This review is intended to provide a broadly based survey of doctoral theses in urban history completed at British and North American institutions. As in previous years the definition of ‘urban history’ has deliberately been given a wide interpretation that allows the inclusion both of theses that address the physical form of the city and those that address the diversity that emerges from urban life. It is the latter aspect that dominates the topics dealt with in this year's review. While this review provides a brief summary of theses, access to a comprehensive range is available electronically. The Index of Theses is located at http://www.theses.com/ and Dissertations Abstracts International at http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations.