Article Databases with Historical Reviews
Databases used for finding criticism and magazine articles also often contain reviews of films, television shows, and DVDs. Below are some of the key databases with review indexing and content.
See also the newspaper databases for more reviews.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive (EIMA) This link opens in a new window
EIMA is an historical archive of major trade and consumer magazines in film, television, music, radio, and theater, from their inception to 2000. Includes weekly Variety, Hollywood Reporter, American Cinematographer, Back Stage, Billboard, Broadcasting, Picturegoer, Screen International, Spin, and more. UCLA has access to parts I, II and III of this database.
- Media History Digital Library This link opens in a new windowFreely available online portal, featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowIndexes popular American magazines. Most of the articles are not available full text online, and must be used in print or microfilm format.
- Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2019 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowSince 1902, the TLS has scrutinized, applauded and dissected the work of leading writers and thinkers, offering comprehensive coverage of publications in every subject, in several languages, as well as reviewing current theatre, cinema, music, and exhibitions.
- Vogue Archive This link opens in a new windowContains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 to the present day.
- CinefilesScanned images of reviews, press kits, film festival and repertory theater program notes, newspaper articles, and other ephemera from UC Berkeley BAMPFA Film Library and Study Center.
Additional Magazine Archives Online
These online magazine archives offer cover-to-cover digitized editions of historical magazines. Note that they do not always include the most recent issues.
- American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowCovers the colonial period through the 20th century, and includes unusual and short-lived magazines as well as better-known titles with long runs. Topics encompass a broad spectrum including agriculture, anthropology, art, archaeology, education, family life, fashion, industrialization, literature, medicine, music, photography, politics, religion, science, sport, and temperance. UCLA provides access to Parts I-VII.
- Atlantic Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
The Atlantic Magazine Archive, 1857-2014, covers events and political issues through literary and cultural commentary. It includes more than 1,800 issues providing a broad view of 19th, 20th and early 21st-Century American thought.
- Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
The Bloomberg Businessweek archive contains the full text of Businessweek from its first issue in September 1929 to April 2010.
- British Periodicals This link opens in a new windowFacsimile page images and searchable full text for nearly 500 British periodicals published from the 17th through the early 20th centuries.
- Ebony Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Ebony Magazine Archive covers civil rights, education, entrepreneurship and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes more than 800 issues providing a broad view of African-American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.
- Esquire Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Esquire Magazine Archive, 1933-2014, delivers coverage of the award-winning American men’s magazine in the areas of politics, men’s fashion, entertainment, fiction and pop culture. It includes more than 900 issues providing a broad view of 20th-Century American thought through cultural and current events.
- Forbes Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Forbes Magazine Archive is the world’s only complete digital version of the Forbes backfile. With coverage starting at the magazine’s first issue in 1917 and ending in December 2010, the archive offers 90 years’ worth of content.
- Fortune Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Fortune Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the long-running business magazine dating from its very first issue in February 1930 through December 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
- Harper's Weekly 1857-1912 This link opens in a new windowProvides full-image reproductions of Harper's Weekly from 1857-1912, one of the most important weekly magazines read by Americans during the 19th Century.
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Full text of more than 1000 open access alternative publications from the 1960s-1980s covering feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Latinos, LGBTQ+ activists, and more.
- LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Searchable archive of major periodicals devoted to LGBT+ interests, dating from the 1950s to more recent years. Includes many of the most influential, long-running 20th/21st-century magazines in this field, including The Advocate. UCLA subscribes to Collection 1 of this database.
- Liberty Magazine Historical Archive, 1924-1950 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowIncludes searchable scanned issues of Liberty: A Weekly for Everybody, a popular weekly mass entertainment magazine covering word affairs, daily life, art, stories, and other features.
- Life Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Life Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November 1936 through December 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
- Maclean's Magazine Archives This link opens in a new window
Maclean’s Magazine Archive, 1905-2015, is a digital collection of the leading Canadian news and general interest magazine. Providing a unique perspective on national and international news and culture, the magazine covers investigative reporting, opinion and analysis on politics, economics, technology and more.
- People Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Online collection of the prominent, popular entertainment magazine dating from its very first issue in March 1974 through December 2000, in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
- Time Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
The Time Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the prominent weekly news magazine dating back to its first issue in March 1923 through December 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
- Vanity Fair Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Presents the popular magazine in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format, dating from its very first run from September 1913-1936, and relaunch from March 1983-October 2015. Chronicles popular culture, fashion, celebrity portraiture, politics, and more.
- Vogue Archive This link opens in a new windowContains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 to the present day.
- Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Contains historical backfiles of several leading consumer magazines: Better Homes and Gardens, Chatelaine, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Parents, Redbook, Seventeen, Town and Country, Woman's Day, and Women's International Network News. UCLA has access to collections 1 and 2 of this database.
Print Indexes and Reprints
Despite the amount of review content now available online, many earlier reviews are still best accessed with print indexes and reprint series. See the UCLA Catalog for the full record and any additional campus copies.
