Guides: HIST 201: Modern African History: Home

Getting Started

African History
by Kristen Howard Last Updated Sep 24, 2025 1067 views this year

Encyclopedias

The Oxford Handbook of Modern African History by John Parker and Richard Reid (Eds.)
Call Number: DT20 O94 2013

Publication Date: 2013

This book critically reflects upon the current state of the field of modern African history. It focuses on the history of the continent in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although also looks back to the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Its aim is to consider the evolution of the field and to set out where, after fifty years of sustained research, it has arrived.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History by Thomas T. Spear (Ed.)
Publication Date: 2016

Substantive, peer-reviewed, and regularly updated online encyclopedia of African History.

Find Scholarly Research Articles

How to find a specific journal

There is a list of recommended academic journals on the African History Subject Guide.

To find a specific journal, such as those circulated in class:

Go to the Library's e-Journals A-Z page.
Enter the exact title into the Title search box.
- Note that this search box is not forgiving! If you searching for "Journal for African History" rather than "Journal of African History," you won't get what you're looking for.

Specialized databases

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
This database contains references to journal articles, book reviews and some dissertations about the history of all parts of the world from 1450 on (excluding Canada and the United States). In the search options, select "Peer Reviewed" and enter "Historical Period" (e.g., Start Year: 1850 To End Year: 1917).
Africa-Wide Information (EBSCO)
Produced by NISC South Africa, this resource combines bibliographic databases from around the world to form a multidisciplinary aggregation of extensive coverage of all facets of Africa and African studies. Contains 3.2 million citations and abstracts dating back to the 16th century.

Find Recent Newspaper Articles

Newspapers are primary sources of information about historical and current events. As a McGill student, you have access to thousands of newspapers from all across the world.

N.B.: The ProQuest databases below provide an electronic version of the print copy. This matters because sometimes the online titles of an article are sometimes different than the print titles. If you struggle to find the article, try navigating to the date or searching for the first line of the article. If you need further assistance, email your librarian at kristen.howard@mcgill.ca.

New York Times (New York, NY)

You can access up to 10 articles a month through the New York Times website
New York Times at ProQuest: Current day available. Note that article titles in this database are the same as those printed in the physical newspaper, which sometimes diverge from the titles published online.

The Guardian (London, UK)

The Guardian is not paywalled, but non-subscribers are capped at 50 articles per month. The Guardian offers an International Edition, as well as UK, US, Australia, and Europe editions.
The Guardian at ProQuest: Full-text coverage from 1996 to current day.
The Guardian (online) at ProQuest: Full-text coverage from 1999 to current day.

Le Monde (Paris, France)

Le Monde's website is paywalled.
Le Monde at ProQuest: Full-text coverage from 2001 to current day.

Find more newspapers available via the McGill Library through the Newspapers Guide below.

Newspapers
by Humanities and Social Sciences Library Last Updated Oct 7, 2025 14436 views this year

Citations

History as a discipline uses the Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition) for citations, and usually the Notes-Bibliography form. This requires creating properly formatted footnotes footnotes and a Bibliography for your assignments. Resources to understand the Chicago style of citations are included below.

Note: Chicago Manual of Style updated to the 18th edition in September 2024.

HCS Guide to the Chicago Manual of Style
A guide to the Chicago Manual of Style developed for students in History and Classics (18th edition).

The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition
Publication Date: 2024
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Kate L. Turabian
Call Number: LB2369 T8 2018

Publication Date: 2018

A guide to Chicago Manual of Style with more information on hard-to-cite or unusual sources than the original manual. Note that this manual has not yet been updated to reflect the changes in the 18th edition of Chicago.

Guides

Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide
McGill Library Citation Subject Guide
Under "citation styles by subject", select "History" for more resources on Chicago style.

Library Support

Chicago Workshops
McGill Librarians offer virtual Chicago Citation Style workshops every term. Follow this link to find and register for upcoming workshops!
Citation Management
Attend a workshop to learn how to use Zotero or EndNote, useful citation management systems. Zotero is highly recommended for History students!