Encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks are excellent sources for background material on historical and political events, literary authors and works, film, society and culture.

Use them to

• check out something your lecturer said
• refine an essay topic
• compile a list of search terms for further research

• Dictionary of Russian women writers
• Reference guide to Russian literature
• Cultural atlas of Russia and the former Soviet Union
• The Modern encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet history
• The supplement to The modern encyclopedia of Russian, Soviet and Eurasian history
• The BFI companion to Eastern European and Russian cinema