclopedia of American roots music. Includes 75 black & white photographs and indexes - by name, song, and album title.

The largest and most comprehensive guide to "nonclassical" Western music: rock, pop, country, reggae, vaudeville, movie and theater music, blues, jazz, and other forms, from 1900 to today.
1) Each of the 15,000 unsigned entries, ranging from 150 to 3000 words, focuses on either an individual (primarily performers, but also producers, impresarios, and others behind the scenes), recording label, or movie/stage show.
2) The average listing includes birth/death dates, career highlights, and lowlights, a brief list of recordings (more entries now have label information), book-length biographies, and trivia.

This illustrated A-Z guide covers more than 700 country music artists, groups, and bands.
1) Articles also cover specific genres within country music as well as instruments used.
2) Written in a lively, engaging style, the entries not only outline the careers of country music's greatest artists, they provide an understanding of the artist's importance or failings, and a feeling for his or her style.
3) Select discographies are provided at the end of each entry, while a bibliography and indexes by instrument, musical style, genre, and song title round out the work.
4) For a full list of entries, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary website.

The approximately five hundred entries range from biographies of the more 'traditional' folk and country personalities, such as Woodie Guthrie, Ernest Tubb, Eddy Arnold, and Joan Baez, to those of the folded rock and country blues genres, such as Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, and Bob Dylan.

With more than 4,000 drawings and an extensive text, this book introduces hundreds of past and present musical instruments in a dictionary format.

A huge collection of short music excerpts organized in clearly reproduced staves and arranged alphabetically by composer. Composers from Franz Abt (1819-1885) to Karl Zeller (1842-1898). Has a "Notation Index" which allows for indentifying and finding music in the book.

Derived from the full Oxford Dictionary of Opera, this is the most authoritative and up-to-date dictionary of opera available in paperback. Over 3,500 entries, designed to be accessible. Composers and their works. Singers and their notable performances. Plot summaries and separate entries for well-known roles, arias, and choruses. Leading conductors, producers, and designers. Opera companies and festivals.

The Pianist's Dictionary is a handy and practical reference dictionary aimed specifically at pianists, teachers, students, and concertgoers.
1) The work explains pianistic terms and performance directions clearly and concisely, with illustrations and brief musical examples.
2) Includes succinct entries concerning famous piano pieces and composers, leading performers and teachers, and piano makers--making The Pianist's Dictionary the perfect reference for compiling the program and liner notes.
3) The volume collects many of the author's most useful ideas that have appeared in his popular lectures and masterclasses over the years and have not been published elsewhere.

This is a detailed look at the 111 fictional baseball films produced and released in the United States from 1915 through 2001.
1) Each entry contains full cast and production credits, year of release, production company, a synopsis, and a critique.
2) Behind-the-scenes and background information is included.
3) Two additional (and completely updated) sections cover baseball short subjects and baseball in non-baseball films.
4) There is an extensive bibliography.

Now in its 15th edition, this classic movie reference has informed and delighted film fans for more than thirty years. Opinionated, witty, and packed with more information per square inch than any other film guide, Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies is as wonderfully unclassifiable as it is impossible to put down. Who's Who remains a treasure trove of information on who's who and what's what in the movies.
1) Its more than 12,000 entries illuminate the stars of yesterday and today as well as the bit players and character actors, directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, composers, and all the other talent involved in making movies.
2) You'll find sections on movie sequels, series, and remakes; themes and genres; technical terms; studios and production companies; cinema around the world; year-by-year listings of Oscar winners and other major awards; and a brief history of the movies.
3) Scores of "quotable quotes."

The Film Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia on film and is considered the undisputed Bible of the movie industry. With more than 7,500 A-Z entries on the artistic, technical, and commercial aspects of moviemaking, including - Directors, producers, stars, screenwriters, and cinematographers - Styles, genres, and schools of filmmaking - Motion picture studios and film centers - Film-related organizations and events - Industry jargon and technical terms - Inventions, inventors, and equipment - Plus, an index of Academy Award-winning films and artists, top-grossing films, and much more.

When viewers think of film noir, they often picture actors like Humphrey Bogart playing characters like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, the film based on the book by Dashiell Hammett.
1) Yet film noir is a genre much richer. The authors first examine the debate surrounding the parameters of the genre and the many different ways it is defined.
2) They discuss the Noir City, it's setting and backdrop, and also the cultural (WWII) and institutional (the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and the Production Code Administration) influences on the subgenres. An analysis of the low budget and series film noirs provides information on those cult classics.
3) With over 200 entries on films, directors, and actors, the Encyclopedia of Film Noir is the most complete resource for film fans, students, and scholars.

Comprising over 90 essays and richly illustrated with over 200 images, the Wiley-Blackwell History of American Film provides a chronological portrait of American film history from its origins to the present day. Taken as a whole, the essays in this collection represent a comprehensive and nuanced overview of American film history from the intersecting perspectives of industry, audiences, aesthetics, culture, politics, issues, and ideology.
This collection offers:
1) 90 essays from an international group of authors.
2) Discussions of the industrial and institutional components of film history, including multiple modes of production, distribution, and marketing.
3) Investigations into the political, social, and economic factors that informed industry change and framed the reception of films.
4) Engaging close readings and in-depth analysis of canonical and non-canonical films.
5) Profiles of essential industry figures, major directors, stars, and producers, along with important figures outside the industrial mainstream.
6) An exploration of the history of film criticism and culture, and central issues in American film historiography.

