Organization of the Guide
The guide is organized in broad chronological periods, with a section on empire and religion, which includes sources that document the experience of religious groups within empires.
Because the available source base (at this library, and, undoubtedly, most Anglo-American research libraries) for the study of the British Empire and American empire is by far the largest, we have given those two subjects their own sections.
All information on finding newspapers, regardless of region or time period, is also listed in its own section,
Librarians
Celestina Savonius-Wroth,Ph.D.
History Librarian
cswroth@illinois.edu
Article Indexes
- L'Année PhilologiqueCovers Greek and Latin linguistics and literature and Greek and Roman archaeology, history, mythology, religion, epigraphy, numismatics and palaeography: all aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world. Indexes publications from 1928-present.
- Brepolis Medieval and Early Modern BibliographiesIdentifies articles (over 4,000 journals covered) and books on the Medieval period in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Indexes publications from 1958-present. Comprises three separate files: International Medieval Bibliography, the Bibliographie de Civilisation Médiévale = Bibliography of Medieval Civilisation (bibliographies published in the Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale from 1958-2003), and Bibliographie internationale de l'Humanisme et de la Renaissance = International Bibliography of Humanism and the Renaissance.
- Iter Bibliography: Gateway to the Middle Ages and RenaissanceIdentifies journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, encyclopedia articles, exhibition catalogs, and conference proceedings on all aspects of Middle Ages and Renaissance studies. Part of Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Indexes publications from 1784-present.
- Historical AbstractsJournal articles, book reviews, and dissertations on all aspects of world history, excluding North America, from 1450. Includes links to the full text of some articles. Complements America: History and Life. Indexes publications from 1954-present.
- Bibliography of British and Irish History OnlineIdentifies books, book chapters, and articles on all aspects of British and Irish history, including the British Empire and Commonwealth. Indexes publications from 1700-present.
- ABSEES: American Bibliography of Slavic and East European StudiesMulti-disciplinary. Indexes journal articles, books, dissertations, government publications, and online resources from the United States and Canada. Indexes publications from 1989-present, with coverage back to 1939 for some materials.
- Bibliography of Asian StudiesMulti-disciplinary. Indexes journal articles, books, and book chapters, principally in Western languages on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia. Indexes publications from 1971-present.
- African Studies Centre DatabaseMulti-disciplinary. The catalog of the African Studies Centre in Leiden, which lists over 80,000 books, over 85,000 journal articles, as well as African newspapers, government reports, grey literature, and motion pictures. Includes annotated citations to journal articles and listing of books chapters from works acquired since 1988.
- America: History and LifeThe main article database for researching American history. Use to find journal articles, book reviews, and dissertations on all periods of North American history. Includes some links to full text. Complements Historical Abstracts. Indexes publications from 1964-present.
- PRISMA (Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas) with HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)
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Two key article databases for Hispanic American, Latin American, and Caribbean Basin studies. Multi-disciplinary. Identifies journal articles about Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Hispanics in the United States. While HAPI is an article index, PRISMA is a full text collection of scholarly journals. Together they cover a combination of peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed journals and periodicals. HAPI Indexes publications from 1966-present.
Digital Collections
There is almost no limit on the types of digital collections where you might find historical evidence for a history of empires. In the present guide we have included only those rather narrowly focused on the creation, administration, and dissolution of empires, but obviously you could expect to find important information in digitized book collections, newspapers, magazines, journals, newsreels, and more. To find more digital collections than those included in this guide, please consult our Guide to Digital Collections for Historical Research:
- Guide to Digital Collections (History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library) Guide to digitized primary source collections, for the most part collections that are owned or licensed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Organized by broad discipline (History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and African American Studies). History is subdivided by region and time period.
Three example digital collections for researching empires.
- Empire Online15th century to the present. Emphasis on the British Empire. Collection tilts heavily toward the 18th century, 19th century, and early 20th centuries.
- India, Raj, and Empire1710-1937. Diaries, journals, official papers, letters, sketches, paintings, histories and literary works documenting the British presence in India. Emphasis on the role of the Scottish in India as traders, generals, missionaries, viceroys, governor-generals. Documents drawn from the manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland
- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926Based on Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, this collection includes books, pamphlets, and periodicals about the Americas from 1492 to 1868. Includes publications both from the Americas and from elsewhere.
Encyclopedias
- The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism byCall Number: JC359 .P335 2016ISBN: 9780230392779Publication Date: 20152 vols. Covers sixteenth century to the present. Most entries include excellent bibliographies, with primary and secondary sources.
- Colonialism: An International, Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia byCall Number: 325.303 C718ISBN: 1576073351Publication Date: 20033 vols. Extensive chronologies of various imperial empires (Austro-Hungarian, Belgian, British, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Ottoman, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and United States) provide context for the diverse entries
- Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450 byCall Number: 325.3 ONLINEISBN: 0028658434Publication Date: 2006Online version of the 3 volume original. Signed entries with bibliographies. Bibliographies not annotated. Includes thematic outline of contents, glossary, selection of primary sources, and a detailed index.
- Encyclopedia of Exploration byCall Number: Q. 910.3 W146eISBN: 0816046786Publication Date: 20042 vols. See also: Oxford Companion to World Exploration by David Buisseret, and: Encyclopedia of Women's Travel and Exploration by Patricia D. Netzley.
Bibliographies and Other Guides to Sources
- Hegemony in International Law (Oxford Bibliography of International Law) byCall Number: 341 ONLINEPublication Date: 2016
- Ideologies of Colonization (Oxford Bibliography of the Atlantic World) byCall Number: 325.3 ONLINEPublication Date: 2021, 2023
Chronologies and Factual Information
- Historical Dictionary of States = Lexikon der Historischen Staatennamen byCall Number: 321.003 T769hISBN: 9783598112928Publication Date: 1995Divided into two parts: Antiquity, and Medieval and Modern Times. Antiquity begins with a list of empires, subdivided by ruling dynasties, including legendary dynasties. The section on Medieval and Modern Times is first subdivided by continent, and each continental section begins with a list of empires. Each empire's metropolitan is labeled, and dynasties listed. The listing of states follows in both parts, with dependencies and occupations traced. The information was derived from the author's much more ambitious reference work, Regents of nations : systematic chronology of states and their political representatives in past and present : a biographical reference book = Regenten der Nationen : systematische Chronologie der Staaten und ihrer politischen Repräsentanten in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart : ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk.
- Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical Handbook byCall Number: 909 M798d2002ISBN: 9780198604730Publication Date: 2002Easier to use, but less thorough, than Peter Truhart's compilation.
Example Subject Headings in the Library Catalog
- Imperialism -- History.
- Colonization -- History.
- Colonies -- History.
- Power (Social sciences) -- History.