Databases
For more historical databases, consult the Guide to History Databases page.
- The First World WarThis First World War portal includes primary source materials for the study of the Great War, complemented by a range of secondary features. The collection is divided into three modules: Personal Experiences, Propaganda and Recruitment, and Visual Perspectives and Narratives.
- America: History and LifeThis database covers the history of the United States and Canada from Prehistory to present.
- Historical AbstractsThis database covers world history, excluding the United States and Canada, from 1450 to present.
- JSTORContains journals covering a variety of subjects and time periods.
- Dissertation AbstractsThis database contains dissertations covering a variety of subjects and time periods. Many have full text available online.
- HATHITrustA repository of digital content from research libraries from around the world. Search for "Full-Text" to view entire books online.
- American National BiographyContains biographical information and portraits on over 18,700 Americans.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biographythis is the national record of men and women who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century.
- Archives UnboundUse this database to search "topically-focused digital collections of historical documents." You may also search through collections, such as Women, War and Society, 1914-1918 and World War I and Revolution in Russia, 1914-1918.
- Oxford Handbooks HistoryIncludes 21 books and over 700 articles. Search across articles using names of individuals, events, "world war I" or "First World War" (quotation marks important!), names of countries, battles, and so on.
- Western Front (World War I)Part of the Oxford Bibliographies Online database--seeks to focus on books that are based in extensive primary research and advance original or otherwise influential theses about ground-based military affairs on the western front from 1914 to 1918; it also includes a selection of some of the most authentic and compelling personal accounts of that theater of war.
Art and the First World War
Subject keywor search for World War 1914-1918 Art, brings works that collect and analyze the artwork from the war. Much of the war was documented by artists in the field.
Lest We Forget by Call Number: Fine Arts Library. D522 .P757 2018ISBN: 9780998968902Publication Date: 2018The story of WWI is told through the art -- including posters from nations involved in the conflict-
Beyond the Battlefield by Call Number: Fine Arts Library. N9150 .S64 2014ISBN: 9781780233741Publication Date: 2014
Portrait of War: The U.S. Army's First Combat Artists and the Doughboys' Experience in WWI by Call Number: Van Pelt Library D570 .K73 2007.ISBN: 9780471670230Publication Date: 2006During the pandemic available via HathiTrust's temporary access http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/65400345.html
Portrait of War presents eight graphic artists recruited by the government and sent into combat to create a visual historical record of World War I.
Art at the Service of War: Canada, Art, and the Great War by Call Number: Van Pelt N6545 .T57 1984ISBN: 0802025412Publication Date: 1984Find Online at HathiTrust during the pandemic
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/13858984.html
Picture This: World War I Posters and Visual Culture by Call Number: Van Pelt D522.25 .P53 2009.ISBN: 9780803226104Publication Date: 2010During the pandemic, available via HathiTrust temporary access ;http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/317925600.html
Art and the Great War by Eugene Gallatin , 1919includes 100 works of art, Read this book at the HathiTrust
Reference Books at Van Pelt
- War Cyclopedia: A Handbook for Ready Reference on the Great War byCall Number: Hein Online Legal Classics CollectionPublication Date: 1918This Primary Source text issued by the Government Printing Office in 1918 has been made available through the Hein Online database.
Mapping the First World War by Call Number: Van Pelt Reference: G1037 .F6 2013ISBN: 9781844862184Publication Date: 2014
World War I: Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection by Call Number: Van Pelt Reference D510 .E53 2014ISBN: 9781851099641Publication Date: 2014Five volumes
Memories and Representations of War: The case of World War I and World War II by Call Number: Van Pelt D522.42 .M46 2009ISBN: 9789042025219Publication Date: 2009
World War I: a Country-By-Country Guide [2 Volumes] by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9781440863691Publication Date: 2019Offers detailed coverage of every country that played a significant role in World War I.
