LibGuides: History Subject Guide: Books

Getting the books you need

Library Search allows you to search all our print and the majority of our online books. It will show you if the book is currently available and how you can access the title. If you would like to recommend a new title or additional copies of an existing book, use our More Books service for students.

Our online books are supplied by a wide range of publishers, and sometimes it is useful to search within particular collections, some of which are listed below. Further collections are listed in the A-Z list of Eresources - filter the list to 'Type' = Ebooks. All our online books can be read wherever you have internet access. Many can also be downloaded for offline reading.

History E-books, a selection added Sept 2020 to March 2021

Hover over the book cover to see the title/author details and select to view in Library Search, then sign in to view availability and location of print texts and if available as an e-book, access the full text.

eBook Collections

EBSCO Ebook Academic collection This link opens in a new window
A collection of over 130,000 online books, including over 13,000 titles in the subject area of History.
For off campus access use your University of Dundee username and password
University Press Scholarship Online Ebooks collection This link opens in a new window
The University Press Scholarship collection includes thousands of recent titles from leading university publishers. There are over 3,000 titles in the subject field of History, and many others in areas such as Archaeology, Culture and Religion.
For off-campus access use your University of Dundee username and password
Proquest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
E-book library with over 120,000 titles on the topic of history. Some titles may only be single-user licenced, if you get the message the book you have selected is 'being viewed by another patron' please try again later or check Library Search for an alterntve copy.
Login with your username and password

Online Reference works

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of people who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Dictionary offers over 60,000 concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors.
For off campus access select Sign in via your Institution then select University of Dundee and log in with your username and password.
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
For off-campus access click on the "Person" icon then click on Sign in through your institution. Type dundee in the search box and select University of Dundee. Enter your University of Dundee username and password
Oxford Reference online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference is an online reference database, spanning 25 different subject areas, bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias
For off campus access select "Login with Athens/Access Management Federation", find University of Dundee and login with username and password.

Historical Texts

Search these resources directly, as none of the titles included in this collection are listed in the Library Search service
This is a vast collection of early printed books, which have been digitised from originals held in specialist Libraries
Many literary texts are included, ranging from Chaucer to Thackeray
Complete books can be downloaded as PDF files

Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Early English Books Online (EEBO) features page images of almost every work printed in the British Isles and North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere from 1470-1700. Over 200 libraries worldwide have contributed to EEBO. From the first book printed in English through to the ages of Spenser, Shakespeare and of the English Civil War, EEBO's content draws on authoritative and respected short-title catalogues of the period and features a substantial number of text transcriptions specially created for the product.
For off-campus access use your University of Dundee username and password
Early European Books Online. Collections 1-4 This link opens in a new window
Early European Books traces the history of printing in Europe from its origins through to the close of the seventeenth century, offering full-colour, high-resolution facsimile images of rare and hard-to-access printed sources.
For off-campus access select Login through your library or institution, select region United Kingdom(UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research, select institution University of Dundee then login using your University of Dundee username and password

Brechin Collection

This collection of c10,000 books and manuscripts has been on permanent loan to the University of Dundee from the Episcopal Diocese of Brechin since 1961, and consists largely of theological books, some of great bibliographic interest. All items in the collection are held in Archive Services.

The collection ranges from very early printed works (incunabula) to recent publications and can be searched using Library Search.

Check out the Brechin Collection Instagram for more information on the collection.