About the Browse and Search Options

GWonline, the Bibliography, Filmography and Webography on Gender and War since 1600 collects and organizes important secondary literature; women’s autobiographies; films and websites with online collections of primary sources, educational resources and online encyclopedias on this subject to make them available to the broader public. The collection is based on the work for the Oxford Handbook of Gender, War and the Western World since 1600 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).

About the Browse Options

The bibliography, filmography and webography allows its users to browse for information in the complete online collection sorted by:

  • Author / Director
  • Title
  • Year of Publication / Release
  • Type of Literature (books, book chapters, films, journals, journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, theses, websites etc.)

About the Search Options

In addition, users can search the bibliography, filmography and webography for specific information in the complete collection or its four sub-collections of the secondary literature, women’s autobiographies, films and websites in different search modes by:

Explanation of the Search Categories

By Author / Director

Authors’ names are typically searchable by last name. The author category includes director for the films. For other contributors in the film category, please use the "full text search."

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By Date of Publication / Release

Users can search literature by date of publication and films by release date.

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By War Periods

Users can search all entries by major war periods, which reflect the periods and conflicts covered in the Oxford Handbook. These major war periods include:

  • 1600–1830s:
    • War in the 17th and 18th Centuries
    • Age of the Revolutionary Wars
  • 1830s–1910s:
    • National Wars in the 19th Century
    • Colonial Wars in the long 19th Century
  • 1910s–1940s:
    • Age of First World War
    • Age of Second World War
  • 1940s–Present:
    • Cold War and Wars of Decolonization
    • Post-Cold War Period

For a full list of wars, go here.

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By Handbook Chapters

Browsing by handbook chapters enables users to access the secondary literature bibliographic entries by chapter topic. Users have two options for browsing by chapter: a selected bibliography with the most important literature or a more extensive bibliography of the literature used in the chapter. Click here for the associated chapter links.

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Keyword Search

The keywords include a selection of terms defined by the editors of the Oxford Handbook. They represent some of its central themes and questions. These terms and phrases include concepts from "Imperialism", "Militarism" and "Total War" to "Gender & Combat" or "War, Humanitarianism & Gender." For a full list of these conceptual keywords, click here.

In addition to the conceptual keywords, users can use the keyword search screen to explore literature, films, and autobiographies associated with specific wars, regions, or time periods. In the following we give an overview of those keywords with some explanation.

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Types of Literature

To enable users to look for a specific types of literature, we tagged the following:

  • Anthology: Edited collection of essays;
  • Autobiography: Autobiographical account of an individual's life;
  • Bibliography: Publication that lists literature on a particular topic;
  • Biography: Account of an individual life written by a different author;
  • Book Chapter: Chapter in an edited collection of essays;
  • Exhibition Catalogue: Edited collection published on the occasion of a major exhibition;
  • Journal Article: Article published in a usually peer reviewed journal;
  • Monograph: Research based book on a subject, usually written by a single author;
  • Textbook/Survey: Publication that offers a introduction into a topic, written for a more general audience;
  • Primary Source Collection: Edition of historical documents (primary sources).

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Regions and Countries

Each entry usually at least two different search options for the region: one for the continent, and one or more for a part of that continent ("Africa" and "North Africa").

In addition, most of the entries in the database are also organized by countries. Entries on intra-national conflicts like civil wars only have usually one country tagged. Entries on international or global conflicts have multiple country tags for each state involved in the conflict. Countries are listed by their current colloquial name. For example, The Republic of Italy is simply "Italy" and Zaïre (1965–1997) is the "Democratic Republic of Congo."

For titles dealing with multiple regions, "transatlantic connections" and "global connections" have frequently been added.

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Time Periods

The time periods in the keyword search correspond with the time periods that structure the Oxford Handbook. Most periods have been defined in terms of decades (1650s, 1940s). Ambiguity is intentional, because the origins of some transformations date back to earlier periods, the effects of others make themselves felt in later periods.

Periods

  • Pre-1650
  • 1650–1830s
    • 1650–1775
    • 1775–1830
  • 1830–1910
  • 1910s–1940s (refers to the period of the two worlds wars)
  • 1940s–Present (post–World War period)
  • 2001–Present (post–September 11, 2001)
  • Long-term (Entire period covered by the handbook).

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Major Wars

The time period between 1600 and the present saw hundreds of wars. For this project, we focus on conflicts discussed in the Oxford Handbook chapters. For a list of those wars click here.

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Full Text Search

This search mode scans entries for a word or words users have entered. It treats the complete entries in the bibliography as fulltext, i.e., it scans the full author name, the title, but also the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Entering the word "London," for instance, will result in a selection of entries that have London in their titles, but also those published in London. Entering 1945 will select all titles that contain 1945, but also all titles published in that year.

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Search by Collections

You can also search the online bibliography, filmography and webography by its four collections: secondary literature, women’s autobiographies, films and informative websites, mainly website of public institutions and foundations that provide access to primary sources.

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