Who's Who (UK)

Who's Who
1959 edition
LanguageEnglish
Release number
175 (Who's Who 2023)[1]
SubjectBiography[2] (1897 onwards)
GenreWho's Who[3]
Publisher
Publication date
1849–present
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
ISBN9781408181201
TextWho's Who at Wikisource
Websiteukwhoswho.com

Who's Who is a reference work.[6] It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around the world who influence British life.[7] Entries include notable figures from government, politics, academia, business, sport and the arts. Who's Who 2023 is the 175th edition and includes more than 33,000 people.

In 2004, the book was described as the United Kingdom's most prominent work of biographical reference.[8]

The book is the original Who's Who book[9] and "the pioneer work of its type".[10] The book is an origin of the expression "who's who" used in a wider sense.[11][12][13]

  1. ^ Who's Who in 2023?". Who's Who & Who Was Who.
  2. ^ WorldCat. OCLC: 230032229, 26598317, 56431030, 301748088, 1162806, 40586111 and 664147939.
  3. ^ Fritze, Coutts and Vyhnanek. Reference Sources in History: An Introductory Guide. ABC-CLIO. Second Edition. 2004. p 201.
  4. ^ "Bloomsbury – Who's Who". Bloomsbury.
  5. ^ "Who's Who and Who Was Who Online". oup.com.
  6. ^ Pedersen, "Reference Publishing" in Finkelstein and McCleery (eds), Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, 2007, vol 4, p 346 at p 347. Waterstone's Guide to Books 1989/90, p 720. Wilson, Research Guide in History, 1974, p 81. "An Indispensable Reference Work" (1936) 98 Chemical Trade Journal and Chemical Engineer 10 (3 January 1936). (1917) 15 British Journal of Inebriety 173.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference online was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference CrickRosenbaum2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Reference" in "New Books and New Editions" (1906) 24 Book News 531 [1] [2]
  10. ^ Arnold Levitas. Editorial English. Roy Press. New York City. 1924. p 248. There are similar comments in "Book Reviews" (1920) 32 The Writer 77 and in Kroeger, Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books, 3rd Ed, 1917, p 137.
  11. ^ "who's who". Macmillan Dictionary.
  12. ^ Christine Ammer. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 1992. 1997. 2003. The Free Dictionary. Farlex.
  13. ^ Who's Who. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.