Find Contexts

Use resources on this page to help you understand literary texts within their historical, political, and cultural contexts. 

Finding Historical Info in American Decades

Understanding the history of the era in which an author lived or in which a piece of literature was written provides insight into that literature's meaning, symbolism, and themes. 

You may read these reference books in print inside the library or you can access them online in Gale Ebooks (Gale Virtual Reference Library). Use the links below to access the series directly in the database.

• As shown in the image below, you can limit by a specific time frame in history, as well as by larger topic areas, such as Media, medicine & health, fashion, sports, government & politic, and more.

(click on image to enlarge)

• Open the series in the online database, Gale Virtual Reference Library or open individual books linked directly below.

Find Biographies of authors:

Fig. 2. Richard Wright in New York, 1945. Biography in Context. Web. 2 Jan. 2015.