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History

Whatever your topic, you will want to begin by finding out what other historians have had to say about it. This page will outline some strategies for finding the scholarly literature on a topic in history.

Searching for Books

Historians typically publish books, leverage print collections, and cite older works more than scholars in other disciplines. So, for many history topics, finding books related to your topic is a good place to start.

Search and access books in Macalester's collections using Worldcat
When searching for books in Worldcat, you are searching Macalester collection items along with materials held by other libraries.


Pro-tip Look through footnotes, endnotes, and the bibliography of your book to verify the author's work, and follow the breadcrumbs to other potential sources, including primary sources!

Finding Book Reviews in History

You can find book reviews in Worldcat Discovery. Simply search for the book's title and the author's name to browse related book reviews.

The following journals also provide book reviews in the discipline of history and are available through the database JSTOR. Recent reviews for books published in the last five years are not included:

  • Reviews in American History (available from 1973-2017 through JSTOR)
    This journal provides an effective means for scholars and students of American history to stay up to date in their discipline. Each issue presents in-depth reviews of over thirty of the newest books in American history—reviews that are far superior to those found in other scholarly journals. Retrospective essays examining landmark works by major historians are also regularly featured. The journal covers all areas of American history including economics, military history, women in history, law, political history and philosophy, religion, social history, intellectual history, and cultural history.
  • The American Historical Review (available from 1895-2017 through JSTOR)
  • The New York Review of Books
    Macalester Library has v. 1 (1963) - v. 60 (2013) available on microfiche, located on the lower level of the library. Unsure of how to use microfiche? Chat or email the library for help accessing.

The New York Times (Book Review Section)
 

Searching for Articles

A quick list of subject-specific databases for history:

Pro-tip: American History and Life and Historical Abstracts allows you to search by historical period, which is a powerful way to improve your search results.

magnifying glassPro-tip: Use the browse feature in JSTOR to view all journals within the history discipline contained in this database.