By using the Guide to Selected Topics and by following the cross-references in the
text of the entries, the reader can trace a broad theme, such as religion, American
exploration, or Elizabethan Ireland, through all its most important events, ideas,
and personalities--and thus quickly acquire a sound, basic understanding of the
subject. Because Elizabeth I's name appears in the vast majority of entries, it has
not been cross-referenced, but the queen's own entry is a good place to start any
information search on an Elizabethan topic. Where appropriate, the entries also
contain cross-references to relevant illustrations, maps, and genealogical charts.

The Dictionary's appendixes contain 8 genealogical charts, and listings of
Elizabethan Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Elizabethan Roman Catholic
popes, sixteenth-century European monarchs, historical fiction with Tudor and
Elizabethan characters and settings, motion pictures with Tudor and Elizabethan
characters and settings, sound recordings of Tudor and Elizabethan music, and
Web sites for Tudor and Elizabethan topics.

An extensive bibliography of some of the most important and accessible
popular and scholarly works on Elizabethan history is provided, as well as a
detailed subject index to give access to names and terms mentioned in the entries
which do not have separate entries of their own.

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