UEA Library: History: Resource directory

Featured resources

Key resources for History

There are hundreds of thousands of books and journal articles related to history available via Library Search. Here are some other resources you may find useful.

Bibliography of British and Irish History Online (BBIH) This link opens in a new window
Provides a searchable bibliography of historical writing covering the British Isles, British Empire and Commonwealth from 55BC to today. Contains more than 635,000 entries for books, chapters and articles. You will need to check Library Search to find UEA copies/access.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) This link opens in a new window
Over 60,000 biographies of significant figures who shaped British history, society and culture from Roman times to 21st century (but note it only includes people who have died).
English Historical Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Contains an online edition of the texts of 5,500 primary documents from 500-1914. Sign-in via Shibboleth and select University of East Anglia.
British History Online (BHO) This link opens in a new window
Digital library containing printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles, created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust. Some premium content is not accessible.
Cambridge Histories Online (CHO) This link opens in a new window
The Cambridge Histories provide authoritative historical overviews of key topics, periods and regions. UEA has access to the full set of Histories.
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online (OSEO) This link opens in a new window
Online versions of scholarly editions of key literary and historical works. UEA has purchased modules for: Medieval Poetry and Prose, Renaissance Prose, the New Oxford Shakespeare, 18th Century Poetry, Drama and Prose, Romantics Poetry, Drama and Prose.
Brepolis Medieval Bibliographies This link opens in a new window
A combined search across two important bibliographic databases of Medieval studies, providing records of books, articles, reviews and other publications. You will need to look up items in Library Search to see whether they are available at UEA.
Oxford Bibliographies: Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
Expert bibliographies on topics related to Medieval Studies. Note that UEA Library may not have all the items in the bibliography, so you will need to check if we have access or request that the Library obtains it.
Oxford Bibliographies: Renaissance and Reformation This link opens in a new window
Expert bibliographies on topics related to the Renaissance and Reformation. Note that UEA Library may not have all the items in the bibliography, so you will need to check if we have access or request that the Library obtains it.

Other resources for History

Reference works

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
A cross-searchable online reference collection, featuring full-text content from over 1,000 reference books covering a broad range of subjects. Contains over 3.5 million entries, 200,000+ images (art, diagrams, maps and photos) and over 100,000 audio pronunciation files and sound clips.
Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
A fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of hundreds of dictionaries, encyclopaedias and other reference works published by Oxford University Press.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
An essential and definitive reference work on the English language, tracing the meaning, history and pronunciation of 600,000 words, with 3.5 million quotations to demonstrate their usage in the past and today.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) This link opens in a new window
Over 60,000 biographies of significant figures who shaped British history, society and culture from Roman times to 21st century (but note it only includes people who have died).
Cite them right This link opens in a new window
An online referencing tool providing answers to common questions about referencing, as well as helpful guidance to keep you on the right track. Cite any information source, from ancient texts to Twitter and other online publications. Referencing styles supported are Harvard, APA, Chicago, IEEE, MHRA, MLA, OSCOLA and Vancouver. Provides videos and tutorials and includes guidance on plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Bibliographies

Bibliography of British and Irish History Online (BBIH) This link opens in a new window
Provides a searchable bibliography of historical writing covering the British Isles, British Empire and Commonwealth from 55BC to today. Contains more than 635,000 entries for books, chapters and articles. You will need to check Library Search to find UEA copies/access.
Brepolis Medieval Bibliographies This link opens in a new window
A combined search across two important bibliographic databases of Medieval studies, providing records of books, articles, reviews and other publications. You will need to look up items in Library Search to see whether they are available at UEA.
Oxford Bibliographies: Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
Expert bibliographies on topics related to Medieval Studies. Note that UEA Library may not have all the items in the bibliography, so you will need to check if we have access or request that the Library obtains it.
Oxford Bibliographies: Renaissance and Reformation This link opens in a new window
Expert bibliographies on topics related to the Renaissance and Reformation. Note that UEA Library may not have all the items in the bibliography, so you will need to check if we have access or request that the Library obtains it.

