Who's Who is a reference work.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. 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. Entries include notable figures from government, politics, academia, business, sport and the arts. Who's Who 2025 is the 177th edition and includes more than 32,500 people.
In 2004, the book was described as the United Kingdom's most prominent work of biographical reference.
The book is the original Who's Who book"Reference" in "New Books and New Editions" (1906) 24 Book News 531 and "the pioneer work of its type".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. The book is an origin of the expression "who's who" used in a wider sense."who's who". Macmillan Dictionary.Christine Ammer. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 1992. 1997. 2003. The Free Dictionary. Farlex.Who's Who. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
History
Who's Who has been published since 1849."More about Who's Who". OUP.
When book publisher A & C Black bought the copyright to the publication in 1896, Douglas Sladen was employed with a three-year contract to overhaul the publication. According to Sladen, the old Who's Who was solely a "handbook of the titled and official classes only", which he sought to modernize by including celebrities from all circles through the use of autobiographical forms.Philip Waller. Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870-1918. Oxford University Press. 2008. ISBN 9780199541201. pp 420–423. Between 1897 and 1899, under Sladen, Who's Who expanded its number of entries from 6,000 to 8,500. The inclusion of a "recreations" section for biographees to fill proved to be particularly successful for the book: according to Sladen, newspapers "never tired of quoting the recreations of eminent people", thus attracting publicity for the publication.Philip J Waller. Town, City, and Nation: England 1850-1914. 1983. Reprinted 1999. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780192891631. p 38. While Sladen's contract was not renewed, the revised Who's Who experienced financial success: its sales rose from 10,000 to 12,000 copies between 1901 and 1910, in spite of a twofold increase in the book price for that period.
Cedric Arthur Larson stated that Who's Who in 1849 was not biographical.Cedric A Larson. Sixty Years of American Eminence. McDowell, Obolensky. New York. 1958. p 22. Who's Who turned into a biographical dictionary in 1897.Ogilvie. Women and Science: An Annotated Bibliography. Garland Publishing. 1996. p 501. In 1963 and 1975, William Lawrence Rivers wrote that Who's Who then included biographical information.William L Rivers. Finding Facts: Interviewing, Observing, Using Reference Sources. Prentice-Hall. 1975. p 110. Rivers. Reference Books for the Journalist. University of Texas, School of Journalism. 1963.
In 1973, a spinoff version, called The Academic Who's Who, was released by the same publisher. Both the first edition, published in 1973, and the second edition, published in 1975, were published by Adam & Charles Black in London. The first US edition was published by Bowker in New York, and the second by Gale Research in Detroit.For a scan of the first edition, see Google Books: . The second edition contained biographies of almost seven thousand academics."Some recent additions to the Library", ACU Bulletin of Current Documentation, Issues 12–41, page 30 (Association of Commonwealth Universities) Google Books
Who's Who 1897–1996 was published on CD-ROMWalford's Guide to Reference Material. Seventh Edition. Library Association Publishing. 1996. Volume 2. Para 5834 p 648. and was awarded the McColvin Medal.Annual Report. The Library Association. 1997. p 12.Yearbook 2009. CILIP. 2008. p 476. Who's Who 1897–1998 was also published on CD-ROM.New Serial Titles, 1999. p 1877.Bopp and Smith. Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Third Edition. Libraries Unlimited 2001. pp 390 & 406. Who's Who was included in KnowUK from 1999."CD-ROM and Web resource reviews" (1999) 4 Library Technology 46 at 47 (No 3, June 1999)"KnowUK" (1999) 28 Microform & Imaging Review 77 (No 3)Eliot and Rose (eds). A Companion to the History of the Book. 2007. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009. p 459. Who's Who 2005 was included in Xreferplus."Xrefer and A&C Black team up for Who's Who Online" in "Intermediaries" (2005) Scholarly Communications Report, vol 9, no 2, February 2005, p 15 The Who's Who & Who Was Who website (ukwhoswho.com) is dated from 2007 onwards.Whitlatch and Searing (eds). Guide to Reference: Essential General Reference and Library Science Sources. American Library Association. 2014. Number 60. Who's Who continues to be published annually in hardback.
A history of Who's Who was published to coincide with the 150th edition in 1998. "Preface with a Brief History 1849–1998" was included in Who's Who 1998.
Publishers and editors Who's Who was originally published by Baily Brothers."Albert Nelson Marquis" in "Obituary Notes" (1944) 145 Publishers Weekly 130 Google Books Since 1897, it has been published by A & C Black. It has been published in New York by the Macmillan CompanyAlice Bertha Kroeger. Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books. Third Edition. American Library Association. 1917. p 137. and by St. Martin's Press.Ryan and Tankard. Basic News Reporting. Mayfield Publishing Company. 1977. p 385.
