What content is available in Bloomsbury Cultural History?

Bloomsbury Cultural History offers the complete set of Bloomsbury’s pioneering Cultural Histories series, supplemented by an extensive list of eBooks, a large and thematically wide-ranging image collection from world-renowned institutions including the Wellcome Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and an interactive timeline that covers cultural history from antiquity to the present day.

This content is made available through a series of yearly collections. Please see below for more details on how the resource will be updated. 

Is the content included in Bloomsbury Cultural History available online anywhere else?

The majority of the Cultural History series are available online exclusively in Bloomsbury Cultural History. A limited number of eBooks in the resource are available on other Bloomsbury digital products, including the Bloomsbury Food Library and Bloomsbury Collections. All eBooks and images in the resource are fully-indexed exclusively for the resource and can be cross-searched with other related content.

The resource explores themes and topics in cultural history across the globe with an especially strong focus on historical case studies from the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. With contents indexed by place as well as topic and period, users can easily discover a wealth of materials on countries throughout the world.

The Bloomsbury Cultural History site is subscription-sensitive, meaning that by default users will only see collections to which they have access. They can still choose to explore the free Teaching and Learning Resources and Featured Content showcasing curated content from across the platform. They will also be able to view information about all of the available collections from the About page if they wish. This development has been added in response to user feedback and is designed to simplify journeys through the platform, while ensuring users primarily only see content which is most relevant to their institution’s subscription(s).

How is ‘cultural history’ defined?

Cultural history is an approach to exploring the past which seeks to understand a period in its entirety – its social, political and economic structures as well as its changing cultural practices and ideas and what these can tell us about all levels of society.

What time period is covered?

The entire span of history from antiquity to the present days is covered in the Cultural Histories series.

Will the resource be updated?

Yes, new and revised content will be added to Bloomsbury Cultural History twice a year. Updates will include new Cultural History series, primary resource images from museums and collections, curated lesson plans and pedagogical resources, as well as additional eBooks. Bloomsbury Cultural History is available both on a subscription basis (in which case yearly updates are included as part of the subscription) or on a perpetual access basis (in which case each year’s update can be purchased separately by your institution).

Who is the resource for?

Bloomsbury Cultural History is an invaluable resource for students, scholars and researchers studying cultural and social history, anthropology, cultural studies, material culture, archaeology, religious studies and the history of science and medicine.