On this page you will find recommended books, guidance on how to search for and access print and ebooks, and libraries that might be relevant for your studies and research.
Library catalogues are a list of all the items held within the collections of a specific library. They are a key finding tool for books on a particular topic or by a particular author. Most catalogues will allow you to search by author, title or subject keywords.
Below are some collected catalogues of multiple libraries in a large searchable databse.
Below are some catalogues to individual libraries with physical collections that may be pertinent to the history of disability.
Some libraries and other organisations have collections of books that are digitised online and freely available. Below are links to some that may contain items pertinent to the study of disability history.
Bibliographic aids are tools to better help you find books on a particular subject. Below are some Bibliographic aids on the topic of Disability History.
Bibliographic aids are tools to better help you find books on a particular subject. Below are some Bibliographic aids on the topic of Disability History.
Libraries usually organise books by topic, using the Library of Congress Classification Scheme or Dewey Decimal Classification.
Below are some examples of areas in which to search for relevant material. The information is given in the format: LoC shelfmark / Dewey Decimal Shelfmark / LoC subject heading:
HV1552 / 362.4... / People with disabilities—History
HV1568 / 305.908... / People with disabilities—General works
R131-R686 / 610.9... / Medicine (General)—History
PN2179.D57 / 808.803561 / Disabilities in literature -- England -- History -- 16th century
HM636 / 306.4 / Human body—Social aspects
HV3004-HV3010 / 362.3... / People with disabilities—People with mental disabilities
RA790.7.G7 / 362.1... / Mental health—Great Britain—History
QM690-QM695 / 616.043... / Abnormalities, Human—History
HV1584-HV1590 / 305.90810922 / Blind—Biography
RC660-RC663 / 362.196462... / Diabetes
If your library doesn't have the book you are looking for, they may be able to source it through an inter-library loan service.
The Oxford Handbook of Disability History by
Disability history exists outside of the institutions, healers, and treatments it often brings to mind. It is a history where the disabled live not just as patients or cure-seekers, but rather as people living differently in the world - and it is also a history that helps define thefundamental concepts of identity, community, citizenship, and normality.The Oxford Handbook of Disability History is the first volume of its kind to represent this history and its global scale, from ancient Greece to British West Africa. The twenty-seven articles, written by thirty experts from across the field, capture the diversity and liveliness of this emergingscholarship. Whether discussing disability in modern Chinese cinema or on the American antebellum stage, this collection provides new and valuable insights into the rich and varied lives of the disabled across time and place.
A History of Disability by
The increasing numbers of scholars, policy-makers, and political activists who are concerned with questions of physical and cognitive disability will warmly welcome Henri-Jacques Stiker's book, the first to attempt to provide a framework for analyzing disability through the ages. Published in 1997 in France as Corps infirmes et sociétés and available now in an excellent English translation, the book traces the history of western cultural responses to disability, from ancient times to the present. In this volume, Stiker examines a fundamental issue in contemporary Western discourse on disability: the cultural assumption that equality/sameness/similarity is always desired by those in society. He highlights the consequences of such a mindset, illustrating the intolerance of diversity and individualism that arises from placing such importance on equality. Importantly, Stiker does not hesitate to assert his own stance on the issues he discusses: that difference is not only acceptable, but that it is desirable, that it is necessary. The author goes beyond anecdotal history to traverse a little known history, penetrating to the heart of collective attitudes and reflecting on elements of policy. The sweep is broad; from a rereading and reinterpretation of the Oedipus myth to current legislation regarding disablity, he proposes an analytical history that demonstrates how societies reveal themselves through their attitudes towards disability, at times in unexpected ways, since the study of detail is often the best entry into the whole of a culture. The book will be of interest to scholars of disability, historians, social scientists, cultural anthropologists, and those who are intrigued by the role that culture plays in the development of language and thought surrounding the disabled.
A Cultural History of Disability by
How has our understanding and treatment of disability evolved in Western culture? How has it been represented and perceived in different social and cultural conditions? In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by over 50 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. The volumes describe different kinds of physical and mental disabilities, their representations and receptions, and what impact they have had on society and everyday life. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six. The six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE - 500 CE); 2. Middle Ages (500 - 1450); 3. Renaissance (1400 - 1650) ; 4. Long Eighteenth Century (1650 - 1800); 5. Long Nineteenth Century (1800 - 1920); 6. Modern Age (1920 - 2000+). Themes (and chapter titles) are: atypical bodies; mobility impairment; chronic pain and illness; blindness; deafness; speech; learning difficulties; mental health. The page extent is approximately 2,000pp with c. 200 illustrations. Each volume opens with notes on contributors, a series preface and an introduction, and concludes with notes, bibliography and an index. A Cultural History of Disability is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com .
Disability Histories by
The field of disability history continues to evolve rapidly. In this collection, Susan Burch and Michael Rembis present essays that integrate critical analysis of gender, race, historical context, and other factors to enrich and challenge the traditional modes of interpretation still dominating the field. Contributors delve into four critical areas of study within disability history: family, community, and daily life; cultural histories; the relationship between disabled people and the medical field; and issues of citizenship, belonging, and normalcy. As the first collection of its kind in over a decade, Disability Histories not only brings readers up to date on scholarship within the field but fosters the process of moving it beyond the U.S. and Western Europe by offering work on Africa, South America, and Asia. The result is a broad range of readings that open new vistas for investigation and study while encouraging scholars at all levels to redraw the boundaries that delineate who and what is considered of historical value. Informed and accessible, Disability Histories is essential for classrooms engaged in all facets of disability studies within and across disciplines.
The Routledge History of Disability by
The Routledge History of Disability explores the shifting attitudes towards and representations of disabled people from the age of antiquity to the twenty-first century. Taking an international view of the subject, this wide-ranging collection shows that the history of disability cuts across racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, gender and class divides, highlighting the commonalities and differences between the experiences of disabled persons in global historical context. The book is arranged in four parts, covering histories of disabilities across various time periods and cultures, histories of national disability policies, programs and services, histories of education and training and the ways in which disabled people have been seen and treated in the last few decades. Within this, the twenty-eight chapters discuss topics such as developments in disability issues during the late Ottoman period, the history of disability in Belgian Congo in the early twentieth century, blind asylums in nineteenth-century Scotland and the systematic killing of disabled children in Nazi Germany. Illustrated with images and tables and providing an overview of how various countries, cultures and societies have addressed disability over time, this comprehensive volume offers a global perspective on this rapidly growing field and is a valuable resource for scholars of disability studies and histories of disabilities. ieth century, blind asylums in nineteenth-century Scotland and the systematic killing of disabled children in Nazi Germany. Illustrated with images and tables and providing an overview of how various countries, cultures and societies have addressed disability over time, this comprehensive volume offers a global perspective on this rapidly growing field and is a valuable resource for scholars of disability studies and histories of disabilities.
Writing disability : a critical history by
Explores personal narratives across a broad sweep of history to reveal the interplay of dynamics that have shaped both personal and societal conceptions of mental and physical disability.