From 1849 to 1850, Who's Who was edited by Henry Robert Addison,Frederic Boase. "Addison, Henry Robert" in Modern English Biography. 1892. Volume 1. col 22. from 1851 to 1864 by Charles Henry Oakes,Frederic Boase. "Oakes, Charles Henry" in Modern English Biography. 1897. Volume 2. col 1192. from 1865 by William John Lawson and from 1897 to 1899 by Douglas Sladen."Who's Who". National Library of Australia Catalogue. Subsequent editions do not disclose the identity of their editor.Margaretta Jolly (ed). "Who's Who" in Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 2001. Routledge. 2013. . Volume 1. Page 939. In 1990, it was reported that after the departure of Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen, the people who compiled Who's Who remained anonymous to conceal the fact that they were female. In 2004, it was reported that the editorial staff and the selection panel endeavour to operate in anonymity so as to shield themselves from unwanted pressures.
Biographies Academics who study elites have used the book as the primary reference for deducing who is part of the British elite.
Inclusiveness The subjects of Who's Who entries include peers, MPs, judges, senior civil servants, writers, lawyers, scientists, academics, actors, athletes, artists and hereditary aristocrats. 50 percent of new entrants (such as those holding a professorial chair at Oxbridge, baronets, peers, MPs, judges etc.) are included automatically by virtue of their office or title; the other 50 percent are selected at the discretion of a board of advisors.Friedman and Reeves (2020), 328.Friedman, Online Supplement, p 3Graeme C Moodie and Rowland Eustace, Power & Authority in British Universities, George Allen & Unwin, 1974, p 213 Inclusion has come to carry a considerable level of prestige: Paul Levy stated in The Wall Street Journal in 1996 that having an entry in Who's Who "really puts the stamp of eminence on a modern British life".Paul Levy. "(Sex) Lives and Deaths of British Worthies". Wall Street Journal. 9 August 1996.
Once someone is included in Who's Who they remain in it for life: MPs, for example, are not removed when they leave Parliament. The 7th Earl of Lucan continued to be listed in the book after he went missing in 1974 and even after he was declared legally dead in 1999."How to get in Who's Who". BBC News. 18 January 2001.Lord Lucan 'officially dead'. BBC News Online. 27 October 1999. He was listed in Who's Who 2016, which was published in 2015."Lucan". Who's Who 2016. p 1422. As of 2023, the most recent version of his entry on the Who's Who & Who Was Who website is dated 1 December 2016, his death certificate having been issued in 2016.
Inclusion in Who's Who does not involve any payment by or to the subject, or even any obligation to buy a copy."Confidentiality" in "Biographees". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Some individuals have attempted to offer bribes in attempts to be included.Martin Rosenbaum and Michael Crick. "How to get into Who's Who". The Spectator. 10 July 2004.
The publication includes the members of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, members of the House of Commons, the chief executives of all UK cities and counties, and foreign ambassadors accredited to London. There was a high proportion of Oxford and Cambridge graduates among the new entrants in Who's Who 2008.Jeremy Paxman. "Who's new in Who's Who?". The Daily Telegraph. 1 December 2007. During the reign of Queen Victoria, the proportion of such graduates was less than 20%.(1996) 190 Country Life 36. For further commentary see, Watts, Diversity and Choice in Higher Education, 1972, p 138; and A H Halsey, "The popularity of Oxford and Cambridge? IIb. A pyramid of prestige" (1961) 15 Universities Quarterly 342 (No 4, September 1961)
In a review of Who's Who, 1907, the Law Magazine and Review declared: "So comprehensive is the scheme of the work that it is well-nigh impossible to find any person at all entitled to be considered prominent in any particular sphere, whose biography is not included"."Works of Reference" (1907) 32 Law Magazine and Review 256 The Expository Times wrote that Who's Who, 1910 included "Everybody who is anybody".(1910) 21 The Expository Times 229 The Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects wrote that the choice of subjects included in Who's Who 1936 was generally appropriate."Who's Who" (1936) 45 Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects 432 (No 8: 22 February 1936) Writing in The Spectator about a radio documentary on the book they prepared for BBC Radio 4 in 2004, Crick and Rosenbaum criticised, or reported that others had criticised, the publication for its lack of inclusion of well known celebrities, sports personalities, solicitors, and the quasi-totality of Britain's wealthiest people. They also questioned the inclusion of all baronets. In 2007, Jeremy Paxman criticised the publication for failing to include more non-British MEPs. In 2010, Charles Moore criticised the criticism of the inclusiveness of Who's Who.Charles Moore, Recreations? Try a dip into 'Who's Who'. The Daily Telegraph. 5 January 2010. ProQuest In 2021, it was reported that Michael Grade, who was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 2004Michael Grade is new BBC chairman. BBC News. 2 April 2004. to 2006,Grade quits BBC post to join ITV. BBC News. 28 November 2006. had criticised Who's Who for failing to include entries for Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne.Valentine Low. Latest Who's Who doesn't list Eddie Redmayne or Olivia Colman. The Times. 8 February 2021.