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HIST 150: WWII Britain: The People's War (Fall 2025)

What Did I do Wrong?

  1. I want books about the British women during World War II. Why does the catalog give me so many results?
  2. I want peer reviewed articles about London during WWII.  My subject searched for ("World War, 1939-1945" or "world war II") AND London in America: history & Life only yields 17 results. Why are there so few results?
  3. I searched British AND theatre AND "world war" in the library catalog and found ~40 excellent books options. The same search brings up a the same number of articles in Historical Abstracts, but the topics of which are all over the place. Why?
  4. I really want to read the article Kefford, Alistair. 2024. “The Global Rise of the British Property Development Sector, 1945–1975.” Past & Present 264 (1): 199–235. doi:10.1093/pastj/gtad018.  Historical Abstracts says it's not full text. How do I gain access?
  5. I found this interest helpful article about the WW2 British Army published by Oxford University press, written by Kings College London professor Jonathan Fennell. Is it a good idea to cite it as a research article in the final project?
  6. In Historical Abstracts I tried the search Children AND England AND "Second world war". The results are fine but could be better. Based on the results, which search term should I change and why?

Reminder of Secondary Source Search Mechanics

  • Write your topic
  • identify keywords
  • think of how to phrase it in boolean.
  • write out search
  • try it out!

 

 

  • Propaganda (including receptions/opinions of, and representations of working women)

  • Internment camps

    • ("interment" OR detention) AND brit* AND ("World war II" OR "Second world war")

      articles

      books and articles in catalog

    •  

       

       

  • The black market
    • "black market" AND brit* AND ("World war II" OR "Second world war" OR ("World war" AND 1945))
  • Psychological impacts of war
    • Psychological AND brit* AND ("World war II" OR "Second world war")
  • Children of Black American GIs
    • Brit* AND Children AND ("african american" OR "african americas" OR black) AND ("world War II" OR "second world war")
  • Children evacuated to Canada
    • Children AND (evacuat* OR migration) AND Canada AND ("world war II" OR "Second world war" OR ("world war" AND 1945))