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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
The Cambridge Histories provide authoritative historical overviews of key topics, periods and regions. UEA has access to the full set of Histories.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of hundreds of dictionaries, encyclopaedias and other reference works published by Oxford University Press.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The Cambridge Histories provide authoritative historical overviews of key topics, periods and regions. UEA has access to the full set of Histories.
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).
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.
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 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.
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.
Database of peer-reviewed journal articles, monographs, reports and conference proceedings in all subjects with links to full-text where available.
Enables you to search across the descriptions of archives held at over 350 academic or research institutions across the UK.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge, the aim was to document the social history of Britain by recruiting a team of observers and volunteers to write about their lives and opinions.
This resource offers revolutionary access to the original Mass Observation project, the bulk of which was carried out from 1937 until the mid-1950s, offering an unparalleled insight into everyday life in Britain during these transformative years. Explore original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive features.
Launched in 1981 by the University of Sussex as a rebirth of the original 1937 Mass Observation, its founders' aim was to document the social history of Britain by recruiting volunteers to write about their lives and opinions. Still growing, it is one of the most important sources available for qualitative social data in the UK.
This collection consists of the directives (questionnaires) sent out by Mass Observation between 1980 and 2010 and the thousands of responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers.
Primary sources focusing on the emigration of peoples from Great Britain, mainland Europe and Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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.
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.
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.
Contains digitised copies and many transcripts of almost every work published in the British Isle and North America from 1470-1700.
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.
For information about our newspaper and magazine content, please see our dedicated guide, which covers both current and historic papers and magazines:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 (PQDT) Global holds details of millions of dissertations and theses from around the world. In August 2022 UEA upgraded from the abstract and index version to the full-text version (containing more than 3 million full-text)
Historical Books (EEBO, ECCO, EEB and UEA’s rare books)
the Jisc Historical Texts database is being retired at the end of July 2024.We now have alternative access to the books it included from 1473-1800:
If you would like any training in EEBO, ECCO or EEB please contact Grant.Young@uea.ac.uk
Work is also going on in UEA Library Archives and Special Collections to better promote UEA’s own rare books. We have produced a listing of the 176 early books in our collection (1480-1700) which you can download below. If you would like to consult these, please contact Archives@uea.ac.uk
The Library Helpdesk is your first point of contact for queries about using the library building, booking study spaces, accessing electronic resources and finding and borrowing print books.
I can provide more in-depth support - if you need help, please do get in touch!
Email Grant.Young@uea.ac.uk