Brill's Encyclopedia of the First World War by Call Number: Van Pelt Reference D510 .E5913 2012ISBN: 9004207392Publication Date: 2012Two volumes, includes document facsimiles
The Home Front Encyclopedia by Call Number: Van Pelt Reference D570 .H54 2007ISBN: 9781576078495Publication Date: 2006Includes biographies, cultural phenomena (movies, music, and literature), ethnic groups, key events (elections, strikes, mobilization efforts), government agencies, and a selection of primary sources, including speeches, official documents, propaganda, journalism, and personal correspondence, photographs, propaganda posters, editorial cartoons
World War I Memories: an annotated bibliography of personal accounts published in English since 1919 by Call Number: Van Pelt Reference D640.A2 L46 2004ISBN: 0810850087Publication Date: 2004This annotated bibliography includes over 1,400 references to memoirs, diaries, and letters by soldiers and civilians from all involved nations.- Первая мировая война: энциклопедия в двух частях /The First World War in Two Volumes by Call Number: Van Pelt Library. D510 .Z36 2014ISBN: 9785918620229Publication Date: 2014
- World War I Websites 1914-1918
contains extensive online resources for pictures, audio files, maps, and other multimedia elements related to WWI. - International Encyclopedia of the First World War
A Global Project of "1914-1918-online, the International Encyclopedia of the First World War” is an English-language, open access, virtual reference work featuring multiple perspectives with contributions from over 50 countries and, so far, amounting to 1000 articles.
Books at Van Pelt
The Legacy of the Great War by Call Number: D504 .L44 2009 ALSO OnlineISBN: 9780826218711Publication Date: 2009
Search Franklin: Catalog
New Books on the First World War @ Penn
Many books have been published over the period of the 100 year anniversary of the beginning and end of the First World War. This subject heading search: World War 1914-1918 is limited to just those titles that have been published since 2014. There are nearly 1,500 titles. 
A Selection of Representative Books at Van Pelt
- An international selection of cartoons and charactertures from the period of WW ILinks to the subject heading list in Franklin for:
World War, 1914-1918 -- Caricatures and cartoons. Books from Russia, Japan, France, and other countries - Rembrances and Memorials from the Great WarFrom the Franklin Catalog
Africa and the First World War: Remembrance, Memories and Representations after 100 Years by Call Number: Van Pelt Library. D575 .A38 2018ISBN: 9781527505469Publication Date: 2018
Belgian Museums of the Great War: Politics, Memory, and Commerce by Call Number: Van Pelt Library. D680.B4 S53 201ISBN: 9781138941052Publication Date: 2017Examines the handling of the centennial of World War I by several museums along the Western Front in Flanders, Belgium.
Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, 1919-1933 by Call Number: Van Pelt Library. D670 .B83 2010 and OnlineISBN: 9780814799901Publication Date: 2009Dissects the politics of commemoration of soldiers, veterans, and relatives from WWI
Commemorative Spaces of the First World War by Call Number: Van Pelt Library. D521 .C66 2018ISBN: 9781138121188Publication Date: 2017This volume explores how commemoration is connected to spatial elements of national identity, and processes of heritage and belonging.
Essays on World War I by Call Number: D550 .E883 2012ISBN: 9780880336864Publication Date: 2012-07-31In this collection the essays are the longer versions of the presentations that were read at the Florida and Gulf Coast Chapter Seminar of the World War One Historical Association. Most of the papers presented at the seminar examined some aspects of the eastern front.
Personal Perspectives by Call Number: D521 .P426 2006ISBN: 1851095659Publication Date: 2005-12-12This captivating collection of first-hand accounts brings to life the "War to End All Wars."
Sculpting Doughboys by Call Number: LIBRA. NA9330.U6 W56 2013ISBN: 9781409406556Publication Date: 2013Redressing the neglect of World War I memorials in art history scholarship and memory studies, Sculpting Doughboys considers the hundreds of sculptures of American soldiers that dominated the nation's sculptural commemorative landscape after World War I.
World War I in Cartoons by Call Number: D526 .B79 2006ISBN: 190494356XPublication Date: 2006-11-01Following on from the success of his 'World War II in Cartoons', the author again examines cartoons from both sides of the conflict and skilfully blends them with text to produce this significant visual history of the First World War.