Scholarly handbooks

Oxford Handbooks Online (OHO) This link opens in a new window
E-books providing current and authoritative subject coverage. Handbooks are frequently updated and offer thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study.
Cambridge Companions Online (CCO) This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Companions provide scholarly authoritative guides, written by leading experts, to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics, and periods. UEA has access to the full set of Companions.
Cambridge Histories Online (CHO) This link opens in a new window
The Cambridge Histories provide authoritative historical overviews of key topics, periods and regions. UEA has access to the full set of Histories.
Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
E-books in the fields of Education, Sociology, Security Studies, Politics, Philosophy, Linguistics, Asian Studies, History, Archaeology, Media & Communication. UEA has access to more than 500 handbooks on the Routledge platform; others might be available on other platforms (check Library Search to see).

Ebook and Journal Collections

EBook Central This link opens in a new window
Multi-subject collection of e-books which can be browsed, read online or downloaded to a PC. Access is also available to titles not currently owned by UEA. These may be browsed and requested for purchase by the library.
Manchester Medieval Sources Online This link opens in a new window
Essential texts from the Manchester Medieval Sources book series, providing first hand accounts of events such as the Norman invasion or black death. Many are translated here into English for the first time. They provide extensive introductory and explanatory material, enabling a beginner to understand the variety of interpretations the sources have had and any linguistic problems that have proved controversial.
JSTOR journal back issues This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides searchable back issues of scholarly journals on a wide range of subjects. JSTOR does not include the last few years of most of its journals, so for recent and current issues, use the Journal A-Z or Library Search.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Provides access to ebooks and journals in the arts and humanities. UEA-owned content held on the MUSE platform can also be found via Library Search. Some content showing as not held on MUSE may be available to UEA on other platforms.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Database of peer-reviewed journal articles, monographs, reports and conference proceedings in all subjects with links to full-text where available.

Periodical Archive Online (PAO)
Collection of journal articles. Note that PAO contains older articles and that all these articles can also be found alongside more current articles via Library Search.

Primary sources collections

- Archives

Europeana
Records to 56 million museum, library and archives objects and texts from across Europe. Links through to digitised copies where available.
Discovery - National Archives
Search for collections across more than 2,500 UK archives.

Archives Hub This link opens in a new window
Enables you to search across the descriptions of archives held at over 350 academic or research institutions across the UK.
African Diaspora, 1860-present This link opens in a new window
Essential for understanding Black history and culture, African Diaspora, 1860-Present allows scholars to discover the migrations, communities, and ideologies of the African Diaspora through the voices of people of African descent. With a focus on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France, the collection includes never-before digitized primary source documents, including personal papers, organizational papers, journals, newsletters, court documents, letters, and ephemera.
Cecil Papers This link opens in a new window
Major collection of early-modern historical documents from the reigns of Elizabethan I and James I/VI written by some of the most significant figures of Elizabethan and Jacobean history. Contains almost 30,000 manuscript documents, with accompanying calendar and many transcripts.
Chatham House Online Archive, 1980-2008 This link opens in a new window
Publications and archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) on a range of subjects including: international security, war and conflict; communication & media; international politics, ideology and policy; business and trade; energy, environment and resources; international law; health and population; international economics, finance and investment.
Churchill Archive This link opens in a new window
An important archive of primary source documents by or relating to Winston Churchill from 1874-1965. 800,000 pages of printed documents, typescripts and manuscripts. Includes his personal correspondence.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. Spans last five centuries and is accompanied by many secondary learning resources including essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
Empire Studies - Research Source This link opens in a new window
Archival collections, including government and official records, personal papers and diaries, rare periodicals, and conference proceedings. Contains material on British colonial policy and government; perspectives on life in British colonies; the relationship between gender and empire; race; and class.
Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new window
One of the most important archives for the study of Social History in the UK, covering the late 1930s through to the sixties. Explore original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive features.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
Primary sources focusing on the emigration of peoples from Great Britain, mainland Europe and Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Slavery in America This link opens in a new window
A digital collection of 600 documents covering key aspects of the history of slavery in America from its origins in Africa to its abolition, including materials on the slave trade, plantation life, emancipation, pro- and anti-slavery arguments and the religious views on slavery.
Witchcraft in Europe and America This link opens in a new window
A wide range of writings on the subject of witchcraft from the 15th century to the 20th century, but particularly concentrated on the 16th-18th centuries. Includes many rare and fragile manuscripts containing eyewitness accounts and court records of the trials of witches. Most of the texts are in English, Latin or German.
Womens Studies - Research Source This link opens in a new window
Four centuries of printed and manuscript resources providing multiple perspectives on the changing lives of women. Among the many sources, it includes diaries and life writing from the 18th and 19th century, including aristocratic women, Sylvia Pankhurst's papers, and travel writing from across the British Empire.

