What’s new in BBIH?
The June 2023 update to the Bibliography of British and Irish History adds 2524 new publications. The new update includes books, journal articles, book chapters and edited collections covering all areas of British and Irish history, from 55 BCE to the present day.
These updates bring the total number of BBIH records to 646,078. The June 2023 update include:
- 2198 titles that were published in 2020-2023
- 134 publications relating to Scottish history
- 901 publication about the histories of England and Wales, including 81 publications about the history of Wales and 830 publications focusing on England.
- 260 publications focusing on Irish history, including 28 publications focusing on Northern Ireland
- 549 new records for ‘Imperial and Commonwealth’, of which 79 records discuss the colonial histories of Australasia and 124 records refer to histories of the colonial America and the Caribbean.
BBIH and the histories of monarchy and coronations
In May 2023, the Bibliography’s editors and Brepols created 2 new online reading lists focusing on the history of monarchy and coronations in Britain and Ireland. The first, Medieval monarchy up to 1485, contains 375 publications. The second, Monarchy from 1485 to the present day, contains 606 publications. Learn more about these reading lists in Dr Emily Ward’s and Professor Philip Murphy’s pieces for On History.
The Bibliography contains over 12,000 resources on the history of monarchy and coronations, including 66 new publications added in the June 2023 update.
BBIH and Pride month
June is Pride Month and the Biography contains over 1100 resources for LBGTQIA+ and queer histories, with 5 new publications added in the June 2023 update.
BBIH also has an online reading list focusing on LGBTQIA+ and queer histories, which can be viewed online here. The full reading list contains 533 books, articles and chapters published between 2010 and 2022.
BBIH and the history of London
Between 10-14 July 2023, the IHR will be running the IHR London Summer School 2023: Secret London. The Summer School offers a unique opportunity to explore London’s stories and historic places from the city’s earliest history to the present day, as well as visions and policy debates around its future. The Bibliography contains over 51,700 resources for the histories of London, including 171 new publications in this latest update.
How to get the most out of using BBIH
You can learn more about using BBIH by visiting our page of online tutorials, which include:
- The basics of searching, including how to use the subject tree
- How to use your results
- How to keep up-to-date with the latest published research in your field or manage your reference lists or bibliographies
- Behind-the-scenes guide to how BBIH is compiled.
Short video guides are designed for:
- New undergraduates and those planning and researching a final year dissertation
- MA and PhD students for whom BBIH is essential for writing a literature review and studying secondary fields of interest.
Lecturers, teachers and librarians will find it helpful that the Bibliography’s online tutorials can all be embedded in a virtual learning environment (VLE). Presentations are also available here to promote the Bibliography to your students and staff.
About the Bibliography of British and Irish History
The Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) is the largest and most comprehensive guide available to what’s been written about British and Irish history, from the early 1900s to the present day.
It’s an essential resource for research and teaching, providing up-to-date information (and links) on over 646,000 history books, articles, chapters, edited collections and theses. New records are added in three annual updates. These records are searchable by a wide range of facets including: title, author, chronology, date and form of publication, historical topic and geographical region.
The Bibliography is a research project of the UK’s Institute of Historical Research and the Royal Historical Society, and is published by Brepols. BBIH is a subscription service and is available remotely via university and research libraries worldwide.