British Studies

Key Databases

The best first place to go if you're looking for research materials in this discipline.

Periodicals and Newspapers

• Times Digital Archive 1785-2011 - Full-text and full-image articles from the Times of London. It is a digital reproduction, cover to c...
• Illustrated London news historical archive, 1842-2003 - "The Illustrated London News Historical Archive gives students and researchers unprecedented online ...
• 17th and 18th century Nichols newspapers collection - The Nichols Collection consists of 280 newspaper and periodical titles and approximately 300 monogra...
• 17th-18th century Burney Collection newspapers - Searchable full-text access to the British Library's collection of the newspapers, pamphlets, and bo...
• Sunday time digital archive - Searchable and browsable database of the Sunday times and related publications.
• Liberty magazine, 1924-1950 - This database is a digitization of the entire run of Liberty Magazine, nearly 1,400 issues, and cont...
• Punch historical archive, 1841-1992 - From 1841 to 1992 Punch was the world's most celebrated magazine of humour and satire. From its earl...
• British Library newspapers - Sourced from the extensive holdings of the British Library, British Library Newspapers delivers a wi...
• British periodicals. [Collection 1] - This collection when complete will include 160 British journals published between 1681 and 1920. Top...
• British periodicals. [Collection II] - British Periodicals Collection II consists of more than 300 journals from the UMI microfilm collecti...
• British periodicals. [Collection III] - "British Periodicals Collection III extends the scope of the program (of British Periodicals Collect...
• British periodicals. [Collection IV] - "British Periodicals Collection IV continues this expansion (of British Periodicals Collection III),...
• Internet library of early journals - "ILEJ, the 'Internet Library of Early Journals' is a joint project by the Universities of Birmingham...
• Eighteenth century journals. I, Newspapers and periodicals 1693-1793, from the Bodleian Library, Oxford - Electronic collection of material reproduced from newspapers and periodicals published in Britain du...
• Eighteenth century journals. II, Newspapers & periodicals 1699-1812 - Electronic collection of material reproduced from newspapers and periodicals published in Britain du...
• Eighteenth century journals. III, Newspapers and periodicals 1680-1816 - Electronic collection reproduced from rare periodicals and newspapers drawn from British Library New...
• Eighteenth century journals. IV, Newspapers and periodicals 1708-1820, from Chetham's Library, Manchester and Brotherton Library, University of Leeds - Electronic collection reproduced from rare periodicals and newspapers in Chetham's Library and the B...
• Eighteenth century journals. V, The lady's magazine and other titles, 1712-1835, from Birmingham Central Library, British Library, Cambridge University Library and Liverpool John Moores University Library - At the core of Eighteenth Century Journals V is the entire run of The lady's magazine, 1770-1832.|bT...

Digital Primary Sources

• Empire online - Empire Online spans five centuries, charting the rise and fall of empires around the world. It provi...
• Early English books online - From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this collection...
• Eighteenth Century collections online - A comprehensive digital edition of The Eighteenth Century microfilm set, which has aimed to include ...
• Colonial state papers - Colonial State Papers provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the Am...
• Documents on British policy overseas -
• Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 - This resource contains digitizations of popular culture collections from the U.S. and U.K. between 1...
• Queen Victoria's journals - "Queen Victoria's Journals was launched on 24 May 2012, the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth in...
• Cecil papers -
• Foreign Office files for the Middle East, 1971-1981 - This resource comprises British Foreign and Commonwealth Office files and selected files from the Pr...
• Foreign Office files for China, 1919-1980 - This digital collection makes available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Ko...
• Foreign Office files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980 - This collection focuses on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Inc...
• Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1922 - This resource provides digital access to official British government records relating to the region,...
• Colonial America - "Colonial America consists of all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series of Colonial Office files held at ...
• Confidential print. Africa, 1834-1966 - The Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 is Official British government correspondence concerning A...
• Confidential print. Latin America, 1833-1969 - The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970, is a funda...
• Confidential print. Middle East, 1839-1969 - The collection covers Middle Eastern history from 1839-1969; countries included are: Afghanistan, Eg...
• Confidential print. North America, 1824-1961 - The collection covers a broad sweep of history from c.1824-1961, taking in the USA, Canada, the Cari...
• Defining gender - Provides access to original British source material which supports the study of history, literature,...
• Eighteenth century drama - This digital collection makes available the theatrical world of eighteenth century society and explo...
• Frontier life - "There is a large array of document types published on this site including correspondence, diaries, ...
• First World War - The Visual perspectives and narratives section showcases material from the Imperial War Museum in Lo...
• Grand tour - This collection of manuscript, visual and printed works allows scholars to explore the history of Br...
• India, Raj and Empire - In 1615, Britain signed a treaty with the Mughals to permit the East India Company to establish 'fac...
• London low life - London Low Life is a full-text searchable electronic resource, containing colour images of rare book...
• Macmillan cabinet papers, 1957-1963 - "Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963 provides complete coverage of the Cabinet conclusions (minutes)...
• Medieval family life - Only five major letter collections, those of the Paston, Stonor, Plumpton, Armburgh and Cely familie...
• Medieval travel writing - Extensive collection medieval manuscripts from archives and libraries around the world, dating from ...
• Migration to new worlds - Migration to New Worlds: The Modern Era begins with the activities of the New Zealand Company during...
• Mass observation online - This resource includes essays on British social history collected between 1937 and 1972 during a pro...
• Nixon years, 1969-1974 - Top level Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers dominate this project. There is also a weal...
• Perdita manuscripts - Includes complete facsimile images of over 230 manuscripts written or compiled by women living in th...
• Slavery, abolition and social justice, 1490-2007 - Digital facsimiles of printed and manuscript materials relevant to trans-Atlantic slavery and abolit...
• Travel writing, spectacle and world history - This resource brings together hundreds of accounts by women of their travels across the globe from t...
• Victorian popular culture - An essential resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth c...
• Virginia Company archives - This collection provides a rich source for the study of trade between Britain and America. It docume...
• Women in the National Archives - "This collection consists of two distinct elements: A finding aid to women's studies resources in Th...

Other Periodical Indexes

• JSTOR - Provides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history,...
• Arts & humanities citation index - Multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the arts and humanities. Covers over 1100 jou...

Reference Resources

• Oxford dictionary of national biography - Biographies of noteworthy people, no longer living, who inhabited or were connected with the British...