Who's Who is a reference work. 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 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.
The book is the original Who's Who book and "the pioneer work of its type". The book is an origin of the expression "who's who" used in a wider sense.
History
Who's Who has been published since 1849.
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. 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. 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. Who's Who turned into a biographical dictionary in 1897. In 1963 and 1975, Professor William Lawrence Rivers wrote that Who's Who then included biographical information.
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. The second edition contained biographies of almost seven thousand academics.
Who's Who 1897–1996 was published on CD-ROM and was awarded the McColvin Medal. Who's Who 1897–1998 was also published on CD-ROM. Who's Who was included in KnowUK from 1999. Who's Who 2005 was included in Xreferplus. The Who's Who & Who Was Who website (ukwhoswho.com) is dated from 2007 onwards. 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. Since 1897, it has been published by A & C Black. It has been published in New York by the Macmillan Company and by St. Martin's Press.
From 1849 to 1850, Who's Who was edited by Henry Robert Addison, from 1851 to 1864 by Charles Henry Oakes, from 1865 by William John Lawson and from 1897 to 1899 by Douglas Sladen. Subsequent editions do not disclose the identity of their editor. 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. 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".