LibGuides: History: Imperial Britain: Background Information

Finding Background Information

There are many handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias that provide basic information for historical studies. If you are selecting a topic, build a framework by consulting definitions or a quick overview found in these resources and then focus on your topic by searching for more specific information.

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Contains facts, figures, definitions, and translations in most fields, from art and architecture to science.
Gale eBooks (formerly Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Search and access the full text of selected reference books, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering a wide range of subjects.
Cambridge Companions Complete Collection This link opens in a new window
Full text access to "Cambridge companion to. . ." series of books in the areas of literature, music, classics, philosophy, religion, and culture.
Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new window
Online access to the Cambridge Histories series. Overal 300 volumes in 10 subject areas including history, classics, literature, philosophy, and religion.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search and access the full text of selected reference books, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering a wide range of subjects.

Biographical Sources

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
Biographical information about around 60,000 men and women important to British history.

Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Coverage Dates: -

The Oxford History of the British Empire

The Oxford History of the British Empire is a multi-volume seeking to understand the end of Empire in relation to its beginning, the meaning of British imperialism for the ruled as well as for the rulers, and the significance of the British Empire as a theme in world history. It's useful for background and contextual information and has an excellent bibliography.

Volume I: The Origins of Empire: British Overseas Enterprise to the Close of the Seventeenth Century
ISBN: 9780198205623
Publication Date: 1998-09-03
This book explores the origins of empire. It shows how and why England, and later Britain, became involved with transoceanic navigation, trade, and settlement during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Volume II: The Eighteenth Century
ISBN: 9780199246779
Publication Date: 2001-09-20
This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a crucial phase in the creation of the modern British Empire.
Volume III: The Nineteenth Century
ISBN: 9780198205654
Publication Date: 1999-12-23
Volume III covers the long nineteenth century, from the achievement of American independence in the 1780s to the eve of world war in 1914.
Volume IV: Twentieth Century
ISBN: 9780199246793
Publication Date: 2001-09-20
This volume focuses on the geographical ‘periphery’ of empire and on all its connecting mechanisms, including institutions and the flow of people, money, goods, and services. It explores the experience of ‘imperial subjects’ in terms of culture, politics, and economics; an experience which culminated in the growth of vibrant, often new, national identities and movements and, ultimately, new nation-states. It concludes with the processes of decolonization, which reshaped the political map of the late 20th-century world.
Volume V: Historiography
ISBN: 9780199246809
Publication Date: 2001-09-20
This volume demonstrates how the study of Empire has evolved from a narrow focus on constitutional issues to a wide-ranging enquiry about international relations, the uses of power, and impacts and counterimpacts between settler groups and native peoples.