The following articles have been published today in Reviews in History, the IHR’s e-journal of reviews of historical publications and electronic resources.

Review no. 729
Behind Enemy Lines: Gender, Passing and the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War by Juliette Pattinson (Manchester: MUP, 2007).

Reviewer: Helen Jones (Goldsmiths, University of London).

‘In this meticulously researched and fascinating study Pattinson analyses how ‘ordinary’, law-abiding citizens were transformed into paramilitary secret agents. She examines how those who worked for SOE subsequently reconstructed their wartime experiences of recruitment, training, clandestine work, and – for some – their captivity. Throughout the study, Pattinson emphasises the importance of gender, and of agents’ attempts to ‘pass’ as French citizens.’

Review no. 730
The 19th Century British Library Newspapers website, British Library.

Reviewer: Martin Conboy (University of Sheffield).

‘The 19th Century British Library Newspapers digital archive provides a full run of 48 British newspapers from the 19th century from 1800 to 1900. It was funded by a grant of £2m from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) from April 2004 to make up to two million pages of the British Library’s newspaper holdings available digitally as a fully searchable database for access by the UK higher education and further education communities, its primary audience. It became available from early 2008 and is commercially distributed by Gale Cengage.’

Please send all comments, including suggestions for books you would like to see on Reviews in History to danny.millum@sas.ac.uk or ihr.reviews@sas.ac.uk.