Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method

CONTENT Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method is an “educational resource dedicated to historiography and the examination of historical theory and methods using a global approach.” The scholarship is predominantly European, British, and American. All content is in English. Most coverage is of Western historical traditions, though the editors are striving to diversify these perspectives. Content includes 100-plus exclusive articles by scholars from 25 countries, a four-volume collection of critical readings on historiography, and 60+ scholarly books from Bloomsbury’s catalog. Also included are essays on key concepts and thinkers, learning aides on using primary sources, and in-depth studies of influential classics such as Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Creative ways to navigate this content include an interactive time line and world map. These e-books include both theory and traditional monographs that illustrate various approaches to history writing. Users will find little practical information about how to conduct archival research or engage in digital, oral, public, or quantitative history. This is theory-oriented—it will not help historians master new tools or skills— but it is a superb source of course readings.

USABILITY Bloomsbury’s platform is beautifully designed and has a contemporary look and feel. Pages adjust automatically to match the screen size of tablets or smartphones. Users can create a personal account to save and email their search results. Chapters display only as HTML webpages, but pagination from original print editions is indicated. The content is unfortunately not cross-searchable with Bloomsbury’s other digital resources. Browsing is intuitive, and the navigation enables users to drill down quickly into content. Users can explore content by person, type of history, topic, place, and period, taking advantage of the resource’s impressively granular tagging and indexing. Users can also browse content by type: e-books, critical readings, essays, key concepts, and more. The “About” section contains a product overview, names and affiliations of the editors, and site navigation information. Searches crawl the full text of all content and associated metadata, highlighting keyword or phrase matches. With advanced search, users can simultaneously search up to six keywords or phrases using Boolean operators. Users can prefilter searches by title, creator, abstract, content type, date range, and other limiters. Enclosing search terms in quotation marks retrieves exact phrases. Users can refine search results by period, topic, place, and other facets. Librarians can download catalog records and usage reports and read Bloomsbury’s accessibility statement.

PRICING Pricing ranges from $1,282–$5,129 for an annual subscription and $7,692– $30,770 for purchase of perpetual rights. An annual content update fee of $600–$1,000 accompanies purchases. Pricing is based on institution size and type.

VERDICT Teachers of historical theories and methods will applaud Bloomsbury History. Researchers at all levels will appreciate the powerful search, user-friendly design, and robust scholarly content. New content is added regularly, so depth and coverage will continue to improve.