This encyclopedia of science fiction movies is the most comprehensive and perhaps the best of Phil Hardy's collection (check out The Western and Horror as well).
1) It provides excellent commentary on the hundreds of science fiction films made between 1895 and 1994.
2) Each review also lists the movie's director, star, writer, and most important technical credits.
3) Hardy's treatment of the genre runs the gamut from the sublime to the absurd, covering classics such as Metropolis and Things to Come, popular favorites such as Star Wars and E.T., and the silly excesses of Dr. Breedlove and The Man with Two Brains.
3) The volume also includes a list of science fiction rental champs and important writers and critics' nominees for the best sci-fi films of all time.

A thorough and witty Hollywood phrasebook from a seasoned film-industry insider.
1) This is a one-stop-shop for movie buffs who want to decipher cryptic closing credits, understand how movie production really works or those who just want to talk like a Hollywood pro.
2) Including more than 500 terms, such as apple, gaffer, and ASA, Strike the Baby and Kill the Blonde is a fantastically useful tool for students of film, scriptwriters and budding directors as well as a hugely entertaining read for fans of the movies.

Furnishes brief biographical sketches and lists of screen credits for thousands of film performers, both the famous and the lesser known.

This ready reference details every cartoon and every cartoon character ever created. This guide documents every production from 1911 to the present with more than 2200 cartoon entries.

This guide to film portrayals of U.S. armed services lists more than 1,000 features produced in the United States since 1898. It also includes movies that received military assistance, documentaries, foreign films depicting American servicemen, and movies made for television. Each feature film entry contains credit information, a list of major cast members, year of production, service represented, and a summary.

A joint venture of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago and the publisher, this entertaining encyclopedia dishes up nearly 1,000 signed, alphabetically arranged entries by 300 authors on significant programs, individuals, organizations, test cases, social issues, and technical aspects of television. The editor, a University of Texas TV scholar, intends the work to be a "beginning point for anyone interested in exploring and understanding the significance of television in our time."
1) Intended to assist scholars and teachers, students, and critics.
2) The main focus is on TV in the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, although there are entries for other countries.
3) U.S. dominance in TV affects the choice of content, especially in the history of genres such as situation comedies, detective programs, and police programs, and topics such as children and television, which is discussed from a U.S. point of view.

In exploring the art of rehearsal, this book reveals innovative approaches, explaining how actors and directors can work together and separately to achieve the best results. 
1) This book includes a historical overview of rehearsal practice; a reexamination of the roles of the director and the actor and their relationship; advice on how to become a director; guidance on the rehearsal process, from auditioning to the dress rehearsal; a look at how games and improvisation can be used as rehearsal tools; and an exploration of the opportunities presented by a play's text and characters.
2) John Perry has been both an actor and a director, producing large-scale shows in London and touring a one-man show in America.
3) He is currently Head of Development at the School of Acting at the ArtsEd, London.

Whether to clarify the action on the playing field or to gain the competitive advantage, "The Book of Rules" answers the need of every fan and contender and covers more than thirty international sports.

Sports is a comprehensive reference to 125 amateur and professional sports, featuring classic Olympic athletic events (track and field, aquatics, gymnastics, combat sports, and equestrian events), as well as team, individual and motor sports (boxing, hockey, tennis, skiing, soccer, basketball, and Formula 1).
1) With one thousand annotated illustrations and four hundred color photographs.
2) The games' history, rules, strategies, facilities and equipment.
3) Highlights of the greatest players from the past and present, analyses of changes in technology and comparisons of performance over the years.
4) Athlete profiles that list physical and mental requirements for each sport are invaluable guides for young athletes choosing a sport.

For over 20 years, this comprehensive, up-to-date directory has offered direct access to the Who, What, When & Where of the Sports Industry. With over 20,000 updates and enhancements, Sports Market Place Directory is the most detailed, comprehensive and current sports business reference source available.

The great players of America's pastime are profiled here, from past legends to the heroes of today. Also included are great Softball players.

This title features the most influential people to ever play the game, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Candace Parker.

Boxing figures include Laila and Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano and Mike Tyson. Soccer features David Beckham, Mia Hamm, and Pele.

This title also covers over 200 of the greatest players in college and pro football, including the inspirational stories of Pat Tillman and Tedy Bruschi.

Golf figures profiled include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Tennis includes Jimmy Connors, Billie Jean King and the Williams sisters.

The largest subset of the series, this four-volume set features 478 athletes who excel in sports associated with the Summer and Winter Olympics.

This one volume includes BMX, auto, horse and boat racing, bowling, chess, cricket, lacrosse, martial arts, rodeo, sailing, sumo wrestling and yachting.

This volume brings together in one place all the appendixes and indexes on individual sports and adds appendixes pertaining to all sports.

Now with fielding statistics for all players and pitchers. All the major league players are covered--from Aaron to Zuverink--and a section highlights the stars of the old Negro Leagues. Colorful and comprehensive, The Baseball Encyclopedia is recognized by Major League Baseball as the official record of the game and its players.

The most complete, authoritative, and informative baseball encyclopedia available. No other book gives you:
1) The complete statistics for all of the more than 13,000 major league players, with a full array of new and revealing stats compiled from an unparalleled historical database.
2) The top 100 lifetime and single season leaders in batting, pitching, and fielding for 95 different stats.
3) The starting lineups, plus key pitchers and substitutions, for all teams since 1871.
4) Corrections for the thousands of errors in other books of this kind.
5) The detailed history of baseball by the game's reigning historian.
6) The little known story of black baseball before 1947.
7) Biographies of the 400 greatest players, including more than 200 Hall of Famers.
8) The complete balloting for all of baseball's major awards in the 20th Century.
9) Feature chapters on the minor leagues, team histories, Japanese baseball, Latin ball, nicknames, scandals, trades, streaks and feats, commissioners, and more.

Offers insight into various aspects of martial arts experience. This book provides an introduction to different martial arts styles, from aikido to wing chun; advice and instruction on getting the most out of every block, strike, and kick executed; and explanations of techniques from lesser-known arts.