The Gilded Age was an important three-decade period in American history. It was a time of transition, when the United States began to recover from its Civil War and post-war rebuilding phase. It was as a time of progress in technology and industry, of regression in race relations, and of stagnation in politics and foreign affairs. It was a time when poor southerners began farming for a mere share of the crop rather than for wages, when pioneers settled in the harsh land and climate of the Great Plains, and when hopeful prospectors set out in search of riches in the gold fields out West.

The Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age relates the history of the major events, issues, people, and themes of the American "Gilded Age" (1869-1899). This period of unprecedented economic growth and technical advancement is chronicled in this reference and includes a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries.