Literature

For quick access to high quality information for your assignments, try the links on these pages.

Set up the University VPN system to access these resources any time, anywhere!

New in Sept 2024: Watch this short video to find out how to use our new Discovery service effectively.

Reading Lists

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Got an assignment? Have you looked at the reading list to see lecturer recommendations?

Key Starters for Essays and Dissertations

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Identify different sources of information and link to ebooks and other top sources

Try these extensive primary sources covering newspapers, periodicals and magazines from 1600 onwards

• Current Newspapers and Magazines

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Look here for a great variety of UK and international sources

Search and read a wide range of national and regional newspapers from 1741-1950.

Watch this short video to get a quick overview (we have parts 1 - 5).


Use with care as this tabloid is known for its strong views but it can help with some assignments and certain dissertation topics. Search for stories or use the browse feature to flick through the paper on particular days, including special editions published in connection with Queen Victoria, George V, Elizabeth II's coronation and Winston Churchill. Use Nexis if you want to go beyond 2016.


Search all the newspaper and magazine archives which we buy from Gale Cengage in one go. Once you've done a search, use Term Clusters and Term Frequency on the right of the screen to help you analyse your results.

This 5 minute video shows you how to make effective use of the features available.


Access stories and photos from The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003). Use Nexis if you want to search up to the current day.

Additional access instructions:

For off campus access use this link


fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

The world's first illustrated weekly newspaper containing useful background for Victorian topics in particular.


fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

Founded in 1903, the Mirror plays a pivotal role in the history of journalism. Peaking in 1967, with a daily circulation of 5.25 million, the newspaper has had a history full of highs and lows. Today, it is the only mainstream left-wing tabloid remaining in the UK. Gale's Mirror Historical Archive, 1903-2000 features more than 800,000 pages of brand-new, full text searchable, scans of the complete run of the Mirror from 1903-2000, including the Sunday Mirror.


• Nexis Uni 

Full text articles from many news sources and trade journals both UK and international. Archives sometimes stretching back to the mid 1980s.

Additional access instructions:

For use in the UK only


fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

This online archive includes African-American newspapers as well as titles that pre-date a state's admission into the Union. There is a wide variety of titles and date coverage e.g. Afro-American (Baltimore), Daily Hot Blast, (Anniston, Alabama) Detroit Free Press, The Washington Globe, with the oldest newspaper dating from 1800. There are numerous ways to search or browse.


fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

1271 London and provincial newsbooks, newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and single-sheet ephemera, 1600 to 1800.


fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

Launched in 1855 as an affordable newspaper (it quickly cut its price to a penny), by 1876 The Telegraph was the largest-selling newspaper in the world. The newspaper was directed at a wealthy, educated readership and is commonly associated with traditional Toryism, despite its more "liberal" beginnings. The Telegraph Historical Archive has over 1 million pages of content and includes the Sunday edition from its inception in 1961. The archive offers a fundamental insight into domestic and international affairs and culture over a time span of almost 150 years.

Under the editorship of poet and Orientalist Edwin Arnold from 1873 to 1899, the newspaper published widely on foreign affairs and foreign cultures. This led to coverage of Stanley's expedition to Africa in search of David Livingstone, which it co-sponsored with the New York Herald in 1874. Its dedication to foreign news coverage was evidenced by its employment of several renowned special correspondents over the years, including: Winston Churchill, who reported from India in 1897, Rudyard Kipling, who braved the trenches of the First World War, and Clare Hollingworth, who, as the first female war correspondent, relayed the start of the Second World War from Poland.

During the twentieth century, The Telegraph cemented its reputation as a pioneering yet reliable source of news reporting. There was the infamous uncensored interview with Kaiser Wilhelm of 1908, in which he successfully alienated Britain, France, Russia, and Japan. In 1942, the newspaper published the cryptic crossword puzzle responsible for recruiting Allied codebreakers during the Second World War.


Search over 200 years of articles. Articles are full facsimiles of what was published on the day and you can view the article in its original page location if you want.

Watch this video showing you how to make the most of the features available.

 

Victorian Gothic Recommendations

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If you're on the MA Victorian Gothic, make sure you look here!

Referencing

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Guidance and support for referencing in APA 7, including advice about reference generators

Your Subject Team

 Anne Worden

Faculty Librarian

email Anne.Worden@port.ac.uk

 Sharon Bittner

Assistant Faculty Librarian

email sharon.bittner@port.ac.uk