- Books and journals

JISC Historical Texts This link opens in a new window
Brings together four significant collections, which can be cross-searched: Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) along with 65,000 general texts from the British Library's 19th Century collection and 79,000 19th century medical texts. Nearly half a million printed texts from the late 15th to 19th century. EEBO can also be accessed via the ProQuest platform (see separate A-Z database entries).
Early European Books (EEB) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to wide selection of rare printed sources in many languages from across Europe up to 1700. UEA has access to parts 1-4 (about 25,000 titles) along with some further content from the Wellcome Library collection.

Internet Archive
Vast collection of digitised books, films and sound recordings along with archived websites.
Hathi Trust
A vast collection of digitised books. Some are closed due to copyright restrictions, but many are available to read and download.

- Newspapers and magazines

For further newspaper and magazine content, please see our dedicated guide, which covers both current and historic papers and magazines:

- Official publications

Parliament Rolls of Medieval England This link opens in a new window
Official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) to Henry VII (1485-1509). This new edition reproduces the text of the rolls together with a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). It also includes an introduction to every known parliament between 1275 and 1504, whether or not the roll for that parliament survives.
State Papers Online This link opens in a new window
Provides access to original historical materials for Tudor and Stuart Britain including correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts. UEA has access to Parts 1-4, covering 1509-1714.
UK Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
Provides complete online coverage of the sessional papers of the British House of Commons and the 19th Century House of Lords. Parliamentary papers are a rich primary source for the history of Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. They are working documents of government covering all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy.

- Multimedia resources

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) This link opens in a new window
A national TV and radio recording and streaming service for UK higher and further education institutions. Includes over 2 million recordings of films, documentaries, news and radio programmes from 75 channels, with the ability to request upcoming programmes and create playlists and clips.

BFI Archive Films
Includes 11,000 archive films covering 120 years of UK filmaking.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports 1974-1996 This link opens in a new window
Covering the period 1974-1996 in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports includes a wealth of transcripts of broadcasts and news from around the world all translated into English. FBIS Daily Reports have been the United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence.
American History in Video This link opens in a new window
Brings together key documentaries, newsreels and archival footage. Areas of focus include Trade and Exploration, American Revolutionary Era, Civil War, Imperialism and Colonialism, World War I, The Jazz Age, Post-World War II Era, Sixties, Women’s History and Black History.

PhD Theses

EThOS This link opens in a new window
National service run by the British Library to increase visibility and access to UKs doctoral research (PhD) theses. There are more than 600,000 records with about half of these full-text, either directly available from EThOS or via links to the institution's own repository. Note that you will need to register with EThOS to download theses.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Searchable international database of citations and abstracts for PhD and Masters theses. Especially useful for theses from the United States and Canada.

Other resources

International Directory of Medievalists
Contains details of thousands of scholars from around the world specialising in the Medieval period.

Other Collections in Norwich

Norfolk Record Office
The main archives for the city and county with substantial collections stretching back to the Medieval period.
Norfolk Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre includes a significant collection of printed books, photographs and other resources related to Norfolk history. It is located within the Millennium Library in the Forum.
East Anglia Film Archive (EAFA)
Owned by UEA but located next to the Norfolk Record Office, EAFA is a major collection of local, regional and national film and television.
Norwich Cathedral Library
The Cathedral Library holds around 30,000 volumes and subscribes to 30 journals, mostly related to theology, but includes texts of historical or art historical interest.